Sensex rises, Nifty above 17,150; Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank among top gainers

The Hang Seng is up 0.7% while the Shanghai Composite is up 0.6%.

In US stock markets, Wall Street’s main indices fell on Tuesday, confirming a correction in the S&P 500, as the Ukraine-Russia crisis kept investors on edge when Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two distinct sectors in the country. and ordered troops into the field.

Indices narrowed losses and ended their lows after US President Joe Biden announced the first wave of sanctions against Russia, while he hoped diplomacy was still available.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 483 points, or 1.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 167 points, or 1.2%.

Back home, Indian stock markets opened on a positive note after the SGX Nifty trend.

Benchmark indices opened on a firm footing, ending the losing streak of the last five sessions amid rising geopolitical tensions and crude oil prices.

Market participants are tracking the stocks of Sanofi India and Gammon India as these companies announce their earnings today.

BSE Sensex is trading up 309 points. Meanwhile, NSE Nifty is trading with a gain of 90 points.

Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank are among them Today’s Top Beneficiaries, On the other hand, HUL is the biggest loser today.

BSE Mid Cap Index is up 1.3% while BSE Small Cap is trading up 1.7%.

All sectoral indices are trading in the green with realty sector, consumer durables sector and power sector being the biggest buyers.

Shares of Axita Cotton and Butterfly Gandhimati today hit a 52-week high.

Rupee is trading at 74.64 against US Dollar.

Gold prices are trading lower by 0.3% 50,195 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading with a fall of 0.2%. 64,215 per kg.

Crude oil prices eased after hitting a seven-year high in the previous session as it became clear that the first wave of US and European sanctions on Russia for sending troops to eastern Ukraine would not disrupt oil supplies.

In PSU sector news, The bidders for the government’s stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) have sought more clarity on autonomy in pricing of fuel products. They also want the government to give a realistic timeline for blending ethanol with petrol, to give them more flexibility.

As per reports, the bidders are eager for clarity on these issues as despite deregulation, oil marketing companies do not enjoy complete freedom on fuel pricing.

Oil marketing companies also have limited autonomy in product launch. For example, in petrol, while BPCL offers normal petrol 95.41 per litre, BPCL Speed ​​costs 98.46, which is very high, and is commonly used in high performance cars.

The bidders want to know whether more premium products will be allowed in ethanol blending along with normal fuel prices.

The government is planning to sell its entire 53 per cent stake in BPCL. The cabinet had approved the strategic sale in November 2019 and expressions of interest were invited in March 2020.

Despite BPCL having access to more than 14% of India’s refining capacity and 23% of the fuel market share, none of the major energy players submitted EOI.

The three players now for the company are Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Group, Apollo Global Management and ThinkGas, backed by private equity major I Squared Capital.

In other news from the PSU sector, government will provide budget 150 billion capital allocation for public sector banks in the current fiscal through non-interest bearing zero-coupon bonds.

This comes even as some banks were seeking clarity from the government, noting that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked them to account for these bonds at fair value.

In the last financial year, the government had put 200 billion through non-interest bearing securities across five lenders including Punjab and Sind Bank, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of India and UCO Bank.

The government had reduced the bank capitalization allocation 50 billion in the revised estimates for the financial year 2022 and no provision in the financial year 2023.

We will keep you informed about the latest developments in this field. stay tuned.

Coming to PSUs, take a look at the chart below which shows the performance of BSE PSU Index vis–vis BSE Sensex over the past few years.

As can be seen from the chart above, over the past decade, 100 invested in BSE’s PSU index would fall 80, compared to almost 3x gains for the Sensex.

Here’s what Richa Agarwal, Lead Smallcap Analyst at Equitymaster, wrote about PSU stocks in an edition of Profit Hunter:

However, it would be foolish to paint all PSUs with the same brush. There are exceptions in this area, which put their personal peers to shame.

In an editorial, I shared an opportunity in a PSU stock that is riding and enabling an irreversible megatrend – digitization,

Moving on to the news from the IPO sector, There is great interest and discussion in the market for Upcoming Initial Public Offering (IPO) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) said on Tuesday that the IPO will take place in the current financial year.

The government plans to hold on with its planned IPO by March 2022, even as concerns remain strong about the potential repercussions of rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

According to Sitharaman, the release of DRHP has increased interest in LIC’s IPO. Here’s what he said,’I think the way it has been prepared has generated a lot of interest.,

Sitharaman, who is in Mumbai on a two-day visit, has been meeting stakeholders from industry, trade and financial markets since February 21. The recently passed Union Budget for the financial year 2022-23 was discussed.

LIC IPO is an outright offer for sale (OFS) through which the government will reduce its 5% stake by selling 316.3 million shares.

Meanwhile on Tuesday LIC clarified that subscribers of Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) are not eligible for shares at a discounted price in the IPO.

With LIC’s IPO, it seems like an army of retail investors is sitting on the sidelines, just waiting to put their money in an initial public offering (IPO).

It remains to be seen how the IPO pans out once its price band, valuation and other key details are announced.

But whatever happens, LIC’s IPO will be the defining market event of 2022. This will test the appetite of retail investors.

This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com