Indian Share Markets Open Lower; Tata Steel & SBI Top Losers

Wed, 24 Mar 09:30 am | Yash Vora, TM Team

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Asian stock markets fell today as the cost of the US stimulus and infrastructure plans and new pandemic curbs limited investors' risk appetite.

The Nikkei is trading lower by 2.1% while the Hang Seng is trading down by 1.7%. The Shanghai Composite is up 1.1%.

In US stock markets, Wall Street indices closed broadly lower overnight and gave back nearly all of their gains from a day earlier as technology, industrial and banking stocks fell.

Technology stocks were the biggest drag on the market and pushed the Nasdaq 150 points lower, or down 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 308 points, or 0.9%.

Back home, Indian share markets have opened on a negative note, following the trend on SGX Nifty and amid weak signals from Asian markets.

Shares of Anupam Rasayan are set to list on the bourses today. The specialty chemicals company raised Rs 7.6 billion through its public issue which was subscribed 44 times.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 302 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 91 points.

Asian Paints is among the top gainers today. SBI, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index has opened down by 0.1%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.1%.

Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note with stocks in the banking sector and metal sector witnessing selling pressure.

Power stocks and healthcare stocks, on the other hand, are trading in green.

Shares of Adani Power and Adani Gas hit their 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 72.53 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.3% at Rs 44,796 per 10 grams.

Speaking of stock markets, in his latest video for Vijay Bhambwani talks about the possibility of a market crash.

The recent volatility has added to the worries of investors and traders alike. The market is certainly overheated but will it crash anytime soon?

If so then when can we expect it? What will be the scale and duration of such a crash?

Vijay answers these questions in the below video. Tune in to find out more.

In news from the PSU space, the government has collected Rs 303.7 billion as dividend from Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) so far in the current fiscal.

Learn: How to Potentially Accumulate Rs 7 Crore in Wealth Over the Long-term

In the revised budget estimate, the government significantly lowered the dividend receipt from the CPSEs to Rs 347.2 billion from Rs 657.5 billion estimated earlier for this financial year.

"Dividend receipts of GoI (Government of India) from CPSEs stand at about Rs 30,369 crore in the current financial year (as of 22.3.2021)," DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said in a tweet.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) also said that it has received multiple applications for BEML.

Last month, the government extended the deadline for submitting preliminary bids for buying a 26% stake in defence PSU BEML till March 22.

Reports state that the government is unlikely to extend the Expression of Interest (EoI) timeline for Bharat Earth Movers (BEML).

In January, the government invited EoI for the strategic disinvestment of a 26% stake in BEML along with the transfer of management control.

At the current market price, a 26% stake would fetch over Rs 10 billion for the government.

The government holds a 54.03% stake in the company. BEML is a 'Miniratna' Category-1 Central Public Sector Enterprise under the control of the Defense Ministry.

We will keep you updated on the latest developments from this space. Stay tuned.

Speaking of the defence sector, have a look at the chart below which shows the top 5 military spending countries in the world as of 2019:

According to a SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) report, India was the third largest military spending country in the world in 2019.

Here's what we wrote about it in one of the editions of

Co-head of Research at Equitymaster, Tanushree Banerjee keeps a close watch on stocks in the defence space. As per Tanushree, defence will be a big wealth-creating opportunity.

Back in June 2020, she recorded a video about India's best defence stocks.

You can watch the video here: The Upside in India's Best Bulletproof Defence Stocks.

Moving on to news from the engineering sector, Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) is among the top buzzing stocks today.

The central government is all set to sell its 15% stake in Rail Vikas Nigam via an offer for sale (OFS) to raise nearly Rs 7.6 billion.

The issue will open today for non-retail investors, and on Thursday for retail investors, the company informed in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

The floor price has been fixed at Rs 27.50 a share, a 9.54% discount to yesterday's closing price of Rs 30.40.

Note that the stock of the public sector undertaking (PSU), which executes railway infrastructure projects, nosedived during the pandemic and was trading below its book value. However, it recovered and hit a 52-week high of Rs 35.60 on January 11, 2021.

The base issue size of the OFS is 10% or over 183.2 million equity shares, with a green-shoe option to retain over-subscription of 5% or over 91.6 million shares.

The government held 87.84% stake in the firm as of December, and following the sale, its holding will fall to 74.67%.

RVNL share price has opened the day down by 6.9%.

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!

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