SBI Successfully Raises ₹10,000 Crore in Fourth Infrastructure Bond Issuance

Opening Bell:

Gift Nifty is up by 52.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.

Asia-Pacific markets are mixed as investors look toward inflation data from across the region this week. Singapore and Australia are expected to report inflation figures for August this week, while Japan will release inflation data for the Tokyo region. The capital region’s inflation data is seen as a leading indicator of nationwide trends. In Australia, futures for the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.45% to start the week. In contrast, Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.24% and the Topix is up 0.16%, rebounding from losses last week. South Korea’s Kospi slid 0.24% and the Kosdaq 0.94%, extending losses from the week before. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 18,040, pointing to a weaker open compared with the HSI’s close of 18,057.45.

US stocks retreated on Friday, concluding what has been a tough week for the market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.31%, The S&P 500 shed 0.23%. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.09%. Friday’s slide marked the fourth straight day of losses for the three major indexes. The losing streak came as investors reacted to a signal from the Federal Reserve that it intended to keep interest rates higher for longer.

The S&P 500 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite have dropped 2.9% and 3.6% this week. That marked the third straight negative week and worst weekly performance since March for each. The blue-chip Dow slid 1.9% on the week. Bond yields surged after the central bank forecasted one more rate hike for 2023. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield popped to its highest level since 2007 this week. The two-year rate touched its highest level since 2006.   

Stocks News:

👉 Delta Corp: The casino chain has received an intimation from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Hyderabad, for payment of an alleged tax liability of Rs 11,139.61 crore along with interest and penalty from July 2017 to March 2022. Further, if the company fails to do so, the show cause notice will be issued to the company. The amount claimed in the DG Notice is based on the gross bet value of all games played at the casinos during the relevant period.

👉 JSW Steel: Caretta Minerals LLC, a US subsidiary of JSW Steel, has entered into an agreement to sell its plant and equipment, property, and mineral rights to West Virginia Properties for $24 million. JSW Steel said the sale was due to the fact that operating the mines was not economically viable in the absence of a coal mining lease and plant lease. The deal is expected to close in the coming weeks.

👉 Life Insurance Corporation of India: The Corporation has received an order from the Bihar- Additional Commissioner State Tax (Appeal), wherein the authority has raised a demand of goods and service tax along with interest and penalty of Rs 290.49 crore. The Corporation will file an appeal before the GST Appellate Tribunal, against the said order within prescribed timelines.

👉 State Bank of India: The country’s largest lender raised a whopping ₹10,000 crore through an infrastructure bond issue on Friday, with bids exceeding the initial target by over five times. The bonds, which will carry a coupon rate of 7.49%, will be used to fund infrastructure projects and affordable housing. This is the fourth infra bond issue by SBI, underscoring the growing demand for such instruments from investors.

👉 Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 1,326.74 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) bought Rs 801.27 crore worth of stocks on September 22, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.

Domestic and International Events

• According to a report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 412 infrastructure projects in India, with investments of over Rs 150 crore each, have experienced cost overruns of more than Rs 4.77 lakh crore in August 2023. Out of a total of 1,762 projects, 830 were delayed.

• The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI) to support the country’s fintech sector. The agreement aims to develop standard protocols for digital lending partnerships, including alliances between banks and Lending Service Providers (LSPs).

• Oil prices held steady on Friday but closed the week lower on profit-taking and as markets weighed supply concerns stemming from Russia’s fuel export ban against demand woes from future rate hikes. Brent futures settled 3 cents lower at $93.27 a barrel. It fell 0.3% in the week, breaking a three-week streak of gains.
• Gold prices edged higher on Friday, helped by a slight pullback in the dollar and bond yields as investors digested a still hawkish stance from the Federal Reserve. Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,925.21 per ounce by 1:59 pm EDT (1759 GMT), following three sessions of losses. US gold futures settled 0.3% higher at $1,945.60 per ounce.        

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