Asian share markets opened higher today after the Federal Reserve pledged to keep monetary policy and rates unchanged and projected a rapid jump in US economic growth this year as the Covid-19 crisis eases.
The Nikkei is trading up by 1.6% while the Hang Seng is up 1.5%. The Shanghai Composite is trading higher by 0.7%.
In US stock market, Wall Street indices closed higher overnight, reversing an early slide after the Federal Reserve reassured that it expects to keep its key interest rate near zero through 2023.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 189 points or 0.6%, while the Nasdaq, which was down 1.5% earlier in the session, rose 0.4%.
Back home, Indian share markets have opened on a strong note, following the trend on SGX Nifty.
The BSE Sensex is trading up by 316 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 92 points.
Bajaj Finance is among the top gainers today. Infosys, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.
Both, the BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index have opened higher by 1%.
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Barring IT stocks, all sectoral indices are trading in green with stocks in the consumer durables sector and banking sector witnessing most of the buying interest.
Market participants are tracking SpiceJet share price today. On a YTD basis, shares of SpiceJet have declined about 18%.
One factor that's weighing on sentiments for aviation stocks is the rising trend in crude oil prices. Average aviation turbine fuel prices across four metros have been recently increased by 7%.
The rupee is trading at 72.40 against the US$.
Gold prices are trading up by 0.7% at Rs 45,164 per 10 grams.
In news from the IPO space...
The initial public offer (IPO) of Kalyan Jewellers India was subscribed 1.21 times on the second day of bidding, March 17 as it received bids for 115.6 million equity shares against the offer size of 95.7 million equity shares.
Retail investors' reserved portion was subscribed 1.9 times while the portion set aside for non-institutional investors was subscribed 89%. Qualified institutional buyers put in 24% bids against the reserved portion of 27.2 million equity shares.
The company is planning to raise Rs 11.8 billion through the IPO which consists of a fresh issue of Rs 8 billion and an offer for sale of Rs 3.8 billion by promoter and investors.
The Warburg Pincus' backed company is selling shares in the price band of Rs 86-87 per share. The issue will close for subscription today.
Kalyan Jewellers will use the proceeds from the share sale for funding its working capital requirements and for general corporate purposes.
Among other IPOs, Nazara Technologies was witnessing huge demand as the issue was subscribed over 3 times within hours of opening.
How the above IPOs sail through remains to be seen.
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Speaking of IPOs, in his latest video, Co-head of Research at Equitymaster Rahul Shah discusses whether investing in Kalyan Jewellers IPO makes sense from a long term perspective.
Kalyan Jewellers, one of India's biggest jewellery companies is raising close to Rs 12 bn in its maiden IPO offering.
While the growth in recent years is nothing to write home about, it has ambitious plans for the future.
But is its track record and financial history as stellar as the brand name? Does the IPO pricing leave enough room for a decent upside?
Rahul discusses these points in the below video. Tune in to find out more:
Moving on to news from the telecom sector, the offer for sale (OFS) for the government's 16.1% stake in Tata Communications closed on Wednesday with the total bid a little over 46 million shares that are being divested.
The retail portion in the OFS was subscribed 1.4 times on Wednesday, the last day of the bidding, data on BSE showed.
With the average bidding price at Rs 1,171, the government will mop up nearly Rs 54 billion from this divestment.
After selling 16.1% stake through the OFS, the government will sell the remaining 10% in Tata Comm to its current main promoter Tata Sons, which will see its stake rise to about 59% in the company.
After the completion of the deal in its present form, Tata Comm will be the second listed Tata group company in which the promoter will have the highest stake. Currently, TCS holds this crown with Tata Sons holding 72%.
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Reports state that Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran could take over as chairman of Tata Comm following the changes in shareholding structure. The last time a Tata Sons chairman was also the chairman of Tata Comm was in the early 2000s. Ratan Tata held that position at Tata Comm till April 2005.
In the past, the government was a stumbling block in Tata Comm's equity fund-raising plans. The government didn't want to dilute its equity, so Tata Comm had to raise expensive debt to finance its growth initiatives.
The government had also restricted Tata Comm from investing in other Tata entities, specifically in Tata Teleservices.
We will keep you updated on the latest developments from this space. Stay tuned.
Speaking of Tata Communications, have a look at the chart below to see how the stock has performed over the past few years:
Here's what Tanushree Banerjee wrote about it in one of the editions of the Profit Hunter:
In June 2020, Tanushree recommended a traditional Indian company to her StockSelect subscribers. The company is competing in the digital space with its latest offerings.
You can access the report here. (requires subscription).
And if you are not a StockSelect subscriber, here's where you can sign up.
And to know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.
For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!
Read the latest Market Commentary
What else is happening in the markets today? Dig in...
INDIAN BANK share price is trading up by 5% and its current market price is Rs 123. The BSE BANKEX is up by 1.3%. The top gainers in the BSE BANKEX Index is INDIAN BANK (up 5.2%).
Mar 18, 2021 09:54 AMINDIABULLS REAL EST share price is trading up by 5% and its current market price is Rs 96. The BSE REALTY is up by 1.1%. The top gainers in the BSE REALTY Index is INDIABULLS REAL EST (up 5.2%). The top losers are OMAXE (down 0.1%) and PHOENIX MILL (down 0.2%).
Mar 18, 2021 09:42 AMDIXON TECHNOLOGIES share price is trading up by 11% and its current market price is Rs 4,588. The BSE CONSUMER DURABLES is up by 2.0%. The top gainers in the BSE CONSUMER DURABLES Index is DIXON TECHNOLOGIES (up 10.7%). The top losers is SYMPHONY (down 0.1%).
Mar 18, 2021 09:24 AMLAKSHMI MACHINE share price is trading down by 6% and its current market price is Rs 7,790. The BSE CAPITAL GOODS is up by 1.3%. The top gainers in the BSE CAPITAL GOODS Index are BHEL (up 6.0%) and HONEYWELL AUTOMATION (up 2.0%). The top losers is LAKSHMI MACHINE (down 6.5%).
Mar 18, 2021 09:20 AMBHEL share price is trading up by 5% and its current market price is Rs 53. The BSE CAPITAL GOODS is up by 0.7%. The top gainers in the BSE CAPITAL GOODS Index is BHEL (up 5.2%). The top losers are V GUARD INDUSTRIES (down 0.2%) and SKF INDIA (down 0.4%).
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