Indian equity markets have seen rise in volatility in the last couple of days on the back of increasing turmoil in Ukraine. While US is consistently trying to engage with Russia, there is no cool off visible yet. The selling pressure amid volatility, in the benchmark indices, continued for the fourth consecutive session on Monday as BSE Sensex slipped 149 points to 57,684, while the Nifty 50 declined 70 points to 17,207. “Nifty has been trading in a broader range of 16,800-17,400 for the last one month and needs a decisive breakout on either side for a clear direction. We don’t expect the volatility to cool down until the geo-political issues are resolved. Further issues like Inflation, FIIs selling and upcoming Fed rate hike could add to the volatility in the near term,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
Stocks in focus on Tuesday, 22 February 2022
ICICI Bank: ICICI Bank on Monday said it has acquired 9.49% stake in Verve Financial Services Pvt Ltd. for nearly Rs 20 crore. Since the acquisition of shareholding is below 10%, regulatory approval is not required and the transaction is expected to close by March-end, the lender said in an exchange filing. On Monday, ICICI Bank shares rose 0.69% to close at Rs 754.05 apiece on NSE.
Bharti Airtel: Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has joined the ‘SEA-ME-WE-6’ undersea cable consortium in a bid to scale up its high-speed global network capacity to serve India’s fast-growing digital economy. Airtel said it is participating as a “major investor” in the SEA-ME-WE-6 and is anchoring% of the overall investment in the cable system, which will go live in 2025. The 12 other consortium members of SEA-ME-WE-6 include Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company, Dhiraagu (Maldives), Djibouti Telecom, Mobily (Saudi Arabia), Orange (France), Singtel (Singapore), Sri Lanka Telecom, Telecom Egypt, Telekom Malaysia, and Telin (Indonesia).
Adani Group stocks: Gautam Adani-led Adani Group has signed a non-binding pact with Nasdaq-listed Ballard Power Systems to evaluate a joint venture for investment in commercial production of hydrogen fuel cells for various mobility and industrial applications in India. According to the MoU, both parties will examine various options to cooperate, including potential collaboration for fuel cell manufacturing in India. Adani Enterprises’ newly formed arm Adani New Industries Limited (ANIL) will be housing the group’s green hydrogen initiatives.
IDFC First Bank: IDFC First Bank Managing Director and CEO V Vaidyanathan has gifted 900,000 shares worth a total of about Rs 4 crore to five of his staff to help them purchase a house, a stock exchange filing showed. Vaidyanathan has given these shares from his personal holdings, without any consideration, the filing said. “Mr V Vaidyanathan has gifted 900,000 equity shares of IDFC First Bank Limited held by him to the persons named below on February 21, 2022. It is declared that the recipients are personal relationships and not related to him in any manner under the definition of related parties of the Companies Act or SEBI regulations. These transactions are without consideration,” IDFC First Bank said in the filing.
IDBI Bank: Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is keen to retain some of its 49.24% stake in IDBI Bank, chairman MR Kumar said on Monday, given the strategic nature of the investment in the form of gains from the bancassurance channel. The equity stake had been bought for a strategic reason, Kumar explained, which was still relevant. “It has been the strongest contributor to our bancassurance channel. Going forward, this will help us grow that channel and so I would like to see that relationship continuing,” he said, addressing mediapersons. The insurer had infused Rs 4,743 crore in IDBI Bank in October 2019 using policyholders’ funds.
Tata Power: Tata Power has collaborated with Germany-based RWE Renewable GmbH to explore potential for a joint development of offshore wind projects in India. Tata Power Renewable Energy, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Power, which is one of India’s largest integrated power companies, has signed a memorandum of understanding with RWE Renewables GmbH, one of the world’s leaders in offshore wind, to explore the potential for a joint development of offshore wind projects in India.
Hero MotoCorp: Hero MotoCorp on Monday said it has created a new position, titled Chief Growth Officer, integrating the marketing, sales and after-sales functions and has appointed Ranjivjit Singh to the post with immediate effect. Singh, who has been heading the marketing function at the two- wheeler major, is being elevated to this newly constituted role, the company said in a statement. Naveen Chauhan, who has been heading the Sales & After-Sales (SAS) function since April 1, 2020, has decided to move on and pursue opportunities outside of the company. He will stay on in the organisation till February 28 to ensure a smooth transition, it added.
HDFC Bank: An appellate tribunal has dismissed a Sebi order against HDFC Bank in a case related to invoking securities pledged by stockbroker BRH Wealth Kreators. In January 2021, Sebi had imposed a Rs 1 crore fine on the private lender and directed to transfer Rs 158.68 crore along with 7% interest per annum into an escrow account till the issue of settlement of clients’ securities was reconciled.
Vedanta: Vedanta Ltd on Monday announced it has made an oil discovery in its exploratory well in Rajasthan’s Barmer district. In a regulatory filing, the company said it has notified the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas about the oil discovery in a block that was awarded to it under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP). It has also informed the Management Committee, the block oversight panel, of the discovery made in the OALP block.
Tata group stocks: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear in open court a review plea filed by Cyrus Investments Ltd. against its order setting aside an appellate tribunal order which had restored Cyrus Mistry as the executive chairman of the Tata group. The petitions will be heard in open court on 9 March.
