Business News Highlights: August Exports Drop By 6.86%, Trade Deficit Down To $24.16 Billion
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Yatra Online's IPO on Friday saw a lukewarm response from investors, with a subscription rate of just 11 per cent. Investors purchased 33.64 lakh equity shares out of the offered 3.09 crore shares, reported Moneycontrol. Retail investors showed more interest, buying 55 per cent of their allotted quota (10 per cent of the total issue size). High net worth individuals (HNIs) subscribed to 3 per cent of their reserved portion (15 per cent of the IPO size).
Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), with a 75 per cent reservation, have yet to submit their bids, the report said. Yatra Online aims to raise Rs 775 crore through the IPO priced in the range of Rs 135-142 per share.
Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services' IPO saw a lackluster response from investors on the second day of bidding with a subscription rate of just 43 per cent, reported Moneycontrol. Bids were received for 82.98 lakh equity shares against the offered size of 1.93 crore shares. Retail investors showed stronger support, subscribing 1.9 times their reserved portion (10 per cent of the IPO size). However, high net worth individuals (HNI) and qualified institutional buyers (QIB) had a tepid response, subscribing to 29 per cent and 0.02 per cent, respectively.
On the first day of bidding, September 14, the subscription rate was 19 per cent. Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services aims to raise Rs 563.38 crore through its IPO, comprising a fresh issuance of shares worth Rs 392 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of 1.04 crore shares worth Rs 171.38 crore by selling shareholders. The IPO is priced in the range of Rs 156-164 per share.
RR Kabel IPO received strong investor interest on the final bidding day, September 15. The subscription rate reached 18.69 times, with investors buying 24.89 crore equity shares against an IPO size of 1.33 crore shares, reported Moneycontrol.
As per the report, Qualified institutional buyers (QIB) and high-net-worth individuals bid for shares 52.26 times and 13.23 times their allotted quota, respectively.
While the retail investors purchased 2.13 times the portion set aside for them. The employees secured shares at a discount of Rs 98 per share to the final issue price. RR Kabel aims to raise Rs 180 crore through its fresh issue and Rs 1,784.01 crore via an offer-for-sale (OFS) portion, at the upper price band.
The price band for the offer of the issue was fixed at Rs 983-1,035 per share.
Ashok Leyland on Friday said that it will set up a new integrated commercial vehicle bus manufacturing facility in Uttar Pradesh with an initial investment of Rs. 200 crores. The Hinduja group flagship firm said that it has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Uttar Pradesh government to come up with the plant, the company's first in the state.
The company in an exchange filing said the proposed capacity of the manufacturing facility will be 2500 buses per annum which may be expanded to 5,000 vehicles.
Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Said, “The Government of Uttar Pradesh is eager to attract private-sector investments aligned with our Net Zero mission. Mitigating emissions through cleaner public and freight transport is a vital step in that direction.”
The firm said, that with this partnership, Ashok Leyland will predominantly concentrate on the production of electric buses, with the flexibility to also assemble other vehicles powered by currently available fuels as well as emerging alternative fuels.
Gold price in New Delhi jumped Rs 210 to Rs 59,810 per 10 grams on Friday amid strong global cues, according to HDFC Securities, reported PTI. The yellow metal had settled at Rs 59,600 per 10 grams in the previous trade. Silver also jumped Rs 700 to Rs 73,700 per kilogram during the trade.
In the global markets, gold and silver were trading higher at $1,916 per ounce and $23.02 per ounce, respectively, the report said.
Union Power Minister R K Singh on Friday said that the government may add 25 GW to 30 GW thermal electricity generation capacity to meet the the rising power demand, reported PTI. India as of now has the 50 GW thermal electricity generation capacity.
Speaking at a CII conference, R K Singh said that India has around 25 GW of thermal capacity under construction and another 25 GW is planned. He pointed the country is growing at a rapid pace and electricity demand is rising very fast, which needs to be met. The report noted that the country's power demand has already touched a record high of 241 GW early this month.
India's merchandise exports saw a decline of 6.86 per cent in August this year, totaling $34.48 billion compared to $37.02 billion in the same month last year, according to government data released on Friday, reported PTI. Simultaneously, merchandise imports also decreased by 5.23 per cent, amounting to $58.64 billion, as opposed to the $61.88 billion recorded in August 2022.
Consequently, the country's trade deficit for the month stood at $24.16 billion, against $24.86 billion reported in the same month last year, down 2.8 percent.
For the period from April to August of the current fiscal year, exports contracted by 11.9 per cent to reach $172.95 billion, while imports during this five-month period declined by 12 per cent to reach $271.83 billion, the data showed.
The rupee ended Friday session 15 paise lower at 83.18 per dollar versus Thursday's close of 83.03.
The two benchmark indices closed the trading session higher on Thursday, with Nifty nearing 20,200. At closing bell, the Sensex was up 319.63 points or 0.47 per cent at 67,838.63, while the Nifty was up 89.20 points or 0.44 per cent at 20,192.30 at closure.
Bajaj Auto, Grasim Industries, M&M, Hero MotoCorp, and Bharti Airtel were the biggest gainers on Nifty, while BPCL, Asian Paints, HUL, Jio Financial, and Tata Consumer Products were the biggest losers.
Market at 2.30 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 274.53 points or 0.41 percent at 67,793.53, and the Nifty was up 78.45 points or 0.39 percent at 20,181.55.
Shares of the hotel chain firm Lemon Tree Hotels hit a 52-week high at Rs 125.50 on Thursday after the company announced signing a licensing deal with 2 new properties in Gujarat and Nepal. At 12.36 AM, Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd was trading up 0.73 per cent at Rs 123 per share.
Shares of Restaurant Brands Asia (formerly known as Burger King India Ltd) surged over 12.5 per cent to hit a 52-week high of Rs 135.40 on Friday. According to reports, the shares jumped after a block deal worth Rs 1,494 crore took place on the bourses. Around 12.54 crore shares changed hands in the block deal representing 25.4 per cent equity holding of the firm.
A CNBC-TV18 report citing sources said that the company's promoter entity, Everstone was likely the seller in this transaction.
At 12.30 Am, shares of Restaurant Brands Asia were trading 9.75 per cent higher at Rs 130.45 on the BSE.
Bajaj Auto Ltd shares hit a 52-week high of Rs 5,078 in early trade on Thursday after BofA securities revised its recommendation for the stocks to 'Buy' citing a gradual recovery in the domestic two-wheeler industry and the recovery in the three-wheeler segment for the company, report Moneycontrol.
BofA in a note on Thursday said, "All segments well set for positive growth in FY25."
The brokerage firm raised it target price of the scrip to target price to Rs 5,550, up 15 per cent from the closing price of Thursday.
At 12.23 am, the shares were trading over 5 per cent high at Rs 5,086 per share.
The rupee saw range-bound trading against the US dollar in early trade on Friday. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 83.02 against the dollar. It touched a low of 83.07 against the American currency in initial trade, down 4 paise from its previous close, at 10.15 AM. On Thursday, the rupee closed 2 paise lower at 83.03 against the US dollar.
According to reports, a bullish trend in the equity market supported the rupee at lower levels.
Sensex and Nifty on Friday jumped new highs, tracking strength across global markets. At 9.40 am, the BSE Sensex jumped 154 points to 67,673. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 index was trading at 20,148, up 45 points. On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Motors, HCL, M&M, HDFC Bank, Wipro, Sun Pharma were among the early gainers. On the downside, Asian Paints, HUL, Titan, Nestle, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank emerged losers.
Background
Business News Highlights: Hello and welcome to ABP Live's Business LIVE blog. Please follow this space for all the breaking news and latest updates from the Stock Market, economy, and the corporate world.
On Thursday, the two benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, closed with little changes after reaching new all-time highs earlier in the trading session. The S&P BSE Sensex, which reached a peak of 67,771 points, moderated its gains to finish at 67,519 points, marking a 52-point increase. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty50, which surged to 20,168 points, concluded the day at 20,103 points, with a 33-point uptick.
Meanwhile, The data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Thursday, showed that India's wholesale price-based inflation has remained in negative territory for the fifth consecutive month, with the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) registering -0.52 per cent in August. A consistent negative trend since April when it was at -4.18 per cent, with a slight improvement to -1.36 per cent in July.
In other news, the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points. This decision is aimed at combatting inflation, which the ECB anticipates will persist at elevated levels for an extended period. In its statement, the ECB emphasised its commitment to bringing inflation back to its 2 per cent medium-term target within an appropriate timeframe. The central bank believes that the current levels of its key interest rates if maintained for a sufficient duration, will significantly contribute to achieving this goal.
Travel services provider Yatra Online Limited will commence its initial public offering (IPO) for public subscription on September 15, with anchor investor staring the bid. The offering will close on September 20, featuring a price band of Rs 135-142 per equity share. Investors can bid for a minimum of 105 equity shares in one lot and in multiples thereafter.
The IPO comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 602 crore by the company, along with an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 1.21 crore equity shares. Promoter THCL Travel Holding Cyprus Ltd will sell 1.17 crore equity shares, and investor Pandara Trust – SCHEME I, represented by Vistra ITCL (India), will divest its entire 4 lakh equity shares via the OFS.
The company conducted a pre-IPO placement of Rs 62 crore via a rights issue, allocating 26 lakh equity shares to THCL. The fresh issue size has been reduced to Rs 602 crore, and the net proceeds will be utilized for strategic investments, acquisitions, technology, customer acquisition, and other growth initiatives, along with general corporate purposes.
SBI Capital Markets Ltd, DAM Capital Advisors Ltd, and IIFL Securities Ltd are serving as the book-running lead managers for the IPO, with Link Intime India as the registrar.
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