Shares in Petra Diamonds Limited (LSE:PDL, OTC:PDLMF) slipped by almost 7% on Friday morning as the company announced it had auctioned off stock earlier than anticipated due to new import rules in India.
Around 75% of available volume was sold off in its second tender of the year, the firm said on Friday, with prices sitting between 16% to 18% lower than previously as a result.
This was due to an announcement that India would be placing a two-month moratorium on diamond imports in mid-October.
Tender two did indeed see Petra score a total of US$30.2 million, at an average price of US$88 per carat, with optimism being expressed over producers’ moves to reduce output.
“[This is] expected to bring some much-needed stability and support to the market and in turn prices,” Petra said.
However, news of the early auction sent shares down 6.7% to 62.50p.