Share markets in India are presently trading on a strong note. Benchmark indices rebounded today after their worst week in over a decade on hopes that major central banks would take steps to stabilize financial markets amid the coronavirus epidemic.
On Friday, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had hinted at a fresh interest rate cut at the bank's next meeting on March 17-18.
Earlier today, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda also said the Japanese central bank would take necessary steps to stabilize markets.
The BSE Sensex is trading up by 663 points, up 1.7%, while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 184 points.
The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 1.5%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 1.7%.
On the sectoral front, gains are largely seen in the IT sector, metal sector, and FMCG sector.
Note that Sensex had logged its second-biggest one-day fall last week on Friday, amid fears that the virus epidemic may turn out to be a bigger threat to the global economy than initially anticipated.
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In news from the finance sector, shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance climbed over 20% in early trade today after it informed bourses that the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) affidavit has mentioned no violations of any nature or kind regarding the company.
In a regulatory filing, the company said the RBI submitted its affidavit in the court in the PIL matter, and the RBI affidavit highlighted the details of loans taken by the borrowers mentioned in PIL and the repayment dates of such loans.
The RBI affidavit states that "the Writ Petition is not maintainable either on facts or law as against this Respondent, the Reserve Bank of India, and hence liable to be dismissed as such."
Indiabulls Housing Finance share price is presently trading up by 11%.
Moving on to news from the banking sector, SBI Cards & Payment Services, backed by State Bank of India (SBI) and private equity firm Carlyle Group, has raised Rs 27.7 billion from 74 anchor investors.
Singapore government, Monetary Authority of Singapore, HDFC Mutual Fund, Government Pension Fund Global and Birla Mutual Fund, are among the anchor investors.
As per a regulatory filing, shares have been allotted at the offer's upper price band of Rs 755 apiece.
Among the 74 anchor investors, there are 12 mutual funds who have been allocated 3,66,69,589 shares.
The price band for the share sale, which would be open from March 2 to 5, has been fixed at Rs 750-755 apiece.
Incorporated in 1998, SBI Cards is the second-largest credit card issuer in India, with an 18% market share of the credit cards market in terms of the number of cards outstanding.
SBI holds 76% in SBI Cards and the rest of the stake is held by Carlyle Group.
HDFC Bank has the largest credit cards business in the country with 13.3 million cards issued, while ICICI Bank stood third with 7.9 million credit cards, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India.
SBI Card's total credit card spends grew at a compounded annual growth rate of 54.2% over FY17-FY19 compared with an industry average of 35.6%.
Speaking of the credit card business, a quick look at India's credit card spending is a good indicator of the country's consumption potential.
India's Massive Consumption Megatrend
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