Indian Indices Continue Momentum; Sensex Trades 186 Points Higher

Tue, 19 Nov 12:30 pm | Monish Vora, TM Team

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Share markets in India are presently trading on a strong note.

Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note with stocks in the telecom sector and energy sector witnessing buying interest.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 186 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 47 points. The BSE MidCap index is trading down by 0.1%, while the BSE SmallCap index is trading up by 0.4%.

The rupee is trading at Rs 71.81 against the US$.

In news from the engineering sector, Dilip Buildcon share price is in focus today as the company has received a Rs 21 billion order from country's largest coal mining company - Coal India.

Watch Now: 3 Little-known Stocks We are Super Bullish On

The construction company in a statement said it has been awarded overburden removal contract mining work for Nigahi Project at Singrauli District in Madhya Pradesh by the Northern Coalfield Limited (NCL), a subsidiary of Coal India.

The company said the order was valued at Rs 21.2 billion and the contract period is 1,552 days.

The company was declared as L1 bidder in the reverse auction conducted by Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited on September 29 this year.

Moving on to news from the banking sector, ICICI Bank share price is in focus today as the lender is looking to raise around Rs 200 billion by selling 6% to 7% stake to institutional investors. The bank has approached at least 10 investment banks for the same.

As per the news, the country's largest private-sector lender plans to complete the entire raise in a single tranche and may soon issue formal mandates to some of the investment banks it approached.

The qualified institutional placement (QIP) way was finalised after the bank dropped plans to issue American depositary receipts (ADRs).

The move, which would be the largest such capital raise in India, is aimed at subverting liquidity squeeze created in the sector after the IL&FS saga.

If the fund raising goes through, ICICI Bank would be following in the footsteps of multiple private-sector lenders that have already bettered or are considering improving their growth capital via QIPs.

QIPs allows listed companies to raise money, without the attached burden of submitting legal paperwork to market regulators.

Last month, ICICI Bank reported a jump of 247% in its profit before tax (PBT) for the July-September 2019 quarter (Q2FY20). The bank posted Rs 43.6 billion of PBT, compared to Rs 12.5 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Net profit, however, dipped by 27.9% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 6.6 billion.

To know more, you can read ICICI Bank's Q2FY20 result analysis on our website.

Speaking of the banking sector, note that 2019 has been brutal for some banking stocks.

The market has severely punished them. This is due to issues such as worsening asset-quality, corporate governance, and inadequate capital.

As can be seen in the chart below,, here's how the correction looked like for some banking stocks as of October 15^th...

Falling Knives in the Banking Sector

Falling stock prices could be enticing. After all, we love deep discounts and good bargains.

But if you're thinking of buying these stocks it's important to remember this point - If a stock is in a falling spree, there's probably a good reason behind it.

And realising this in a volatile market is the first step towards correcting one's investing process.

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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