Share markets in India are presently trading on a strong note tracking higher global equity markets.

Benchmark indices edged higher, tracking gains in Asian peers amid hopes that the worst of the coronavirus outbreak in China may have passed.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the FMCG sector and IT sector witnessing buying interest, while realty stocks are witnessing selling pressure.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 327 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 89 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index are trading down by 0.2%.

The rupee is trading at 71.25 against the US$.

In news from the engineering sector, shares of graphite electrode manufacturer HEG slipped over 13% today after the company reported poor set of financial numbers for the quarter ended December 31, 2019 (Q3FY20).

The company reported consolidated loss of Rs 12.3 million for the quarter under review against Rs 4,446 million profit registered in the year-ago period.

Total revenue declined 78% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 4,209.7 million.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 99.6% to Rs 47 million while margin stood at 1.2% against 70.4% in the year-ago period.

Segment-wise, revenue from graphite vertical stood at Rs 3.9 billion, down 79% YoY. Power generated revenue of Rs 65.6 million, down 81% YoY.

The company also announced dividend of Rs 25 per share.

HEG share price is presently trading down by 12.7%.

Moving on, in latest developments from the IPO space, the markets regulator has given its approval for the initial public offer (IPO) of SBI Cards and Payment Services, the cards unit of the State Bank of India (SBI).

As per a leading financial daily, the IPO is likely to hit the market towards the end of this month. The company may raise Rs 90 billion to Rs 100 billion.

According to the DRHP filed last year, the company will offer up to 130,526,798 equity shares via offer for sale (OFS) route.

This will include up to 37,293,371 share sale by SBI and up to 93,233,427 shares by Carlyle Group. In addition, the company will also issue fresh equity shares of Rs 5 billion.

SBI holds 76% in SBI Cards and the rest is held by the Carlyle Group.

In other news, the markets regulator has asked the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to divest its complete stake in associate company Computer Age Management Systems (CAMS).

In a letter dated February 4, the regulator observed that NSE failed to obtain prior regulatory approval while buying a stake in CAMS during FY13-14 and hence the investment is in violation of the rules for market intermediary institutions (MIIs).

NSE currently owns 37% stake in CAMS through one of its subsidiaries, NSE Investments Limited (NSEIL).

As per reports, this could impact the upcoming IPO plans of CAMS which filed the draft prospectus with regulator last month, looking to offload 12.16 million shares.

Of this, 4 million shares are being sold by Warburg Pincus and over 5 million shares by NSE.

CAMS is the largest share registrar and transfer agent in the Indian markets with a market share of more than 60% in several segments.

How the above developments pan out in the coming days remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on all the news from this space.

Speaking of IPOs, in one of the editions of The 5 Minute WrapUp, Ankit Shah shared how IPOs offer insights into the mood of the stock markets.

He picked the six most successful IPOs of 2019 and checked the retail investor enthusiasm for them.

Obviously, all these IPOs were oversubscribed across investor categories. But the level of retail investor enthusiasm differed widely, depending on the overall market sentiments. This can be seen in the chart below:

Are Retail Investors Back in the IPO Game?

Here's what Ankit wrote about it...

• Clearly, IRCTC witnessed the highest number of bids for the retail category. Factoring in the discount of Rs 10 per share for the retail category, the total bids were worth a whopping Rs 3,242 crore. Over five times the entire IPO size!
  
  Polycab India and the recent IPO of CSB Bank also received a strong thumbs-up from retail investors.

Does this hint that retail investors are coming back to the markets? Could we witness of flurry of IPOs in the coming months?

It would be interesting to see how this trend pans out in the coming months.

Ankit keeps a tab on all the IPOs at his premium newsletter Equitymaster Insider (requires subscription).

In one of his recent articles, he has explained why keeping a tab on the IPO market is vital to your overall investing goals. You can read it here: What I Learnt from IPOs in 2019 (requires subscription).