Government Initiates 4.9% Stake Sale in SJVN Ltd via OFS on September 21

Opening Bell:

Gift Nifty is down by 48.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.

Asia-Pacific markets fell across the region after the U.S. Federal Reserve held its benchmark policy rate but said it will raise interest rates one more time this year, according to the central bank’s projections. Projections showed the central bank expects to hike rates to a median of 5.6% by the end of 2023, up from the current range between 5.25% and 5.5%.

The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee projected two rate cuts in 2024, which is two fewer than its forecast in June. That would put the funds rate around 5.1 perent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.21%, on pace to hit its lowest level this month. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is also slipped 0.44% as the Bank of Japan starts its two-day monetary policy meeting, with the Topix down 0.21%. South Korea’s Kospi was 0.5% lower, and the Kosdaq also shed 0.37%. In contrast, futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,958, pointing to a stronger open compared to the HSI’s close of 17,885.60.

Stock futures traded flat Wednesday night, reacting to the Federal Reserve’s earlier projections. Dow Jones futures were down 0.04%, S&P 500 futures dropped 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.2%. In after-hours trading, FedEx surged 5% on better-than-expected earnings of $4.55 per share for its fiscal first quarter. KB Home fell 2% despite beating Wall Street’s expectations. Klaviyo, a recent IPO, declined nearly 2% post-closing. Wednesday’s trading session ended on a down note, with the major indices closing at session lows. The Fed announced unchanged interest rates but hinted at a potential rate hike by year-end. Fed Chair Jerome Powell mentioned the possibility of a soft landing for the economy but not as the baseline scenario.

Stocks News:

👉 SJVN: The government is going to sell up to 2.46% stake in the hydroelectric power generation company on September 21 and 22, with an option to additionally sell 2.46% stake. OFS opens for non-retail investors on September 21 and retail investors on September 22. The floor price of the offer will be Rs 69 per share.

👉 Infosys: The country’s second-largest IT services provider and Nasdaq-listed NVIDIA have expanded their strategic collaboration with the aim to help enterprises worldwide, drive productivity gains with generative AI applications and solutions. Infosys will train 50,000 employees on NVIDIA AI technology.

👉 Cipla: After the inspection, InvaGen’s manufacturing facility in Central Islip, New York has received 5 inspectional observations in Form 483, from US FDA. There are no repeat or data integrity observations. The US FDA has inspected the said facility of subsidiary InvaGen Pharmaceuticals Inc during September 11-19. The inspection was a routine current good manufacturing practices inspection and a pre-approval inspection (PAI) for a site transfer product within InvaGen.

👉 Apollo Tyres: Bias and OTR tyres production at the company’s manufacturing facility in Limda, Gujarat has been stopped due to certain concerns amongst shop floor employees relating to the renewal of long-term settlement agreement. The company is in discussions and negotiations with the labour union representatives to address their concerns and find an amicable resolution. There is no material impact on the operations at this stage.

👉 Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 3,110.69 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) offloaded Rs 573.02 crore worth of stocks on September 20, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.           

Domestic and International Events

• Global debt hit a record $307 trillion in the second quarter of the year despite rising interest rates curbing bank credit, with markets such as the United States and Japan driving the rise, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said on Tuesday. The financial services trade group said in a report that global debt in dollar terms had risen by $10 trillion in the first half of 2023 and by $100 trillion over the past decade. It said the latest increase has lifted the global debt-to-GDP ratio for a second straight quarter to 336%. Prior to 2023, the debt ratio had been declining for seven quarters.

• The Indian government plans to spend around Rs 20,000 crore on Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loans, according to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. The Centre will be re-launching KCC initiatives to provide loans up to Rs 3 lakh. The government has also launched the Kisan Rin Portal to help farmers avail subsidised loans under the KCC, as well as a door-to-door KCC campaign and a manual for the Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS) portal. The initiatives aim to provide more focused and efficient agriculture credit and support farmers in making well-informed choices.

• Oil prices fell on Wednesday ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, with investors uncertain when peak rates will be hit and how much of an impact it will have on energy demand.  Global benchmark Brent crude futures fell by 58 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $93.76 a barrel, paring losses after trading $1.58 lower at their intra-day low on Wednesday. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures edged 0.35 percent lower, or 32 cents, to $90.88.
• Gold inched slightly higher on Wednesday as investors braced for updated interest rate projections and remarks from Chair Jerome Powell following the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting. Spot gold added 0.24 percent to $1.935.49 per ounce, while US gold futures inched up 0.17 percent to $1,957.          

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