Indian share markets continued to witness volatility during closing hours and ended their day on a flat note.
Gains were seen in the realty sector and consumer durables sector, while stocks from the auto sector and healthcare sector witnessed selling pressure.
At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 66 points (up 0.2%) and the NSE Nifty stood flat.
The BSE Mid Cap index ended down by 0.7%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day down by 1.4%.
Asian stock markets finished on a positive note as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng stood up by 2.56% and the Nikkei was trading up by 1.72%, while the Shanghai Composite was trading up by 0.96%.
European markets were trading on a negative note. The FTSE 100 was down by 0.35%. The DAX was trading down by 0.02%, while the CAC 40 was down by 0.07%.
The rupee was trading at 69.72 to the US$ at the time of writing.
In the news from the banking sector, Federal Bank share price was in focus today as the lender announced plans to raise up to Rs 5 billion by issuing Basel III-compliant bonds on private placement basis.
The lender in a BSE filing said that the board of the bank has approved the issuance of 1,000 unsecured, listed, redeemable Basel III compliant tier II bonds having a face value of Rs 10 lakh each, with an option to retain oversubscription up to Rs 400 crore aggregating to Rs 500 crore (debentures), on a private placement basis.
Market participants were also tracking IndoStar Capital Finance and ICICI Bank share price as these companies have entered into a sourcing and servicing arrangement to partner in extending credit to small and medium fleet owners to purchase used and new commercial vehicles.
From the construction sector, IRB Infrastructure Developers share price was in focus today. Shares of the company witnessed selling pressure to hit their five-year low levels today after a media report indicated that there could be new operator for Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
As per the news, it was reported that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was planning to find a new operator for the Mumbai-Pune Expressway after the company's agreement ends in August.
In August 2004, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and Mhaiskar Infrastructure (MIPL) - a special purpose vehicle of IRB Infrastructure Developers signed a 15-year concession agreement to develop, operate and maintain the Mumbai-Pune section of NH-4, along with the operation and maintenance of the Expressway project.
For IRB, during the fourth quarter of 2018-19, the Expressway project earned 42% of the total toll collection.
We'll keep you updated on how the above news pans out in the coming days.
Speaking of the infrastructure sector, did you know India became the world's fastest highway building economy under Modi 1.0?
Tanushree Banerjee has shared some interesting data on this in one of the recent editions of The 5 Minute WrapUp...
In the last five years, India constructed approximately 39,000 kms of highways. That is a jump of nearly 60% from the UPA-2 tally.
The NHAI achieved the pace of building highways at 32 kms per day in FY19. Its target for FY20, at 40 kms per day is almost 25% higher.
What Would 40 kms a Day of Highway Building Mean for Infra Stocks?
And as per Tanushree, this uptrend in execution could be a big tailwind for infra companies. As she writes...
- Now, I do not expect the 25% jump in road building to come in one fiscal.
However, I believe it is important this trend of improvement in execution continues.
And such a trend could be a big tailwind for many infra companies.
Also, Modi 2.0's infra plans are not restricted to road building alone.
Railways, waterways, drinking water pipelines, green energy, and affordable housing could also form a bulk of the Rs 100 lakh crore opportunity.
But does that mean investors should jump at the next hot infra stock?
No.
Because even if India's infra story sounds exciting, it is important to dig deeper and be careful.
There will be only a few stocks that will benefit the most from the transformation what Tanushree calls the Rebirth of India.
You can read Tanushree's article in its entirety here: How to Profit from Modi 2.0's Rs 100 Lakh Crore Infrastructure Plan
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