Whirlpool promoter to reduce stake in the company, MRPL rally, Coal India critical minerals auction and more

Opening Bell:

Gift Nifty is down by 39 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.

Asian markets were trading mixed in the early trade on Tuesday with Nikkei up 0.5 percent, while Kospi down 0.6 percent.

Dow Jones futures fell slightly Monday night, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures, with Nvidia (NVDA) looming large. The stock market rally held up relatively well this past week amid hot inflation reports. The Nasdaq fell solidly, but off weekly lows. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones declined modestly while the Russell 2000 had a solidly week. All are near 52-week or all-time highs.

Stocks News: 

👉 Whirpool Mauritius Ltd, a promoter entity of Whirpool of India, plans to sell as much as 24 percent of the local unit through a block deal for $451 million, according to multiple industry executives familiar with the deal terms. The promoter group currently owns 75 percent of the home appliance maker and had earlier indicated that it would reduce its stake in the company to reduce debt levels.

👉 State-run Coal India will bid for three blocks in critical minerals auctions conducted by the country’s mines ministry in February, Chairman and Managing Director P M Prasad told analysts in a post-earnings conference call on Monday. India launched the first part of its critical minerals auction – expected to raise an estimated 450 billion rupees ($5.42 billion) overall – in November last year in a bid to drive its clean energy push, drawing interest from the likes of Ola Electric and Shree Cement.

👉 Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) rallied 18 percent o February 19, extending monthly gains to nearly 60 percent in February and a total of 33 percent in January. Year-to-date, it has surged 113 percent with increased volumes.

👉 Piramal Enterprises board of directors will be meeting on February 22 to consider the issue of non-convertible debentures up to Rs 100 crore along with the green shoe option to retain oversubscriptions up to Rs 500 crore on a private placement basis.

👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 754.59 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 452.70 crore worth of stocks on February 19, provisional data from the NSE showed.

Domestic and International Events

• Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating on global equities to “overweight” on prospects of economic growth and recovery in manufacturing activity, after starting the year with a “neutral” rating across assets.
• Recent data has shown signs of improvement in global manufacturing activity, including in the United States, and market participants will assess incoming economic data to determine the trajectory of interest rate cuts of major central banks.
• Gold prices hit their highest in almost a week on Monday as the U.S. dollar retreated slightly and conflict in the Middle East buoyed bullion’s safe-haven appeal. Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $2,016.45 an ounce at its highest since Feb. 13. US gold futures rose 0.2 percent to $2,028.20.
• Brent crude oil prices settled slightly higher in an abbreviated session on Monday, as lingering supply concerns from tensions in the Middle East were offset by signs of weakening demand. Oil markets’ saw thinner volumes than usual due to the Presidents’ Day holiday in the U.S., UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo noted. Brent futures also settled earlier than usual because of the holiday.