Photo by Srikanth D on Unsplash

Indian share markets witnessed volatile trading activity today and ended on a flat note.

Benchmark indices extended losses to 3rd straight day today as investors continue to be on edge about the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 59 points (down 0.1%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 28 points (down 0.2%).

Coal India and SBI Life Insurance were among the top gainers today.

ONGC and Cipla, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,280, up by 13 points, at the time of writing.

Both, the BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index ended up by 0.8%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the realty sector, oil & gas sector and healthcare sector witnessing most of the selling pressure.

Engineering stocks, on the other hand, witnessed buying interest.

Shares of Adani Green Energy hits its respective 52-week high today.

Asian stock markets ended on a mixed note today.

The Hang Seng ended down by 1.9%, while the Shanghai Composite ended up by 0.7%. The Nikkei ended down by 0.4% in today's session.

US stock futures are trading on a positive note today with the Dow Futures trading up by 138 points.

The rupee is trading at 74.66 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 0.8% at Rs 50,000 per 10 grams.

In news from the cement sector, Ambuja Cements was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Shares of Ambuja Cements fell over 6% in early trade today after the company reported a decline of 55.5% in its consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter.

The company, which follows the January-December financial year, had clocked a net profit of Rs 9.7 bn a year ago.

However, revenue from operations during October-December 2021 jumped 2.3% to Rs 76.3 bn, from Rs 74.5 bn a year ago. Total expenses stood at Rs 68.7 bn, a 6.7% jump from Rs 64.3 bn a year ago.

On a standalone basis, Ambuja Cements reported a decline of 49.4% in its net profit to Rs 2.5 bn against Rs 5 bn in the year-ago period.

Its standalone revenue from operations stood at Rs 37.4 bn, a rise of 6.3% from Rs 35.2 bn a year ago.

The board in its meeting on 17 February 2022 recommended a final dividend on shares at the rate of Rs 6.3 per share subject to the approval of shareholders. The dividend, if approved, shall be paid after 29 April 2022.

The company has also given its in-principle approval for an investment of Rs 35 bn for expanding cement grinding by 7 m tons across units at Sankrail and Farakka and a new unit at Barh, in Bihar, and a 3.2 m tons clinker expansion at an integrated plant in Bhatapara, Chhattisgarh.

Ambuja Cement share price ended the day down by 5.8% on the BSE.

Speaking of the stock markets, a right investing process can help you win in the long term. It might offer some unexpected and undesirable results in the short term but lets you fare well when you average the outcomes.

According to Richa Agarwal, Senior Research Analyst at Equitymaster, any investment process should not be judged based on individual outcomes. Instead, it should have stood the test of the time.

Her smallcap service Hidden Treasure has had its fair share of failures. But sticking to a disciplined process meant that Hidden Treasure's internal rate of return (IRR) increased to 24.38% since inception. This compares favourably to the IRRs of 9.6% for the Sensex, and 8.8% for the smallcap index in the same period (February 2008 - June 2020) as can be seen in the chart below.

The service's performance did suffer in the short term after the 2018 crash in smallcaps. However, the long term track record and the post Covid rebound underscores the strength of stock picking process.

If you are interested in becoming a Hidden Treasure subscriber, here's where you can sign up.

Moving on to news from the IPO space...

LIC Likely to Float US$8-bn Public Issue on 11 March 2022

A public offering of shares by India's state-run Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), set to be the country's biggest ever at US$8 bn, is expected to open for anchor investors on 11 March 2022.

The book will open for bidding by other investors a couple of days later.

LIC's IPO is expected to obtain regulatory approval by the first week of March, after which an indicative marketing price band will be set.

According to a report, the initial public offering (IPO) launch schedule could change, though for now the issuer was working to meet those timelines.

LIC, the country's largest insurance company, filed a draft IPO prospectus on Sunday with the market regulator to sell 5% of the Indian government's stake to potentially raise nearly US$8 bn.

The government is rushing to complete the IPO by the end of March to meet its 2021/22 fiscal deficit target of 6.4% of gross domestic product (GDP), which is contingent on it raising around Rs 600 bn (US$8 bn) from the issue.

How this IPO pans out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more updates from this space.