Equity indices were trading near the day's low in morning trade. The Nifty slipped below the 15,250 level. Indices saw profit taking after hitting record high levels on Tuesday. PSU banks were in demand while IT and pharma shares witnessed selling.
At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 292.52 points or 0.56% at 51,811.14. The Nifty 50 index fell 78.8 points or 0.51% at 15,234.80.
In broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.32% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.36%.
The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1254 shares rose and 1215 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 109,491,385 with 2,418,543 deaths. India reported 136,549 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 155,913 deaths while 106,44,858 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Primary Market:
The initial public offer (IPO) of RailTel Corporation of India received bids for 16.97 crore shares as against 6.11 crore shares on offer on Wednesday (17 February 2021), according to the stock exchange data at 17:00 IST. The issue was subscribed 2.77 times. The issue opened for bidding on Tuesday, 16 February 2021, and it will close on Thursday, 18 February 2021. The price band for the IPO is set at Rs 93-94 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum lot of 155 equity shares and in multiples thereof. The IPO comprises an offer for sale (OFS) of 8,71,53,369 equity shares by the Government of India. The company will not be directly receiving any proceeds from the offer and all the offer proceeds will be received by the selling shareholder.
The IPO of Nureca received bids for 2.18 crore shares as against 14.01 lakh shares on offer on Wednesday (17 February 2021), according to the stock exchange data at 10:20 IST. The issue was subscribed 15.56 times. The issue opened for bidding on Monday, 15 February 2021, and it will close on Wednesday, 17 February 2021.
The price band for the IPO is set at Rs 396-400 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum lot of 35 equity shares and in multiples thereof. The IPO comprises of public issue of equity shares aggregating to Rs 100 crore (including anchor portion of 11,13,750 equity shares).
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty PSU Bank surged 4.63% to 2,422.35, extending its winning run to third consecutive trading session. The index has added 9% in three days.
Bank of India (up 20%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 20%), Indian Overseas Bank (up 20%), Central Bank of India (up 19.76%), UCO Bank (up 13.31%), Punjab National Bank (up 4.68%) and J&K Bank (up 4.34%) were top gainers in PSU Bank segment.
PSU banks were in demand after the media reported that the government is likely to bring amendments to two legislations later this year to facilitate privatisation of public sector banks. Earlier this month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting Budget 2021-22 announced privatisation of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) as part of disinvestment drive.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Nestle India tumbled 3.33%. The FMCG major's net profit rose 2.3% to Rs 483.31 crore on 9.16% increase in net sales to Rs 3,417.52 crore in Q4 December 2020 over Q4 December 2019. Profit before tax in the fourth quarter stood at Rs 670.17 crore, up by 9.1% from Rs 614.10 crore in the same period last year. Total sales and domestic sales for the quarter increased by 9.2% and 10.1% respectively. Domestic sales growth is broad based largely driven by volume & mix. Demand in out of home channel further improved in the quarter but continues to be impacted by COVID. Export sales were lower by 7.7% due to lower coffee exports. The company's board of directors have recommended a final dividend of Rs 65 per equity share.
GMM Pfaudler fell 0.61%. The company on Wednesday announced that it has completed the transaction to acquire a majority stake of its parent, the Pfaudler Group, from the private equity firm Deutsche Beteiligungs AG Fund VI. With this acquisition, GMM became the ultimate holding company of the Pfaudler group, with the entire business of Pfaudler being consolidated into GMM. The combined revenue of the entity is estimated to be around Rs 2000 crore (USD 267 million).
TVS Srichakra rose 1.61% after the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tamil Nadu Government for a planned capex program. The MoU will facilitate company's investment program.
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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