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Indian Indices Trade Marginally Higher
Mon, 19 Sep 11:30 am

After opening the day on a flat note, the Indian indices have continued to trade marginally higher. Majority of the sectoral indices are trading on a positive note with stocks from the IT, energy, and metal sector witnessing maximum buying interest. Realty stocks are, however, trading in the red.

The BSE Sensex is trading up 101 points (up 0.4%) and the NSE Nifty is trading up 35 points (0.4%). The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.5%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.6%. The rupee is trading at 66.88 to the US$.

The mega initial public offering (IPO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance is set to hit the markets today. This is recorded as the biggest IPOs since Coal India's stake sale in October 2010. The IPO will also be the first pure play insurance company in India. ICICI Bank will raise Rs 60 billion by selling a stake in its subsidiary ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company. The bank has valued the insurer at Rs 480 billion.

Here's Tanushree Banerjee, Equitymaster Co-Head of Research, writing about the IPO in a recent edition of the Research Digest (subscription required):

  • The IPO of ICICI Life Insurance not only has the lure if being a billion-dollar issue. But it will also be the first pure-play insurance company to be listed in India.

    Now, if you've seen the financial statements of banks and non-banking financial institutions, beware that insurance is a different animal altogether. What constitutes impressive financials and a strong balance sheet for insurance companies differs quite a bit from other financial entities.

    Valuing insurance businesses is going to be a novel experience indeed.

The insurer's parent ICICI Bank will be selling a 12.36% stake with this IPO. The issue will remain open until Wednesday. To know our view on the IPO, you can visit our IPO Buzz section (subscription required).

Apart from the above, many more companies are considering going public. So expect more action in the IPO markets going ahead. This begs the question: What should be one's approach towards IPOs?

A recent edition of The 5 Minute WrapUp - How to Profit from IPOs - answers this question. It offers two ways one can think about IPOs to profit from them.

Moving on to the news from global markets... Global indices are trading with caution ahead of central bank meetings in the US and Japan this week. During the last week, global markets remained under pressure amid concerns regarding central banks, particularly the Fed, becoming less accommodative in the future and the prospect of Fed increasing the interest rates sooner than expected.

The US Fed is set to hold its policy meeting this Tuesday and Wednesday. While the manufacturing and services sectors in the US remain constrained, sustained labour market strength could push the Fed closer to raising interest rates.

Last month, Fed Chair Janet Yellen voiced optimism about the US economy and anticipation that interest rate hikes are ahead. Yellen said that with a firm labour market in the US and with the Fed's outlook for economic activity and inflation, the case for an interest rate hike has strengthened in recent months.

The Fed's stance on rate hikes has fuelled much volatility in the global markets of late. How can one avoid capital loss amid such volatility? Asad Dossani, editor of Daily Profit Hunter, says Don't Fight Easy Money. And Apurva Sheth tells you how in two articles - one highlighting some trading principles from Warren Buffett and another explaining how to use accuracy rate and risk-reward ratio to develop a winning strategy.

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

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