Back
PremiumWelcome to the Mint live blog. Track this space for the latest stock market updates.
Benchmark equity indices recovered in the latter part of the session on Wednesday to end at record highs led by banks, financials and auto stocks.
Sensex gained 227 points to close at 44,180, while Nifty settled 0.5% higher at 12,938. M&M was the biggest gainer, surging 11%, while Bajaj Finserv closed around 7% higher. HUL was the biggest laggard.
On the Sensex, 15 stocks advanced and an equal number declined. On Nifty, 26 shares rose and 24 fell. Midcap and small cap stocks shone in trade today.
Shares of Lakshmi Vilas Bank were stuck at the 20% lower circuit on fear that shareholders may see their equity value erode if the Reserve Bank of India’s proposal to merge the cash-hollowed lender with DBS India goes through.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned to 19 November the hearing on a batch of petitions seeking directions on issues concerning the six-month loan moratorium announced amid the covid-19 pandemic.
Petitioners seeking relief in terms of waiver of interest over interest include power producers and builders. They also sought relief on the interest charged by banks and NBFCs. On the previous date of hearing the court had directed all the parties to file their documents.
Markets regulator Sebi has tweaked its framework pertaining to allotment of units by emerging investment vehicle InvIT on a preferential basis.
The preferential issue of units would not be made to any person who has sold or transferred any units of the issuer during the six months preceding the relevant date, the regulator said in a circular.
Explaining further, Sebi said, "where any person belonging to sponsor (s) has sold/ transferred their units of the issuer during the six months preceding the relevant date, the sponsor(s) shall be ineligible for allotment of units on preferential basis".
State-owned upstream oil company Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd’s (ONGC) standalone revenue fell almost 31% year-on-year in the September quarter. This was a reasonable improvement from the 51% revenue drop seen in the June quarter. Better crude price realisations helped, which increased to $41.4 per barrel last quarter from $28.7 a barrel in the June quarter. But note that September quarter realisations are still 31% lower year-on-year.
ONGC’s reported net profit of ₹2,877 crore includes the impact of an exceptional item worth about ₹1,240 crore pertaining to impairment loss.
But ONGC’s shares have hardly budged since its results were announced late last week, staying in the range of ₹71-72 apiece. In fact, the stock is far away from its pre-covid highs seen in January, having declined as much as 45%. This at a time when benchmark indices, Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex have touched an all-time high this week.
Asian markets ended mixed with Japan's Nikkei 225 losing 1.1%. Korea's Kospi 0.3% and Australia's ASX 200 added 0.4%.
Shanghai SE Composite Index of China gained 0.22% and Hang Seng of Hong Kong rose 0.5%
Shares of Adani Gas today surged as much as 19% to ₹348, hitting a fresh 52-week high today and also extended gains to the fourth day. In the last two days, Adani Gas shares have logged gains over 40% amid heavy volumes.
Hiring in the IT sector is expected to pick up in 2021, especially in new-age digital skills whose demand have seen a spike, as organizations have accelerated their digital transformation initiatives. (Full report)
European stocks slipped on Wednesday as worries about further economic damage and fresh lockdown measures caused by a resurgent pandemic dented recent optimism over promising vaccine trial results.
London's FTSE fell 0.31%, Euronext 100 fell 2.90%, France's CAC 40 fell 3.37% Germany's DAX was flat.
Vedanta Group on Wednesday confirmed putting in a preliminary expression of interest (EoI) for buying government's stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL).
Vedanta's interest in India's second largest fuel retailer is because of synergies with its existing oil and gas business.
The government is selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL and last date of putting EoI was November 16.
Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund on Wednesday said its six shut schemes have received ₹941 crore from maturities, pre-payments and coupon payments in a fortnight.
Franklin Templeton MF shut six debt mutual fund schemes on April 23, citing redemption pressures and lack of liquidity in the bond market.
The six schemes received ₹941 crore from maturities, pre-payments and coupon payments during the period October 30 to November 13, 2020, the fund house said in a statement.
This includes ₹814 crore received as pre-payments and takes the total cash flows received till date since April 24, 2020, to ₹9,682 crore, it added.
Bitcoin is now just a heartbeat away from its 2017 peak, but the current rally has been disproportionately powered by institutional investments betting on the cryptocurrency. The enthusiasm about the rally is, however, lacking among retail investors.
A bitcoin is now worth ₹12.4 lakh, more than double its January value of ₹6 lakh, and nearly three times its March low of ₹3.8 lakh. Bitcoin had hit a record price on 15 December 2017, when it was worth ₹12.6 lakh.
According to experts, the rebound is driven by institutional interest in the US, with many companies investing part of their treasuries in such assets. Rupee depreciation against the dollar also contributed to a faster rebound for bitcoin-denominated in Indian rupees. The rupee has weakened from around ₹64 to the dollar in December 2017 to its current exchange rate of ₹74.5. (Full report)
Tarun Katial has quit as chief executive officer of ZEE5, the video streaming service owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, people familiar with the development said. Amit Goenka, president - digital businesses and platforms will lead the ZEE5 team, along with other digital platforms.
Katial had been appointed CEO in May 2018 after being handed additional responsibilities at ZEEL including television and digital content production while serving as chief executive officer of Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd (RBNL). In 2016, ZEEL had acquired the general entertainment TV broadcasting business of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group. Big Magic and Big Ganga were two operational TV channels under RBNL.
Indiamart Intermesh Ltd and Just Dial Ltd are engaged in a legal wrangle over copyright infringement issues that may delay the latter’s plan to launch its own business-to-business (B2B) marketplace with JD Mart.
Online B2B marketplace Indiamart, which was founded in 1996, sued Just Dial in the Delhi high court in November alleging that Just Dial infringed upon its copyright over the website compilations that Indiamart made after years of hard work.
The length of national highway construction being awarded by the government has gathered pace in the current financial year. During April-October, 5,697 km highways have been awarded, up 1.9 times during the same period a year ago.
Highway construction is gradually gaining momentum and is close to last year’s timeline, a senior government official told Mint. As much as 4,628 km of roads have been constructed in the seven months of the current financial year, as compared to over 5,100 km during the same period a year ago, according to the official.
L&T bags order to supply 46 units Komatsu mining equipment from Tata Steel. This is the infra major’s biggest ever order for its construction & mining equipment business
Pfizer is "very close" to applying for an emergency use approval for its Covid-19 vaccine after collecting safety data to submit to US regulators, the company's CEO said on Tuesday, according to a report. Last week, Pfizer and its partner BioNTech SE reported that an interim analysis showed their experimental vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing symptomatic cases of Covid-19.
Lenders to troubled DHFL are looking at a repayment strategy for 55,000 fixed deposit holders as part of a resolution plan. According to the minutes of a meeting of the committee of creditors (CoC) held last week, the lenders are looking at various scenarios to distribute the proceeds of the funds received from the new investor.
The Indian rupee opened on a flat note at 74.49 against the US dollar, down 3 paise from Tuesday's close.
Old generation private sector lender, Lakshmi Vilas Bank would be the third bank to get rescued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in a span of just a year.
While this highlights the unsavoury weak points of India’s banking system, the speed of resolution this time shows that the regulator has come a long way in such rescue operations.
For Lakshmi Vilas Bank, the RBI announced an amalgamation scheme within minutes of putting the bank under moratorium. This was in contrast to what conspired with Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank where depositors’ pain still continues. In the case of Yes Bank, a large private sector lender, the banking regulator had put together a resolution within two weeks after imposing a moratorium. (Full report)
Engineering major has delivered the first hardware--a booster segment--for the Gaganyaan Launch Vehicle to ISRO ahead of schedule, despite covid-19 restrictions.
Gold and silver prices in India edged lower today, tracking muted global cues. On MCX, gold futures today fell 0.43% to ₹50,546 per 10 gram, extending losses to the third day. Silver futures on MCX also declined 0.6% to ₹62,875 per kg.
The banking regulator on Tuesday seized control of the struggling Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) and forced a merger with the local unit of Singapore’s largest lender DBS Bank, the first time the central bank has tapped a bank with a foreign parent to backstop an Indian rival.
As part of the merger process, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the Union government, on the request of the regulator, has capped deposit withdrawals at ₹25,000 at LVB for a month.
India’s second-largest drugmaker Cipla Ltd on Wednesday announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with a Belgium-based firm, Multi G for the distribution of their coronavirus Rapid Antibody test kit, across most emerging markets and Europe.
This licencing agreement is part of Mumbai-based Cipla’s efforts to enhance global access to life- saving treatments and diagnostic infrastructure for patients in need.
Indiamart Intermesh Ltd and Just Dial Ltd are engaged in a legal wrangle over copyright infringement issues that may delay the latter’s plan to launch its own business-to-business (B2B) marketplace with JD Mart.
Online B2B marketplace Indiamart, which was founded in 1996, sued Just Dial in the Delhi high court in November alleging that Just Dial infringed upon its copyright over the website compilations that Indiamart made after years of hard work.
Download the App to get 14 days of unlimited access to Mint Premium absolutely free!
