The Bharti Airtel stock experienced a dramatic price movement during Wednesday's closing auction session, with the Nifty plunging 271.4 points or 1.11% to 24,005.5 within just 30 seconds of the session opening at 3:20 pm. According to reports from Stock Market News, the index recovered to close at 24,207.75, just 0.28% below the reference rate by 3:30 pm, though it still settled 0.52% below Tuesday's close. The BSE Sensex closed 0.24% lower during the same session.
The abrupt market swing was attributed to a bid placed 3% below the reference rate for Bharti Airtel, which saw the highest volumes during the closing auction session. As reported by Stock Market News, the buyer bid at ₹1,857.7, which is 3% below Bharti Airtel's reference rate of ₹1,915.1. The surprising aspect was that the seller agreed to this price, with the trade going through despite being 3% below the reference rate. Market participants suggested this could be due to a fat-finger error by the seller, where an accidental keyboard mistype or wrong data entry triggered an unexpected massive stock transaction.
The fat-finger error significantly impacted the Bharti Airtel stock, which hit an indicative close of ₹1,857.7, 3% below the reference rate just 35 seconds after the session began. According to Stock Market News, the price recovered gradually as buyers swooped in, closing finally at ₹1,902.1, 2.3% below Tuesday's close. The recovery in Bharti stock helped the Nifty, which trimmed the day's losses to 126.80 points during the session.
On Wednesday, the closing auction session (CAS) replaced the volume-weighted price calculation for 213 stocks on which derivatives are offered, including Nifty 50 constituents. As reported by Stock Market News, Bharti Airtel accounted for 6% or ₹68.25 crore of the total auction volume of ₹1,085.18 crore, making it the most active stock during the session. The session operates from 3:20 pm to 3:30 pm, with price movements during this period influencing the Nifty's closing price.
