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Sensex Ends 216 Points Higher; Banking and Finance Stocks Witness Buying
Wed, 13 Mar Closing

Indian share markets continued their momentum during closing hours and ended the day on a positive note. Gains were largely seen in the telecom sector and realty sector.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 216 points (up 0.6%) and the NSE Nifty closed higher by 40 points (up 0.4%). The BSE Mid Cap index closed down by 0.4%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day down by 0.3%.

Asian stock markets finished on a positive note as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng stood down by 0.4% and the Nikkei was trading down by 1%.

European markets were trading on a mixed note. The FTSE 100 was trading flat. The DAX was trading down by 0.1%, while the CAC 40 was up by 0.2%.

The rupee was trading at 69.48 to the US$ at the time of writing.

Data available with NSE suggested that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought Rs 24.7 billion worth of domestic stocks on Tuesday.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs), on the other hand, were net sellers to the tune of Rs 9.9 billion.

Speaking of FII data, 2018 was a turbulent year for the Indian stock markets. Foreign investors dumped Indian equities worth Rs 33,014 crore and debt instruments worth Rs 47,795 crore. In fact, they have continued to be net sellers in Indian stocks even in 2019. So far in January 2019, they have sold equities worth Rs 2,675 crore.

Had it not been for the solid participation from domestic investors, the Indian markets would have witnessed a much steeper fall.

The chart below puts things in perspective.

The Rapid Growth of the Indian Mutual Fund Industry

Ankit Shah shares an interesting observation around the rapid growth of mutual fund (MF) Industry in India.

Here's what he wrote in one of the editions of The 5 Minute WrapUp...

  • Ten years ago, the total assets under management (AUM of the Indian mutual fund industry were Rs 4.13 trillion (1 trillion equals 1 lakh crore) as on 31 December 2008.

    Over the subsequent five years, the industry grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% to take the total AUM to Rs 8.2 trillion as on 31 December 2013.

    Thereafter, the Indian mutual fund industry took off like never before, compounding at 23% CAGR, and taking the total AUM as on 31 December 2018 to Rs 22.86 trillion.

    In just 10 years, the AUM of the Indian MF Industry has multiplied 5.5 times, compounding at 19% CAGR.

    The total number of mutual fund folios as on 31 December 2018 stood at 8.03 crore (80.3 million).

Moving on to the news from the insurance sector, HDFC Life Insurance Company share price is in focus today. The retail quota of HDFC Life Insurance Company offer for sale (OFS) got subscribed 4% by morning hours today.

This came in after the OFS observed strong response from non-retail investors yesterday.

Data available with the NSE showed the issue received retail bids for 4.36 lakh shares against the retail quota of 99.5 lakh shares.

Standard Life, the joint venture partner in HDFC Life Insurance, is set to sell close to 5% stake in the company to meet public shareholding norm.

The share sale will fetch around Rs 35.7 billion to Standard Life.

The floor price for the offer is set at Rs 357.5.

Standard Life will sell up to 70 million shares, or 3.47% of the total equity of HDFC Life Insurance Company on March 12 through the offer for sale (OFS) route with an option of selling additional 1.46%, or 29.5 million shares, in the event of oversubscription.

In the news from the pharma space, Zydus Cadila said it has received final approval from the US health regulator to market Potassium Chloride extended-release capsules, used to treat or prevent low amounts of potassium in the blood.

The company said the newly-approved product will be manufactured at the group's formulations manufacturing facility at SEZ, Ahmedabad.

As per the news, the company has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market the drug in the strengths of 8 mEq (600 mg) and 10 mEq (750 mg).

Shares of the company's listed entity Cadila Healthcare were in focus today on the back of the above development.

The company has more than 254 approvals and has so far filed over 350 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) since it commenced filings in 2003-04.

From the aviation space, SpiceJet share price was in focus today. The stock of the company witnessed selling pressure on fears that grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft will hurt the airline's revenue and profitability.

As per an article in The Economic Times, India has grounded Boeing 737 MAX being operated by airlines in the country after about 15 countries banned the aircraft following two deadly accidents within a span of five months.

Shares of the company fell around 8% in early trade today after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India's aviation regulator, grounded Boeing 737 MAX planes following the fatal crash of a plane of the same model in Ethiopia.

In other news, Jet Airways share price was also witnessing selling pressure today as it was reported that the airline has grounded another four of its aircraft due to non-payment of lease rentals.

With this, the total number of aircraft taken out of operations due to severe liquidity crunch in the airline and its subsequent failure to pay rentals to various lessors now stand at 32 so far.

Yesterday, the debt-laden airline was in focus on reports that Etihad Airways and a new partner will together invest nearly Rs 40 billion to revive the airline. Also, the founder-promoter Naresh Goyal and his wife would step down from the board and all executive positions.

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

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