The government is nudging LIC to tweak its product strategy to maximise profitability in a bid to help the country's largest insurer realise its full growth potential and yield better returns for investors, an official said. Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has been trading below the issue price of Rs 949 a share ever since it got listed on stock exchanges on May 17. It listed at Rs 872 apiece on NSE. On Tuesday, the scrip settled at Rs 595.50, down 0.72 per cent over the previous close.
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty on Tuesday spurted by over 2.5 per cent to log their best single-day gains in three months, propelled by heavy buying in metal, energy and banking stocks amid a global rally in stocks. The 30-share BSE benchmark zoomed 1,344.63 points or 2.54 per cent to settle at 54,318.47 points with all of its constituents closing with gains. During the day, it jumped 1,425.58 points or 2.69 per cent to 54,399.42. The broader NSE Nifty rallied 417 points or 2.63 per cent to finish at 16,259.30 points.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the Russia-Ukraine crisis and the ensuing jump in global crude prices are a challenge to financial stability in India. The two issues were discussed at the meeting of Financial Stability Development Council (FSDC), which comprises all the financial sector regulators, Sitharaman told reporters in Mumbai. "It is difficult to say how it (crude prices) will go.
The RBI's financial stability report has on Wednesday highlighted the disconnect between the real economy and equity market yet again. The central bank observed that Indian equities were trading at rich valuations, with several metrics such as price to earnings multiples, price to book ratio, market cap to GDP and the cyclically adjusted P/E ratio, or Shiller P/E, at above historical averages. For instance, as on December 13, the one-year forward P/E ratio for India was 35.1 per cent, above its 10-year average, and one of the highest in the world.
ICICI Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, followed by ITC, SBI, HCL Tech, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Tech Mahindra. NSE Nifty advanced 32 points to 15,856.05.
Tech Mahindra was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, jumping over 5 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, Tata Steel and Infosys. NSE Nifty surged 191.95 points to 15,824.05.
Among top losers, Reliance Industries (RIL) sank over 4 per cent, after the company shelved a proposed deal to sell a 20 per cent stake in its oil refinery and petrochemical business to Saudi Aramco for $15 billion. Other laggards included Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, SBI and Titan.
Two firms belonging to the Adani group - India's most valued conglomerate - are part of the Nifty 50 index. The group, however, has no representation in the Sensex. And it could stay this way if a proposed index qualification rule change gets approved. Recently, Asia Index, a joint venture between S&P Dow Jones Indices and BSE responsible for index composition, floated a consultation paper where it proposed that a stock must have a derivative contract to be eligible for inclusion in the flagship 30-share Sensex index.
Equities went into a tailspin on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank surprised the market with a mid-cycle rate hike in a bid to tame soaring inflation.
Rising for the fourth straight day, benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty settled marginally higher after a choppy session on Friday, tracking mixed global trends amid uncertainties on the geopolitical front. The BSE Sensex opened weak and declined 414.44 points to 55,049.95 in opening deals. But within minutes, it pared all its losses and jumped 369.56 points to 55,833.95. Facing volatility, the index finally settled at 55,550.30, higher by 85.91 points or 0.15 per cent.
Tata Steel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 2 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, SBI, Kotak Bank and Dr Reddy's. NSE Nifty dropped 151.75 points to 15,727.90.
It could be a matter of concern that foreign shareholders of the NSE are registered in tax havens such as Mauritius and Cyprus.
Tech Mahindra was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 3 per cent, followed by NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank and Reliance Industries. NSE Nifty fell 185.60 points to 17,671.65.
Global markets trends, inflation, release of industrial output data and quarterly earnings will dictate movement of the equity benchmarks this week, analysts said, adding that volatility might continue amid slew of announcements of macroeconomic data at the global level too. Moreover, foreign fund movement, crude oil prices and trend in rupee would also act as major drivers for the equity market, they added. "The direction of global equity markets along with movement in dollar index and crude oil prices will continue to dominate while inflation numbers of the USA on May 11 and inflation and IIP numbers of India on May 12 will also cause volatility in the market," said Santosh Meena, head of research, Swastika Investmart Ltd.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Indiabulls is also into mutual fund and insurance advisory businesses. Though this field is extremely competitive and requires significant research skills, these are highly profitable business segments.
When shares of Nykaa's parent FSN E-Commerce Ventures skyrocketed in debut trade on Wednesday, founder Falguni Nayar and family also saw their wealth surge to nearly $7 billion. And when the markets closed for trade, the wealth was well over $7.5 billion. The dream debut of Nykaa, in a market being flooded with initial share sales, sustained the momentum till the close of the trade as the scrip registered a staggering gain of over 96 per cent to end at Rs 2,206.70 apiece on the BSE.
There are several positive reasons to invest in the NTPC offering from a three-year perspective.
The company's IPO -- the first by a private bank in a decade -- was oversubscribed a staggering 69.62 times.
Overall, the positives in favour of ONGC seem to outweigh the negatives from a long-term perspective.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
After a stellar run in 2021 that saw the S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 clock gains of 20 per cent and 22 per cent respectively, global equity markets, including India, are gearing up to welcome 2022 on a cautious note. For one, new variants of the Covid -19 infection that make current vaccines less effective is one of the key risks worth flagging, analysts said. Inflation was also a risk for this asset class in 2021, although most market participants expect that the current elevated inflation levels will be transitory.
The company commands a market valuation of Rs 31,702.37 crore (Rs 317.02 billion).
The shares of Jet Airways (India) finished Day 1 at Rs 1,304.20 on the National Stock Exchange, a gain of 18.56 per cent (Rs 204) to the IPO offer price of Rs 1,100 per share.
IDBI Bank's recent overseas money raising experience points to renewed interest in India.
India's stock exchanges have decided to jointly introduce the T+1 settlement cycle in phases from February 25, beginning with the bottom 100 stocks by market capitalisation. From March 2022, on the last Friday (or the immediate next trading day) of every month, the next 500 stocks from the bottom will be subject to T+1 settlement. The phase-wise implementation is expected to give all market participants, including foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), ample time to shift to the shorter cycle. The settlement cycle represents the time period within which the stock exchanges have to settle security transactions.
Among the gainers, microfinance player Ujjivan Financial Services which made its stock market debut in May has seen the biggest rally in its share price.
In the broader market, BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices mirrored the gains in headline indices and rose 1% and 0.9% respectively.
Wonderla's Rs 180-crore ( Rs 1.80 billion) offering had seen demand to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore ( Rs 60 billion).
The stock fell by 24.5 per cent to its 52-week low level of Rs 111.25 in opening trade at the BSE.
As economic policy making moves from pragmatism to populism, the bulls begin to make way for cautious optimists.
The market was all set for another positive opening today and one of the major triggers was the successful Maruti IPO that gave PSU stocks the desired push.
InterGlobe has raised Rs 3,008.5 crore.
BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices hit their fresh lifetime highs for the second day in a row
As the Indian equities signed off 2019 on a remarkable note, the m-cap of BSE-listed companies rose by Rs 11,05,363.35 crore to Rs 1,55,53,829.04 crore.
They took investor money via IPOs and then disappeared.
As and when the GST comes in, Budget projections will have to be unbundled and revised. In fact, the pragmatic decision would be to present another Budget! This makes the passage of the Finance Bill with its multiple unrelated amendments seem even more dubious, says Devangshu Datta.
Rumours about a spike in taxes for equity investors are flying thick and fast.
Sebi also allowed foreign investors to own up to 15 per cent stake in domestic stock and commodity exchanges
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