IPO market hopes to come out of slump in festive season, reports Sundar Sethuraman.
Reflecting nervousness over the prospect of the Federal Reserve tightening policy and event risk, traders stayed on the sidelines
Bharti Airtel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 4 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Titan, Maruti and Bajaj Finance. NSE Nifty surged 225.85 points to its record closing of 16,931.05.
Nine of the top-10 most valued companies together lost a whopping Rs 309,178.44 crore in market valuation last week as selloffs continued. In a holiday-shortened past week, the 30-share BSE Sensex plummeted 1,836.95 points or 3.11 per cent amid geopolitical tensions, global sell-off triggered by a hawkish US Federal Reserve and unabated foreign fund outflows. From the top-10 list, State Bank of India was the lone gainer as its valuation jumped Rs 18,340.07 crore to reach Rs 467,069.54 crore.
A total of 161.30 acres of land, plant, machinery and building of the Kannad Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited (Kannad SSK) located in Kannad village of Aurangabad district has been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED said in a statement.
The S&P BSE Sensex gained 57 points to end at 26,064.
A bomb disposal squad will sanitise the Islamabad Sports Complex every morning, and two escort vehicles will shadow the Indian Davis Cup team during its travel as part of multi-layer security arrangement, which is usually accorded to the Head of State, to ensure the visiting tennis players' safety and security.
The impact of the Iraqi war on the US economy cannot be gauged until enough critical data relating to the period since the war's onset is available over the next several weeks, Federal Reserve policymakers said on Monday.
Benchmark stock indices opened the week on a muted note on Monday, with the Sensex plunging nearly 483 points due to selling in IT, capital goods and banking shares amid losses in global equities. The Sensex tanked 482.61 points or 0.81 per cent to settle at 58,964.57. During the day, it tumbled 552.78 points or 0.92 per cent to 58,894.40. The 50-issue Nifty declined by 109.40 points or 0.62 per cent to finish at 17,674.95 as 29 of its stocks declined.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies reached an all-time high of Rs 261.73 lakh crore on Thursday, helped by a massive rally in the equities where the benchmark Sensex zoomed 958 points to end at a fresh lifetime peak. The 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 958.03 points or 1.63 per cent to settle at its new closing peak of 59,885.36. During the day, it gained 1,029.92 points to touch an intra-day record high of 59,957.25.
The 50-share NSE Nifty too rose by 20.35 points, or 0.19 per cent, to end at 10,908.70.
The central government is on track to meet its fiscal deficit target of 6.4 per cent of the GDP for 2022-23 on the back of strong growth in revenue collections, the World Bank said in its India Development Update on Tuesday. High nominal GDP growth in the first quarter supported strong growth in revenue collection, especially Goods and Services Tax (GST), despite tax cuts on fuel. Notwithstanding an increase in spending due to expanded fertilizer subsidies and food subsidies for vulnerable households in response to the commodity price shock, the government is on track to meet its FY22/23 fiscal deficit target of 6.4 per cent of GDP and the general government deficit is projected to decline to 9.6 per cent from 10.3 per cent in FY21/22 and 13.3 per cent in FY20/21.
Emerging markets like India and China are witnessing a remarkable transformation, despite a slowdown in economic growth, lifting millions of people out of poverty, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said.
'We are in a sweet spot.' 'Equity, on a standalone basis, will continue to remain the asset class to stay invested in.'
Benchmark indices failed to hold on to early gains and closed in the red for the seventh straight session on Thursday, with participants remaining in wait-and-watch mode ahead of the RBI's interest rate decision. Unabated selling by foreign funds added to the pressure, though a modest recovery in the rupee cushioned the fall, traders said. After rallying in early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex came under selling pressure in the afternoon session and closed 188.32 points or 0.33 per cent lower at 56,409.96.
Tech Mahindra, the top loser in the Sensex pack, shed over 2.5 per cent. It was followed by UltraTech Cement, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, HDFC, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank and TCS. NSE Nifty plunged 179.35 points to 17,745.90.
Bajaj Finserv was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 4 per cent, followed by L&T, HDFC, Axis Bank, SBI, Reliance Industries and IndusInd Bank. NSE Nifty soared 276.30 points to its new closing peak of 17,823.
A United States federal appeals court in New York has reserved the decision in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case against Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Indian markets on Thursday shrugged off any negative impact.
Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, HUL, HCL Tech and Reliance Industries, while M&M, IndusInd Bank, ITC, PowerGrid and L&T were among the losers. The NSE Nifty settled 190.80 points, or 2.51 per cent, down at 7,801.05.
Domestic equities will be mainly driven by global market trends, foreign institutional investors' movement and developments around new Covid variant Omicron this week, according to analysts. Markets traded under pressure last week following weak global cues and overall investor sentiment remained downbeat throughout the week, they observed. "Global markets, Omicron variant, dollar index and FIIs' behaviour will be key factors to drive the market this week," said Santosh Meena, head of research, Swastika Investmart Ltd. One major event last week was US Federal Reserve's announcement that it will end bond-buying from March, and it also signalled starting rate hike cycle thereafter.
A Pakistani court reserved its decision on Monday, on a petition filed by authorities to challenge an anti-terrorism court's order rejecting a plea to declare Ajmal Kasab and Fahim Ansari as fugitives. A Rawalpindi-based bench of the Lahore High Court comprising Justices Rauf Ahmed Sheikh and Hasan Raza Pasha reserved its decision after hearing arguments by the counsel for the Federal Investigation Agency, which had filed the petition on April 10.
Despite markets turning volatile, share sale activity at India Inc has surged to its highest level in five months. So far in March, promoters, strategic investors and other large shareholders have been able to offload shares worth more than Rs 33,000 crore-the most since November-defying uncertain market conditions. Both the Sensex and the Nifty are on course to post their fourth straight monthly loss amid headwinds, such as interest rate tightening by the US Federal Reserve and the global banking crisis.
FPIs have turned net sellers in 2022 after being net buyers in the last three years.
Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, soaring around 8 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, SBI, Bajaj Auto and HDFC Bank. NSE Nifty surged 211.50 points to 14,864.55.
'We are not entirely out of the woods.' 'The broader trajectory remains tentative.' 'However, we may expect some near-term bounce.'
The rupee ended lower by six paise at 65.73 against the US dollar on Monday.
An escalation in the already simmering tensions between North and South Korea, China and Taiwan, and Russia and Ukraine could prove to be a bigger worry for the markets over the next few months rather than central bank policy action, said analysts. The markets, they said, are still not fully factoring in this possibility. "The conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia is another geopolitical worry.
Historically, March has been a volatile month for Indian equity markets. To begin with, it marks the end of a financial year, wherein there is some compulsive portfolio rebalancing trade by large funds - domestic and foreign. Retail investors, too, prefer to 'cash in' on their gains and losses before the financial year runs out.
'The Odisha government has changed the image of the state by making it a sporting hub of the country with high performance centres, state-of-the-art training facilities and hosting big tournaments. The sports loving people of Sundergarh and Odisha will not forget this while voting.'
The hacking took place on the night of February 4.
The S&P BSE Sensex surged 217 points to end at 25,736.
There are already some signs of stress in this market.
Amid volatility in stock markets generated by tension between Russia and the US over Ukraine, LIC chairman M R Kumar on Monday said that the insurance behemoth was watching the geo-political situation carefully, though it was keen on listing of the IPO in March. The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has already filed the DRHP with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its initial public offering (IPO). "We are watching the situation closely and carefully...but we are very keen on having listing in March," Kumar said, when asked about the impact of the evolving geopolitical situation on the upcoming IPO.
A sharp rally in domestic stocks from June lows has once again rendered Indian markets expensive to their emerging-market (EM) peers. The 12-month forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple for the Nifty50 Index is around 20.6x - 82 per cent higher than 11.3 per cent for the MSCI EM Index. India's valuation premium has hit a five-month high. This is on the back of sharp outperformance to EM and global peers from June lows and also due to earnings downgrades, following the April-June quarter of 2022-23 earnings.
The ED had arrested Kejriwal on March 21, hours after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the federal anti-money laundering agency.
Expressing reservations on some clauses in the two bills introduced in the Lok Sabha relating to a federal agency and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment, the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Wednesday demanded the proposed legislations be referred to the Standing Committee of Parliament.
Strong dollar will impact financial system in India.
India Inc on Monday said that the Interim Budget was 'absolutely' up to the expectations.
