Sensex Opens Lower; Realty and Power Stocks Under Pressure

Tue, 18 Feb 09:30 am

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Asian stock markets are lower today as Chinese and Hong Kong shares fall. The Shanghai Composite is off 0.4% while the Hang Seng is down 1.3%. The Nikkei 225 is trading down by 1.2%.

Back home, India share markets opened lower. The BSE Sensex is trading down by 135 points while the NSE Nifty is trading down by 61 points. The BSE Mid Cap index opened down by 0.5% while BSE Small Cap index opened down by 0.3%.

All sectoral indices have opened the day on a negative note with realty stocks and power stocks witnessing maximum selling pressure.

The rupee is currently trading at 71.41 against the US$.

The Indian rupee appreciated by 8 paise to settle at 71.29 against the US dollar on Monday, helped by some moderation global crude prices.

However, stronger US dollar against key rival currencies and subdued domestic equities kept the rupee's rise in check.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee started on a weak note at 71.45 against the US dollar. During the session, it swung between a low of 71.48 and a high of 71.24.

Speaking of currencies, Vijay Bhambwani, editor of Weekly Cash Alerts, tells you the main reasons why not to trade commodities and currencies the same way you would trade equities. Here's an excerpt of what he wrote...

• Currencies are traded in pairs and the most liquid is the USDINR. Currencies are traded in four decimal points just as bonds are. The international derivative trader's association has indicated that forex may be traded in 6 decimals in the coming few years.
  
  It takes months sometimes for the currency pair to pass the next round figure, say from 70 to 71.
  
  Can you really trade commodities and currencies alike or for that matter, equities and currencies alike? Definitely not!

To know more, you can read Vijay's entire article here: Is Trading in Equities, Commodities, and Currencies the Same?

Moving on to the news from IPO space. SBI Cards and Payment Services, the credit card unit of the country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI), has received markets regulator's go-ahead to float an initial public offering.

As per the draft papers, SBI Cards will offer up to 130.5 million equity shares through offer for sale route.

This will include up to 37.3 million share sale by SBI and up to 93.2 million shares on offer by Carlyle Group.

In addition, the company will also issue fresh equity shares of Rs 5 billion.

How this IPO sails through remains to be seen. Stay tuned for more updates from this space.

Speaking of IPOs, in one of the editions of The 5 Minute WrapUp, Ankit Shah shared how IPOs offer insights into the mood of the stock markets.

He picked the six most successful IPOs of 2019 and checked the retail investor enthusiasm for them.

Obviously, all these IPOs were oversubscribed across investor categories. But the level of retail investor enthusiasm differed widely, depending on the overall market sentiments. This can be seen in the chart below:

Are Retail Investors Back in the IPO Game?

Here's what Ankit wrote about it...

• Clearly, IRCTC witnessed the highest number of bids for the retail category. Factoring in the discount of Rs 10 per share for the retail category, the total bids were worth a whopping Rs 3,242 crore. Over five times the entire IPO size!
  
  Polycab India and the recent IPO of CSB Bank also received a strong thumbs-up from retail investors.

Does this hint that retail investors are coming back to the markets? Could we witness of flurry of IPOs in the coming months?

It would be interesting to see how this trend pans out in the coming months.

Ankit keeps a tab on all the IPOs at his premium newsletter Equitymaster Insider (requires subscription).

In one of his recent articles, he has explained why keeping a tab on the IPO market is vital to your overall investing goals. You can read it here: What I Learnt from IPOs in 2019 (requires subscription).

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

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