South Korea's move to ban stock short-selling may further delay its quest to bag an 'upgrade' to 'developed market' status from global index provider MSCI, said analysts. South Korea will prohibit stock short-selling until June 2024 to allow its regulators to "actively" improve rules and systems. South Korea is currently classified as an 'emerging market (EM)' alongside India, China and Taiwan in MSCI indices.
This is the case even though the benchmark index is only 5 per cent below its all-time high. The list of stocks trading at a discount primarily consists companies in the automotive, banking, oil and gas, insurance, healthcare, and metal sectors.
Alternative investment funds (AIFs) are yet to fully demat the outstanding units even as the deadline ended on October 31. Industry players say they are working on the transition from physical to electronic with the depositories Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL) and National Securities Depository Limited (NDSL). Some said they are hoping for some relaxation from the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), given the teething problems they are facing.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday barred financial influencer Mohammad Nasiruddin Ansari, operating with the handle 'Baap of Chart' and known as Md Nasir on social media, from accessing the securities market. Further, the market regulator has asked him to disgorge Rs 17.2 crore for indulging in unregistered investment advisory. 'Baap of Chart' has over 443,000 subscribers on YouTube and 83,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter) and has provided trading recommendations and courses.
As many as 31 mainboard IPOs raised a cumulative Rs 26,272 crore in this period, according to Prime Database. During the April-September 2007 bull run, 48 IPOs totalling Rs 21,243 crore were launched. The number of deals in H1FY24 was 2.2 times that of the same period of the last fiscal year, but the amount raised was 26 per cent lower.
Nextbillion Technology (Groww), the venture capital-backed broking platform, has dislodged Zerodha Broking as India's largest brokerage in terms of number of active clients. Groww had 6.63 million active clients at the end of September, as against Zerodha's 6.48 million, ending the latter's long run at the top. AngelOne and RKSV Securities (Upstox) were ranked third and fourth with 4.86 million and 2.19 million active clients, according to data available on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Jefferies, IIFL, and JM Financial - none of which were in the top five last year - have now claimed the top spots in the league tables for equity capital markets (ECM) during the first nine months of calendar year 2023 (CY23), a period characterised by small- and mid-sized transactions. This shift marks a significant change, with these firms outperforming the bulge-bracket investment banks. According to data provided by Refinitiv, Jefferies leads the domestic ECM market, having handled share sales worth $2.3 billion, representing 12.4 per cent of the total volume of $18.4 billion for ECM transactions.
The country's most valuable lender HDFC Bank can perhaps no longer claim to be a favourite of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). Two data indicators, both somewhat interconnected, point to this - the diminishing premium of HDFC Bank's American depositary receipts (ADRs) compared to local shares, and the ample investment opportunities available to FPIs in the domestic market. The ADR premium has shrunk to below 5 per cent, down from over 30 per cent in March 2021, and even lower than recent levels.
The broking industry's pecking order is set to change with Groww, a fin-tech startup from Bengaluru, poised to topple the industry's poster boy, Zerodha, as the leading brokerage in the number of active investors. According to data provided by the portal Topsharebrokers.com, Zerodha has 6.32 million active investors, while Groww is at 5.99 million. It is projected that Groww, which has grown at a much faster clip over the past two years, will surpass Zerodha this month, or next month.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plans to roll out a new regulatory framework for registrar and transfer agents (RTAs) - the market intermediaries responsible for the record-keeping of bondholders and shareholders after a company offers securities to the public. The markets regulator, sources said, is considering a multifold increase in net-worth requirement, a move that may dissuade companies from having in-house RTAs for record-keeping. At present, the minimum net worth required for RTAs is Rs 50 lakh and Rs 25 lakh in categories I and II, respectively.
Stake sales by promoters and private equity/venture capital (PE/VC) investors this year are already exceeding twice those of last year. So far this calendar year, the selling stands at over Rs 87,400 crore, 2.2 times the Rs 39,700 crore worth of shares sold by promoters and PE/VCs in 2022. This year's tally has received a boost from stake sales by Adani group promoters.
The total number of unique investors directly investing in the stock market has surged to 80 million for the first time, with the latest 10 million additions taking place in just eight months, according to data shared by the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the country's largest bourse. "The 80 million unique PAN (permanent account number) investors correspond approximately to around 50 million unique households in India amounting to around 17 per cent households directly investing in the Indian stock market via NSE's extensive nationwide network of trading members," said the exchange. In 2021, the number of domestic households were pegged at 300 million.
Deteriorating ties between India and Canada could have a bearing on flows into the domestic capital markets. At present, Canada is the seventh largest country for foreign portfolio investor (FPI) flows into India. According to the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL), the assets under custody (AUC) of FPIs domiciled in Canada stood at nearly Rs 1.8 trillion ($21 billion) at the end of August. Almost 85 per cent of these investments are in listed equity, while the remaining in debt and hybrid instruments.
Shares of HDFC Bank will witness massive inflows totalling $600 million from passive trackers this week, predict analysts. This influx is attributed to the rebalancing activities in the S&B BSE Sensex and the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) indices. The Sensex is set for its quarterly rebalancing act on September 15 (date of adjustment), resulting in inflows of $102 million (approximately Rs 850 crore).
The OCCRP report alleges that at one point, EIFF and EMRF held free-floating shares ranging from 8 per cent to nearly 14 per cent in the four Adani Group companies.
The proposal to merge the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) units of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE has reached an advanced stage, and both bourses could file an application before the National Company Law Tribunal as early as this month, according to a top regulatory official. Sources indicate that the merger proposal has received approval from their respective boards. Both the NSE and BSE are arch rivals when it comes to onshore trading.
Polycab India, Power Finance Corporation, Shriram Finance, and Union Bank of India appear poised to transition from the mid-cap to the large-cap category within the domestic mutual fund industry. Their market capitalisation (m-cap) now ranks among the top 100, which is the threshold for the large-cap universe defined by the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
The International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) plans to operationalise the framework for direct listing of companies at International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) exchanges by the end of the year, said Chairperson K Rajaraman. He added that the amendments would be notified within three months. Further, the GIFT City regulator is also considering the launch of separate payments system regulations - similar to that of the real time gross settlement (RTGS) for banking within a few months.
The BSE has decided to move the expiry day of Bankex derivatives contracts from Friday to Monday, effective October 16, the bourse said on Wednesday. "New contracts of S&P BSE Bankex with Monday expiry will be generated on October 13, 2023, and will be available for trading with effect from October 16, 2023," the BSE said, citing the decision was based on the market feedback. The expiry of Sensex derivatives contracts will continue to be on Friday.
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has proposed key exemptions to the current listing framework and measures for setting up holding companies (holdcos) and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) to encourage domestic startups list at GIFT City, the country's only international financial services centre (IFSC). Under the current framework, to be eligible to list on IFSC exchanges, an issuing company should have operating revenue of at least $20 million in the preceding financial year and average pre-tax profits of at least $1 million during the preceding three financial years. An expert committee has noted these conditions have acted as hurdles to listing new-age companies, and they need a relook.
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