The day after, nervous BSE sees Reliance shares fall

Reliance Energy — controlled by Anil Ambani — declined by 1.23 per cent to Rs 620.70, Reliance Capital by 0.86 per cent to Rs 137.70 and IPCL by 2.33 per cent to Rs 184.30.

The market capitalisation of Reliance Industries alone fell by Rs 2,568 crore to Rs 73,590 crore as cautious investors unloaded shares. This means the promoters also lost Rs 1,196 crore of wealth in a single day’s trading. The Reliance issue dragged down the 30-stock Sensex by 63.76 points to close at 5,961.71.

Market analysts were quick to rule out any long-term impact, stressing that Friday’s reaction could hardly be termed alarmist.

‘‘The market is reading too much into this (Mukesh’s statement). There’s nothing new in it. Of course, there will be some short-term pains in the market, but in the long term, I do not see a reverberating effect,” says Arun Kejriwal, investment strategist, Angel Broking Ltd.

Says Ved Prakash Chaturvedi, CEO, Tata Asset Management: “The market is in a consolidation phase. It had gone up sharply. So we see a correction and consolidation happening now. There may be loss of confidence in the short term, but long term we are optimistic.’’

Problems in the group came out in the open when Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani said earlier this week that there are ‘‘ownership issues’’ with his younger brother and vice-chairman Anil Ambani. Reliance runs the world’s third biggest oil refinery and produces 12 million metric tonnes a year of petrochemicals, used to make yarn and plastics. The company owns 45 per cent of Reliance Infocomm, India’s biggest cellular phone company, and 50.15 per cent in Reliance Energy Ltd, which supplies power to cities of Mumbai and New Delhi. It also holds 46 per cent in IPCL which was acquired from the government two years ago.