· NSE shares surges in grey market, bourse now valued at Rs 87,000 cr
· Oxygen suppliers on a high on Dalal Street
· Investors turn focus back to Covid beneficiaries
· Indian crypto prices get delinked from global trends
Hi there. Welcome to ETMarkets Morning, the show about money, business and markets. I am Sandeep Singh.
Let’s start with a quick glance on the state of the markets.
Dalal Street looked set for a strong start this morning, with Nifty futures on Singapore Exchange trading about 60 points higher ahead of the opening of Indian markets. Stocks slipped at the open in other Asian markets. US stocks closed lower on Monday, slipping from last week’s record levels, as investors awaited guidance from first-quarter earnings to justify high valuations. Dow fell 123.04 points, which is almost half a per cent. In currencies, the dollar slipped, while the British pound rose about 1%. US Treasury yields edged back up and 10-year benchmark advanced 2 basis points to 1.60%. Oil edged higher towards $64 a barrel, aided by a weaker dollar, as traders monitored a patchwork demand recovery from the pandemic.
That said, here’s what else is making news.
Crypto currency prices in India are getting delinked from global peers. While an early Sunday flash crash shook traders in the world’s cryptocurrency hotspots, the prices of Indian cryptos — which should ideally shadow global prices in a seemingly seamless and decentralised system — rose on Monday. A premium of about 3% that Indian crypto rates usually trade at touched more than13% on Monday. That’s because unlike stocks, bonds, or currencies whose movements in offshore markets influence prices in India, the distortion in the crypto market stems from the absence of foreign fund inflow, dearth of fresh coin supply in India, and unclear laws on foreign investments and tax that make it difficult to cash in on lucrative arbitrage opportunities. The absence of an arbitrage can sometimes keep crypto prices in India artificially high.
Well, that’s something you should be mindful of if you trade in cryptocurrency.
NSE has seen its valuations surge 80% in the past six months as investors begin to factor in strong growth amid strong retail trading volumes and returns from IPOs last year. Brokers say NSE shares are currently trading at Rs 1,750 apiece in the unlisted market compared with Rs 900-1,000 in September last year. At the current price in the unlisted market, NSE is valued at Rs 87,000 crore.
Punters on Dalal Street are circling back to shares of companies that would benefit the most from the second wave of Covid-19. Many of these stocks had gone out of favour in recent months with the infections receding. Now, with the virus making a comeback, companies dealing in oxygen or medical equipment supplies, manufacturers of Covid-19 drugs, vaccine makers, and diagnostic centres among others are back in focus.
The shortage of oxygen for medical usage due to the ongoing healthcare crisis — with a large part of it being supplied by industrial users — is leading to strong buying in shares of the producers of this gas. The stocks of National Oxygen, Linde India, Bhagwati Oxygen, Gagan Gas and some others are attracting good investor interest. The biggest producer, Inox Air Products, however, is not listed. Along with the oxygen producers, even stocks of cylinder manufacturers like Everest Kanto Cylinders are witnessing strong buying. In the last one month, National Oxygen has gained 42% to Rs 62 now, while Linde India is up a little over 9% to Rs 1,896.
AND LASTLY, There is another interesting trend we want to talk about…
Investors are once again favouring stocks with strong fundamentals following rising market volatility as the second wave of the pandemic affects life in several parts of the country. The Nifty200 Quality 30 index, which reflects the performance of stocks based on quality score, outperformed the Nifty50 index by 3.3% over the past month. Over the past year, the quality stocks had underperformed since investors focused on cyclical sectors to take advantage of the resumption of the economic activity.
NOW Before I go, here is a look at some of the stocks buzzing this morning…
ICICI Prudential Life reported a 23% growth in its new business premium, a key metric for insurance companies, as it had record policy sales in March and forecast a strong growth this fiscal.
Future Retail approved a debt resolution plan that eases some immediate concerns as a legal battle with partner Amazon.com threatens to delay an asset sale to RIL
Kotak Mahindra Bank has tweaked its corporate lending strategy to build a bonds portfolio, seeking to reduce risks with marketable securities instead of lumpy loans that sit on the bank’s books.
Macrotech Developers, formerly Lodha Developers, made a weak debut on the bourses with the stock listing at Rs 439, a 10% discount to its issue price of Rs 486. The stock ended at Rs 463 per share on BSE.
Do also check out over two dozen stock recommendations for today’s trade from top analysts on ETMarkets.com.
That’s it for now. Stay put with us for all the market news through the day. Happy investing!
