After opening on a positive note, Indian share markets gained momentum as the session progressed and ended the day lower.

Equity markets were extremely volatile on Tuesday, laced with stock-specific action.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 15 points.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 5 points.

Bajaj Finserv, Titan, and HDFC Life Insurance were among the top gainers today.

BPCL, HCL Tech, and Maruti Suzuki on the other hand were among the top losers today.

The GIFT Nifty ended at 22,237 down by 31 points.

Broader markets ended the day higher. The BSE Mid Cap ended 0.3% up and the BSE Small Cap index ended 0.5% higher.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed, with socks telecom sector, realty sector, and capital goods sector witnessing the most buying. Meanwhile, stocks in the oil & gas sector, banking, and metal sector witnessed selling pressure.

Shares of MRF, Maruti Suzuki, and ABB India hit their respective 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 82.94 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading marginally lower at Rs 61,881 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading 0.6% lower at Rs 69,829 per 1 kg.
 

IRFC to Float IPO

In news from the finance sector, the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) plans to float bonds worth up to Rs 30 bn on 26 February 2024.

The bonds have a base issue of Rs 5 bn with a greenshoe option of Rs 25 bn and a maturity of 10 years ending on 28 February 2034.

The greenshoe option is a provision in an underwriting agreement that grants the underwriter the right to sell investors more bonds than initially planned by the issuer if the demand for a security issue proves higher than expected.

Bidding for these bonds will take place between 10 am and 11 am on the electronic bidding platform of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE).

The pay-in date of the bonds is 28 February, when the exchange of bonds and money will take place between issuers and investors.

According to sources, the minimum application of the bonds is Rs 10 and in multiples of Rs 0.1 m thereafter.

The company is engaged in borrowing funds from the financial markets to finance the acquisition/creation of assets, which are then leased out to the Indian Railways or any entity under the Ministry of Railways.

In 2024 so far, the stock has risen around 54% from Rs 100 to Rs 154.

Esconet Technologies Lists at 245% Premium

Moving on, Esconet Technologies made an impressive debut, listing at a 245.2% premium over the IPO price on 23 February 2024.

The stock opened at Rs 290 on the NSE SME platform against the issue price of Rs 84 after the IPO was subscribed 500 times over.

The listing was better than expected. The share of the IT infrastructure solutions firm was commanding a 119% premium in the grey market, an unofficial ecosystem where shares start trading before the allotment in the IPO and until the listing day.

Most investors track the grey market premium to get an idea of the listing price.

The offer was subscribed 500 times, with the retail portion getting booked 553 times and non-institutional investors picking 868 times their quota of shares. The price band of the offer, which opened for subscription on 16 February and closed on 20 February, was fixed at Rs 80-84 a share. The company raised Rs 282.2 m through the IPO, which was purely a fresh issue of 3.4 m shares.

Corporate Capitalventures was the book-running lead manager, Skyline Financial Services India was the registrar and SS Corporate Securities was the market-maker for the issue.
 

Jio Financial Services Hits Rs 2 Trillion Mark

Moving on to news from the telecom sector, Jio Financial Services' market capitalization exceeded Rs 2 tn for the first time, driven by a 35% surge in its share price this year. Parent Reliance Industries also hit a record high.

Currently, 39 firms are trading above Rs 2 tn market capitalization on local stock exchanges. Reliance Industries leads with a market cap of Rs 20.1 tn, followed by Tata Consultancy Services and HDFC Bank with Rs 14.8 tn and Rs 10.8 tn, respectively.

Jio Financial is shifting focus to secured lending and adopting a cautious approach to unsecured products in the current market and regulatory climate.

It aims to boost its secured lending business with the launch of two new products: Device-as-a-service, offering operating and financing leases for devices like Airfiber, phones, and laptops through its subsidiary Jio Information Aggregator Services.

In January, Jio Financial Services and Blackrock Financial Management filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Board of India to launch a mutual fund business in India.

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