Sensex opens over 100 points at 40,540, Nifty around 11,950
New Delhi: With Nifty around 11,950 level, the markets have a good start on Thursday. The Sensex opened over 100 points up or 0.35% at 40554.05, and the Nifty up 38.10 points or 0.32% at 11948.30. About 397 shares have advanced, 109 shares declined, and 22 shares remain unchanged. Yes Bank, Bharti Infratel, Vedanta, BPCL, Cipla, Hindalco Industries, Vodafone Idea and Tata Motors are among major gainers on the Indices.
While losers include Bharti Airtel, Zee Ent, ONGC, HDFC and Britannia Industries. Benchmark indices were trading firm in the pre-opening session. At 09:01 hrs, the Sensex was up 98.91 points or 0.24% at 40511.48, and the Nifty up 24.80 points or 0.21% at 11935.
The Indian rupee gained in the early trade on Thursday. It opened 15 paise higher, up by at 70.69 per dollar against Wednesday’s close 70.84. Note that the dollar witnessed its steepest losses in weeks on Thursday, after the US Federal Reserve’s benign inflation outlook hosed down expectations for a rate hike any time soon, pushing the Treasury yields lower.
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, which recently concluded its Rs 750-crore IPO, is scheduled to make the stock market debut today. The IPO, which was open for subscription during December 2-4, was subscribed more than 170 times at a price band of Rs 36-37 per share. The bank has also been generating a healthy ROA of 2.5% and ROE of 19%. At the upper price band of Rs 37, the stock is offered at 2.3x P/BV (post issue), which is at a significant discount to its peers.
According to Gaurav Garg, Head of Research CapitalVia Global Research Limited, “An oversubscription of 165 times is expected to result into a positive response in the secondary market. Thus, it looks like a good avenue for long term investment.”
Note that Industrial production data for the month of October and consumer price index-based (CPI) inflation print for the month of November are slated to be released later today.
Asian stocks on Thursday edged higher after the Federal Reserve signalled rate settings were likely to remain accommodative but the imminent UK election and a deadline for Sino-US trade talks kept investors cautious. In the overnight trade, Wall Street’s main stock indices moved modestly higher.
