Sensex Opens 524 Points Higher; Axis Bank and Hindalco Top Gainers

Thu, 25 Feb 09:30 am

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Asian share markets opened higher today after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed interest rates would stay low, calming market fears that higher inflation might prompt the central bank to tighten the monetary spigot.

Japan's Nikkei is currently trading higher by 1.59%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng is trading higher by 2.2%.

Wall Street witnessed buying on Wednesday, as a selloff in technology-related stocks eased after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments calmed inflation worries.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a gain of 1.35%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended 0.99% higher.

Back home, Indian share markets have opened the day on a firm note on the back of positive global cues.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 524 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 166 points.

Hindalco is among the top gainers today.

Nestle India, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index has opened up by 1%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.9%.

All sectoral indices are trading positively with stocks in the banking sector and metal sector witnessing maximum buying interest.

Shares of ONGC and Hindalco hit their 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 72.32 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.14% at Rs 46,459 per 10 grams.

Talking about Indian stock markets, Rahul Shah, co-head of Research at Equitymaster, in his latest video talks about how one should invest in the current times.

One of the biggest uncertainties in an uncertain world is a huge stock market crash.

Should one make an attempt to predict it or is there any other blueprint that an investor needs to follow?

Rahul discusses these points in the video below. Tune in to find out more:

Moving on to stock specific news...

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are among the top buzzing stocks today.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will hear both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea's pleas seeking recalculation of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues in two weeks.

Both telcos had in January moved the apex court seeking directions to the department of telecommunications (DoT) to recalculate AGR dues.

Earlier this month, the DoT has accepted a petition from mobile phone companies seeking a truncated tenure for bank guarantees with a validity of one year instead of the mandated three as lenders are reluctant to provide fresh backing for a longer period.

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea - both loss-making and facing cumulative adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues of over Rs 760 billion are said to be in talks with State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank and Axis Bank for fresh guarantees ahead of airwave auctions that start March 1.

The telcos need to provide bank guarantees to back their earnest money deposits (EMD) to bid in the auctions and to cover for their annual instalment amounts towards the airwaves they buy in the sale.

The telcos had underlined their concern to the DoT pointing out banks' reluctance to provide longer bank guarantees (BGs) given the financial stress in a sector under over Rs 8 lakh crore of debt.

Airtel owes the government almost Rs 260 billion in AGR dues, while Vodafone Idea needs to pay about Rs 504 billion. Both need to pay in 10 equal instalments through March 31, 2031.

We will keep you updated on the latest developments from this space. Stay tuned.

Market participants are also tracking Axis Bank share price today.

This comes as the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has given its formal approval for the acquisition of up to 12% stake in Max Life Insurance by Axis Bank and its subsidiaries, Axis Capital & Axis Securities (together Axis Entities).

The IRDAI approval was an integral step in this long-awaited joint venture transaction which was first announced in April 2020.

As per the proposed transaction, Axis Entities have the right to acquire up to 19% stake in Max Life, of which, Axis Bank proposes to acquire up to 9% and Axis Capital Limited and Axis Securities Limited together propose to acquire up to 3% of the share capital of Max Life in the first leg of the transaction.

In news from the power sector...

As per a leading financial daily, global investors are ready to deploy hundreds of billions of dollars in the Indian decarbonisation story, helping mobilise the US$ 500 billion needed over the next decade if India wants to achieve its 2030 target and install 450 GW of renewable capacity.

Analysts at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) have tracked the investments of a number of energy giants from across the world looking at India to diversify their green portfolio.

In a report out this week, they map out the contribution of investors like the Swedish EQT and Singaporean Temasek, which through the newly established O2 Power, bagged contracts for 780-MW in Rajasthan and 200 MW in Gujarat.

The list also includes the French giant Total which sealed a deal for 20% of India's Adani Green earlier this year, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and many more.

As per the report, India has some unique competitive advantages compared to other countries looking to switch to renewable energy.

The report also states that India's power purchase framework is very robust, it being one of the few countries where all the bids are very transparent.

How these investments are deployed in the sector remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on all the developments form this space.

Speaking of the power sector, it is interesting to note that the power exchanged in India is about 4.5% of the overall power production, as can be seen in the chart below:

This is abysmally low by global standards. This shows that there is big upside in the market share of power exchanges in India.

As per Tanushree Banerjee, co-head of Research at Equitymaster, India's power sector is currently in transition. It is driven by increasing reliance on short-term contracts and electricity spot markets. This transition to the short-term market is happening due to quickly evolving industry dynamics.

Tanushree believes the Indian power sector will see a surge in spot power volumes due to certain factors.

Back in August 2020, Tanushree recommended a high quality stock from this space. Subscribers can read the report here (requires subscription).

And if you are not a StockSelect subscriber, here's where you can sign up.

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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Indian Share Market Update: Top Gainers and Losers