Sensex Opens Flat; HDFC & IndusInd Bank Top Losers

Fri, 18 Dec 09:30 am

   Previous Close   

   Pre-Open   

   SGX Nifty   

   12:30 pm   

   Closing   

Asian stock markets are trading on a negative note today, failing to catch a broader global rally as investor sentiment in the region shifted to broader caution about the economic outlook and as post-Brexit worries weighed.

The Nikkei is trading down by 0.2% and the Hang Seng is trading lower by 0.7%.

US stock markets closed at record highs on Thursday as lawmakers neared a deal to extend a new financial lifeline to businesses and individuals amid the pandemic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up by 0.5% while the Nasdaq ended higher by 0.8%. The S&P 500 index climbed for a third day and ended 0.6% higher.

Back home, Indian share markets have opened the day on a flat note.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 45 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 14 points.

HCL Technologies and Infosys are among the top gainers today.

Both, the BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index have opened up by 0.2%.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the IT sector and metal sector witnessing buying interest. Finance stocks, on the other hand, are trading in red.

The rupee is trading at 73.54 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.2% at Rs 50,284 per 10 grams.

To know more about gold, you can check out our detailed article on investing in gold here: How to Invest in Gold?

Speaking of stock markets, in one of his videos, India's #1 trader, Vijay Bhambwani, talks about the chances of a market correction in January.

In his previous video, Vijay had said December is likely to be a bullish month. And that has turned out to be true, at least so far.

But what about next month? Can the market fall at the start of the new year?

Tune in to the video to find out more:

In latest developments from the IPO space, municipal solid waste services provider Antony Waste Handling Cell on December 17 fixed at Rs 313-315 per share the price band for its initial public offering (IPO).

The issue will open for subscription on December 21 and close on December 23.

The company aims to raise Rs 3 billion through the IPO that comprises a fresh issue of Rs 850 million and an offer for sale of up to 68,24,933 equity shares.

The offer for sale consists of 13,90,330 equity shares by Leeds (Mauritius), 20,85,510 equity shares by Tonbridge (Mauritius), 11,58,667 equity shares by Cambridge (Mauritius) and 21,90,426 equity shares by Guildford (Mauritius).

Note that the company had in March launched the IPO to raise around Rs 2 billion but had to withdraw following a tepid response from investors.

It had even lowered the price band and extended the closing date.

The company plans to utilise the net proceeds towards part-financing for the waste-to-energy project at Pimpri Chinchwad through investment in its subsidiaries AG Enviro and ALESPL. It also plans to reduce consolidated borrowings of the company and its subsidiaries by infusing debt in its subsidiary.

How this IPO sails through remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on the latest developments from this space.

In other news, Mrs Bectors Food Specialities, a premium biscuit and bakery firm in north India, became the most successful IPO of 2020 attracting bids for nearly 199.41 times the number of shares on offer.

The qualified institutional investor category was subscribed 178.08 times, receiving bids for 667.86 million shares, the non-institutional category comprising high net worth individuals was subscribed 625.20 times.

Demand from retail individual investors stood at 29.53 times.

The subscription figures beat Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders and Burger King India, the other IPOs that drew big subscription numbers this year, getting subscribed nearly 157 times each.

This also puts it among the three biggest subscribed IPOs in a decade. The two companies that got better attractions are Salasar Techno Engineering, which subscribed over 270 times in July 2017 and Astron Paper and Board Mill, which got over 240 times in December that year.

How the IPO performs on listing day remains to be seen.

Moving on to stock specific news...

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is among the top buzzing stocks today.

L&T has emerged as the lowest bidder for HPCL Rajasthan Refinery's (HRRL) two projects estimated worth Rs 130 billion.

L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of L&T, is set to win the two projects which include HRRL's Petro FCC and Dual Feed Cracker projects, coming up at Barmer in Rajasthan.

HRRL is a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and the Government of Rajasthan, with an equity participation of 74% and 26%, respectively.

HRRL opened the financial bids submitted by the two bidders (Petrofac and L&T Heavy Engineering) for Petro FCC (EPCC-03) Package and three bidders (Tecnimont +JGC, Petrofac and LTHE) for DFCU (EPCC-07) Package in December 2020.

The combined value for both the packages will be around Rs 130 billion, according to source.

L&T share price has opened the day up by 1.1%.

Apart from the above market participants are also tracking defence stocks today.

The Ministry of Defence said on Thursday that its Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) cleared proposals worth Rs 280 billion, of which acquisitions worth Rs 270 billion would be sourced from Indian industries.

The approved acquisition proposals of various weapons, platforms, equipment and systems were required by the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.

Defence stocks including Bharat Dynamics, Bharat Electronics and Astra Micro gained 2% on the back of above news.

In a series of tweets, the ministry said that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired the meeting of the DAC, in which five more cases valued at Rs 250 billion were approved under the indigenous design development and manufacture category.

Meanwhile, in a display of cost-cutting synergy between ministries, the government also announced that six used Air India A-320 jet airliners will be recycled into Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) systems for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Speaking of the defence sector, have a look at the chart below which shows the top 5 military spending countries in the world as of 2019:

According to a SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) report, India was the third largest military spending country in the world in 2019.

Here's what Girish Shetty wrote about it in one of the editions of Profit Hunter:

• If you look at the chart closely, you will realise it is likely to remain among the top spenders in the coming years.
  
  It's because of the second largest spender shown in the chart, China.
  
  With rising tensions between the two countries, the incentive is strong for India to keep up with China.
  
  It all makes sense for the government to focus on this sector in a big way in the near future.
  
  The government's 'Atmanirbhar' push will get a massive boost through local defence manufacturing. This will create profitable opportunities in defence stocks for astute investors.

Co-head of Research at Equitymaster, Tanushree Banerjee keeps a close watch on stocks in the defence space. As per Tanushree, defence will be a big wealth-creating opportunity.

Back in June, she recorded a video about India's best defence stocks.

Tune in to the video here:

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!

Read the latest Market Commentary

Top Gainers TodayTop Gainers over 1-WeekTop Gainers over 1-MonthTop Gainers over 1-YearTop Gainers over 3-YrsTop Gainers over 5-YrsTop Losers TodayTop Losers over 1-WeekTop Losers over 1-MonthTop Losers over 1-YearTop Losers over 3-YrsTop Losers over 5-YrsOnly BuyersOnly SellersMost Active StocksMost Popular Stocks52 Week High Stocks52 Week Low Stocks

INDICESBSE (Rs 0 to 1)BSE (Rs 1 to 2)BSE (Rs 2 to 4)BSE (Rs 4 to 10)BSE (Rs 10 to 20)BSE (Above Rs 20)BSE - AllBSE-30BSE-100BSE-200BSE-500BSE AutoBSE BankexBSE Capital GoodsBSE Consumer DurablesBSE FMCGBSE HealthcareBSE ITBSE MetalBSE Oil & GasBSE PSUBSE TeckBSE RealtyBSE PowerBSE A GroupBSE B GroupBSE Mid-CapBSE Small-CapBSE Basic MaterialsBSE Consumer DiscretionaryBSE IndustrialsBSE UtilitiesBSE Sensex 50BSE Sensex Next 50BSE Bharat 22BSE 150 MidCapBSE 250 SmallCapBSE 250 LargeMidCapBSE 400 MidSmallCapBSE AllCapBSE LargeCapBSE SmallCap SelectBSE 100 LargeCap TMCBSE InfraBSE ManufacturingBSE CPSEBSE Private BankBSE Diversified FinancialsBSE MomentumBSE Low VolatilityBSE QualityBSE Enhanced ValueBSE Divident StabilityS&P BSE IPOBSE SMEIPOBSE 100 ESGBSE CarbonexBSE GreenexNSE (Rs 0 to 10)NSE (Rs 10 to 20)NSE (Above Rs 20)NSE - AllNSE-50NSE ITNSE Nifty Midcap 50NSE JR. NiftyNSE Bank NiftyNIFTY Next 50NIFTY 100NIFTY 200NIFTY 500NIFTY MidCap 100NIFTY SmallCap 250NIFTY SmallCap 50NIFTY SmallCap 100NIFTY LargeMidCap 250NIFTY MidSmallCap 400NIFTY AutoNIFTY Consumer DurablesNIFTY FinanceNIFTY FMCGNIFTY MediaNIFTY MetalNIFTY PharmaNIFTY Private BankNIFTY PSU BankNIFTY RealtyNIFTY Oil & GasNIFTY SME EmergeNIFTY CommoditiesNIFTY CPSENIFTY EnergyNIFTY India ConsumptionNIFTY InfraNIFTY MNCNIFTY PSENIFTY Serv SectorNIFTY100 Liquid 15NIFTY Midcap Liquid 15NIFTY Midcap 150 Quality 50NIFTY50 Equal WeightNIFTY100 Equal WeightNIFTY100 Low Volatility 30NIFTY100 Alpha 30NIFTY Alpha 50NIFTY Dividend Opportunities 50NIFTY High Beta 50NIFTY Low Volatility 50NIFTY200 Quality 30NIFTY 500 Value 50NIFTY 100 Quality 30SECTORSAgricultureAirlinesAluminiumAsset Management CompaniesAutomobilesAuto AncillariesBanks (Private)Banks (PSU)BankingCementChemicalsDefenceDiagnosticsDronesEngineeringElectric VehicleElectric Vehicle BatteryEnergy SourcesESGEthanolFertilizersFintechFMCGFoodGreen HydrogenHotelsInfrastructureInsuranceInvestment and FinanceInvITIT (Large)IT (Others)LogisticsMediaMetalMiningIndia's Big Tech StocksIndian PharmaMNC PharmaPSUPaintPaperPlasticPowerRating AgenciesReal EstateREITsRenewable EnergyRetailingSemiconductorShippingSteelSugarSupply ChainTelecomTextilesTravel Support Services

10 results 25 results 50 results 100 results All results

Indian Share Market Update: Top Gainers and Losers