>> India’s FY22 growth projected at an impressive 12.6%
>> Cash market turnover at equity bourses hit new high
>> Cairn seeks to monetise arbitration award against India
>> Institutional investors make a killing on their QIB bets
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 looks headed for a positive start. Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded some 60 points higher. Other Asian markets rose marginally this morning, as falling bond yields eased concerns about surging inflation. US stocks rallied overnight, with Nasdaq recouping the losses of the previous session as US bond yields retreated. In currencies, both the dollar and the yen slipped. Bitcoin traded around $55,000.
In commodities, crude oil prices ticked higher after falling for two straight sessions. Brent futures gained 15 cents to trade at $67.67 a barrel. Gold also gained marginally.
That said, here’s what else is making news?.
Cash market turnover at stock exchanges touched a record level of Rs 88,260 crore in February buoyed by the rising ticket sizes of trades and higher investor participation. Amid the current bull run, data from NSE and BSE reflected a euphoria among investors. Daily cash volume has doubled over the past year and grown month-on-month for the past three months. NSE accounted for nearly 90% of the cash turnover.
India’s GDP growth is expected to rebound sharply to 12.6% in FY22, making it the fastest-growing economy in the world, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said in its interim economic outlook report. It said Covid-19 vaccine production in the country is “super encouraging”, but deployment speed will be crucial for recovery. Rating agency Crisil in a separate report said it expects India’s GDP growth to rebound to 11% in FY22, after an estimated 8% contraction in FY21. The agency said this will be due to four drivers: people learning to live with the new normal, flattening of the Covid-19 affliction curve, rollout of vaccinations and investment-focused government spending.
Cairn Energy is pursuing the option of monetising the arbitration award it won against India by potentially transferring the award to a third-party fund or pledging Indian assets. The company showed in an earnings statement that India’s liability stands at $1.7 billion. In December, an arbitration tribunal ruled in favour of Cairn Energy in a six-year-old retrospective tax dispute and ordered the Indian government to pay the UK firm damages of $1.2 billion plus interest and cost. The Indian government is preparing to appeal the award.
Investors pulled money out of equity mutual funds in February for the eighth month in a row, as they remained sceptical about the market’s prospects at near-record level after the sharp run-up. Debt mutual funds also witnessed outflows as the rise in bond yields eroded investor returns. Equity schemes witnessed outflows to the tune of Rs 4,534 crore in February. In the previous month, this category had seen an outflow of Rs 9,253 crore.
LASTLY…
The work-from-home brigade is not the only class of investors taking to equities in this season of high valuations. Institutions, too, are buying stocks big time and setting records on both purchases and short-term returns. The total amount raised by India Inc through the qualified institutional placement route crossed Rs 69,000 crore in FY21, with both foreign portfolio buyers and private equity fund managers pumping in large amounts. They were suitably rewarded, too, with 20 of the 27 issues in FY21 giving between 12-106% returns.
NOW Before I go, here is a look at some of the stocks buzzing this morning…
A KKR-led group of creditors is weighing an out-of-court settlement offer of Rs 1,100 crore made by Sintex group promoter Amit Patel, who wants it to withdraw insolvency proceedings filed against Sintex-BAPL at the NCLT in August.
Piramal Capital and Housing Finance, which is set to acquire Dewan Housing Finance, is raising Rs 2,000 crore from a group of public sector banks in a bond sale.
BPCL Trust on Tuesday sold 12.6 crore shares of BPCL through a bulk deal on the NSE at an average price of Rs 438.41
Bengaluru-based real estate developer Puravankara is planning to invest Rs 450 crore to develop a mixed-use project in Mumbai’s Chembur suburb, marking its entry into the country’s largest property market.
CARE and Acuite have downgraded Srei Infrastructure Finance and its subsidiary, Srei Equipment Finance, to ‘default’ category after a Delhi court allowed a review of the Kolkata financier’s creditworthiness.
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!
