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The benchmark indices surged on Wednesday amid across the board buying support. The Nifty settled below the 17,500 mark after hitting the day's high of 17,522.50 in late trade.
As per provisional closing figures, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 740.34 points or 1.28% at 58,683.99. The Nifty 50 index gained 172.95 points or 1% at 17,498.25.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.78% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.09%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, shares 2,116 rose and 1,285 shares fell. A total of 108 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
Domestic ratings agency ICRA, on Tuesday, slashed India's FY23 real GDP growth estimate by 0.8% to 7.2%, primarily driven by the fallout of Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the time extension (36 months) to identify 10 provisional mega certified projects for furnishing the final mega certificates to the tax authorities.
The extension of time period for furnishing final mega certificate will enable developers to competitively bid for future PPAs and get tax exemptions as per policy terms. The increased liquidity will boost the overall growth of the country and also ensure the revival of various stressed power assets.
The time period for the 10 provisional mega projects which are commissioned/ partly commissioned for furnishing the final mega certificates to the tax authorities has been extended to 156 months instead of 120 months from the date of import.
Hariom Pipe Industries IPO:
The initial public offer (IPO) of Hariom Pipe Industries received bids for 49,25,382 shares as against 85,00,000 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data on Wednesday (30 March 2022). The issue was subscribed 0.58 times.
The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday (30 March 2022) and it will close on Tuesday (5 April 2022). The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 144 - 153 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 98 equity shares and in multiples thereof.
HariomPipe Industries is an integrated manufacturer of mild steel (MS) pipes, scaffolding, HR (hot rolled) strips, MS billets and sponge iron. The company uses iron ore to produce sponge iron which is then processed across various stages to manufacture final products viz. MS pipes and scaffolding.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Media index advanced 2.13% to 2,357.10. The index lost 1.22% in the past trading session.
Dish TV India (up 3.92%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) (up 2.79%), TV18 Broadcast (up 2.52%), Sun TV Network (up 2.10%) and Network18 Media & Investments (up 1.54%) were the top gainers in the Media segment.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Saregama India hit an upper circuit limit of 5% at Rs 4,598.55. The company said its board approved the demerger of e-commerce distribution business into a new company, Digidrive Distributors, on a going concern basis. Saregama India will demerge its entire distribution business relating to sale of all its physical products including carvaan on digital marketplaces alongwith identified non-core assets (including investments in publication business) and other activities and/or arrangements incidental or relating thereto (e-commerce distribution business).
No cash consideration is payable under the proposed demerger scheme. The existing shareholders will receive 2 fully paid up equity shares of Digidrive Distributors, for 1 equity share of Saregama India. Further, Saregama India is currently in process of seeking its shareholders approval for splitting 1 equity share to be sub-divided into 10 equity shares of face value of Re 1 each. In case the stock split is approved by the shareholders, the share entitlement ratio for the proposed demerger would be, 1 equity share of Rs 10 each of Digidrive Distributors, for every 5 equity share of Re 1 each of Saregama India. The equity shares of Digidrive Distributors will be listed on the BSE and the National Stock Exchange of India.
Tata Consumer Products advanced 2.81% while Tata Coffee soared 8.87%. Tata Consumer Products (TCPL) on Tuesday announced the merger of all businesses of Tata Coffee with itself as part of a reorganisation plan in line with its strategic priority of unlocking synergies and efficiencies. The plantation business of Tata Coffee (TCL) will demerge into TCPL's wholly-owned arm TCPL Beverages & Foods (TBFL). The remaining business of TCL, consisting of its extraction and branded coffee business, will be merged with TCPL, the company said in a statement.
The demerger will happen as the first step and the merger will happen as the immediate second step, both being proposed through a composite scheme of arrangement. On effectiveness of the scheme, the shareholders of TCL (other than TCPL) as on the record date will receive an aggregate of 3 equity shares of TCPL for every 10 equity shares held by them in TCL. This will be carried out through the issuance of 1 equity share of TCPL for every 22 equity shares of TCL in consideration for the demerger. For the merger, 14 equity shares of TCPL will be issued for every 55 equity shares of TCL.
Axis Bank gained 2.37%. As per media reports, the private sector lender is close to acquiring Citigroup's retail banking business in India and a deal is likely to be announced soon. The deal, to be valued at $2.5 billion (about Rs 18,000 crore), will be subject regulatory approvals. In April 2021, American banking major Citigroup announced its plan to exit from the consumer banking business in India as part of its global strategy.
Aurionpro Solutions was locked in 5% upper circuit at Rs 322.50. Integro Technologies (Integro), an Aurionpro subsidiary based in Singapore, has won orders from the two large banks in Singapore. The orders are together valued more than 3 million Singapore dollars.
G R Infraprojects jumped 4.69%. The company announced that it has received Letter of Award (LoA) for five projects worth Rs 5,774 crore from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Global Markets:
European stocks traded mixed while most Asian stocks settled higher on Wednesday as investors watch for developments surrounding the war in Ukraine.
According to the media reports, Russian claimed it would reduce its attacks on Ukraine as delegates from the two countries met for their latest face-to-face peace talks in Istanbul. Moscow said it would cut back its military activity near Ukraine's capital of Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv. However, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces says the Russian withdrawal pledge is designed to mislead.
In Asia, Japanese retail sales fell in February for the first time in five months. Retail sales fell 0.8% in February from a year earlier, government data showed on Wednesday.
