Sensex in Green, Nifty Above 17,550; ONGC, Adani Ports, Airtel Top Gainers

The Nikkei decline 1.6% while the Hang Seng fell 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite is flat.

In US stock markets, Wall Street indices ended mixed amid worries about higher interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.5%.

Back home, Indian share markets have opened on a positive note, following the trend on SGX Nifty.

Benchmark indices started higher today, supported by firm global cues and buying in index heavyweight stocks.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 157 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 53 points.

Bharti Airtel and NTPC are among the top gainers today. Maruti Suzuki, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index are trading higher by 0.5% and 1.2%, respectively.

Barring metal and IT stocks, all sectoral indices are trading in green with stocks in the oil & gas sector and power sector witnessing most of the buying.

Shares of Bharti Airtel and SIS hit their 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 74.50 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.5% at ₹47,659 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading up by 0.4% at ₹62,810 per kg.

Crude oil prices fell today as the US-led coordinated release of stocks from strategic reserves eased concerns over tightness in global supply, while investors took profits from the previous day's rally ahead of the US Thanksgiving holiday.

Speaking of the current stock market scenario, despite the BSE Small cap index surging over 1.8 times, Richa Agarwal, lead Smallcap Analyst at Equitymaster, believes small cap stocks are set for a massive up move in 2021 and beyond.

Here's why...

The Smallcap to Sensex ratio has risen from 0.32 times to 0.48 times. This compares to long term median of 0.43 times. It has moderated from 0.51 in August 2021 post the recent rise in Sensex.

More importantly, it is way lower than the previous peak ratios: 0.76 in September 2005, 0.68 in January 2008, 0.55 in September 2010, and 0.58 in January 2018.

This relative valuation indicator suggests there is still a lot of juice in the rally.

In latest developments from the IPO space, Safecrop Investments India, Westbridge and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-promoted Star Health and Allied Insurance Company has fixed a price band of ₹870-900 per share for its initial public offer (IPO).

The issue will open for subscription on 30 November and close on 2 December 2021. If there’s any anchor book, the IPO may open for investors for a day on 29 November.

The IPO consists of a fresh issuance of shares worth ₹20 bn and an offer for sale (OFS) of 58.3 m equity shares by several shareholders.

The company has reserved shares worth ₹1 bn for its employees. The share allotment will get finalised by 7 December.

Note that this would be the third largest IPO in issue size in current year 2021. The public issue will fetch Star Health ₹72.5 bn at upper price band.

Star Health offers a range of flexible and comprehensive coverage options primarily for retail health, group health, personal accident and overseas travel, claiming to be the largest private health insurer in India with a market share of 15.8% in the Indian health insurance market in fiscal 2021.

Currently, promoters including Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Safecrop Investments India LLP and WestBridge AIF I have a 66.2% shareholding in the company. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and his wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala combined are the second largest shareholders in the company with 18.2% stake.

How this IPO sails through remains to be seen.

Moving on to stock specific news…

Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) is among the top buzzing stocks today.

BPCL will soon float a tender for a 20 MW electrolyser to build India’s largest green hydrogen plant as it aims to achieve net-zero emissions for its operations by 2040.

The company’s chairman Arun Kumar Singh said BPCL is working out the details and aims to firm up its net-zero roadmap by next March.

It will cover all of BPCL’s operations, including refineries, pipelines, depots, and bottling plants, but will not include customers’ or suppliers’ emissions.

Note that climate change concerns have pushed most major economies and several companies to set a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target for themselves. Oil majors BP and Shell plan to turn net-zero by 2050 while Reliance Industries has set a target to achieve this feat by 2035.

BPCL currently uses 650 MW of energy, including 550 MW of grid power and internal gas turbine generation power, which is expected to rise to 1,000 MW by 2027, after factoring in green hydrogen obligation.

BPCL will put up 20 MW electrolyser at its refinery in Bina, Madhya Pradesh to produce green hydrogen. This will be double the size of GAIL’s recent tender for 10 MW electrolyser, the largest so far.

However, Singh added that BPCL’s progress on green hydrogen will depend on the way the government policy shapes up, especially the mandate on the use of green hydrogen by refiners.

BPCL is also becoming future ready for a future when electric vehicles (EVs) are expected to become popular. The company aims to set up 7,000 EV charging stations over the next few years.

Shares of BPCL are currently trading higher by 1.3%.

This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com