SGX Nifty Up 154 Points, 5 Reasons Why Sensex Fell Below 50,000-Mark, Nazara Technologies IPO, and Buzzing Stocks Today

Thu, 18 Mar Pre-Open | Yash Vora, TM Team

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On Wednesday, Indian share markets extended losses in the final hour of trade and ended deep in the red.

Benchmark indices turned volatile, tracking mixed cues from Asian peers as investors weighed the impact of rising Covid-19 cases, and awaited the outcome of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

At the closing bell on Wednesday, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 562 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty ended down by 189 points.

ITC was among the top gainers. ONGC, on the other hand, was among the top losers.

The BSE Mid cap index and the BSE Small cap index ended down by 2.3% and 2.1%, respectively.

On the sectoral front, energy stocks, power stocks and realty stocks were among the hardest hit.

Shares of Deepak Fertilizers and KEI Industries hit their respective 52-week highs yesterday.

At 8:15 am today, the SGX Nifty was trading up by 154 points, or 1.1% higher at 14,930 levels. Indian share markets are headed for a gap-up opening today following the trend on SGX Nifty.

The rupee was trading at 72.50 against the US$.

Gold prices were trading up by 0.3% at Rs 44,968 per 10 grams at the time of closing stock market hours yesterday.

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Why Indian Stock Markets Plunged Yesterday

Weak Global Cues: Asian stock markets came under pressure yesterday as investors assessed economic recovery and the risk of a shift in the Fed's dovish policy projections.

US Fed Outcome: Investors turned cautious ahead of the US Fed outcome. While the Fed is expected to keep the rates low, investors are keen to see Fed's commentary on the economy and inflation.

Rising Covid-19 Cases: Rising Covid-19 cases dampened investor sentiments. India's daily coronavirus infections jumped by 28,903 on Wednesday, data from the health ministry showed.

It was the highest increase since December 13, taking the nationwide tally to 11.44 million.

Rising Bond Yields: Another factor that has turned out to be a concern is rising bond yields globally. The US 10-year yield, firm at around 1.62%, is keeping bulls down.

Profit Booking: Apart from the above, losses were also seen as share market succumbed to profit-booking.

We will keep you updated on how these factors develop in the coming days and what effect they have on Indian stock markets. Stay tuned!

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Top Stocks in Action Today

Deepak Fertilisers share price will be among the top buzzing stocks today as the company's promoter increased stake in the firm via the open market.

The disclosure made by Deepak Fertiliser to the stock exchange reveals that Robust Marketing Services Private, the promoter of the company, acquired 685,872 equity shares worth Rs 131.6 million through the open market between February 25 and March 13. Post-acquisition, Robust Marketing Services' holding in Deepak Fertilisers increased to 10.25% from 9.58% earlier.

AU Small Finance Bank share price will also be in focus today as the company announced that it has raised Rs 6.3 billion through the issuance of 5 million equity shares under its Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP).

The bank intends to use the net proceeds for supporting long-term growth aligned to the bank's internal risk appetite, to maintain sufficient headroom over and above the regulatory capital adequacy requirements, and for general corporate requirements or any other purposes, it said.

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Market participants will also track Vedanta share price.

Vedanta's promoter, Vedanta Resources Plc, raised the open offer price for buying shares in flagship Indian firm to Rs 235 per share from Rs 160 per share earlier.

Vedanta Resources has also revised the number of shares it wants to buy to 651 million shares (17.51% of voting share capital of Vedanta) as compared to 371.7 million shares earlier (10% of voting share capital of Vedanta earlier).

Nazara Technologies IPO Sees Good Retail Participation

In news from the IPO space...

The initial public offering (IPO) of Nazara Technologies, which is backed by marquee investors Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and IIFL, has seen a subscription of 3.53 times on 17 March, the first day of bidding.

Retail investors put in 14.5 times more bids than the portion reserved for them. The portion set aside for non-institutional investors was subscribed 2.6 times and that of employees is booked 2.1 times.

The company is planning to raise around Rs 5.8 billion through this issue, of which it has already garnered Rs 2.6 billion via anchor book.

Goldman Sachs India, Government of Singapore, Aberdeen Standard Asia Focus, Fidelity Funds, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Nomura, Hornbill Orchid India Fund and Steadview Capital Mauritius, invested in the mobile gaming company through anchor book route.

The IPO is an offer for sale (OFS) of 5.3 million shares being sold in the price band of Rs 1,100-1,101 per equity share, representing a 16.7% stake in the company.

To know more about the company, you can read our note on the IPO here: Nazara Technologies IPO: Should You Apply? (requires subscription).

Centre Issues Guidelines for Recall of Defective Vehicles

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on March 17 issued a new set of guidelines for the recall of defective vehicles by automobile manufacturers.

As part of the new guidelines, the government has asked automobile companies to recall vehicles in case the number of complaints about a defective part in a particular model rises beyond a threshold.

The new rules are part of the government's plans to increase safety standards of vehicles in the country.

In 2020, recalls made by auto firms to repair potential vehicle defects hit a four-year high with nearly 380,000 recalls recorded in the year.

For two-wheelers, if the number of complaints rises beyond 20% of sales or 600, for vehicles whose annual sales are up to 3,000 units, manufacturers will be obliged to recall the particular model of the vehicles.

Similarly, for two-wheelers with sales between 3,001 - 60,000 units annually, if the number of complaints rise beyond 600 plus 10% of sales beyond 3,000, manufacturers will be obliged to recall the particular model of the vehicles.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

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