The first week of March 2022 witnessed a few major events that moved the share markets. Amid the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war crisis and global sell-off, the equity benchmark Sensex tumbled 769 points on Friday.
Extending its decline for the third straight session, the 30-share BSE index slumped 1,214.96 points to 53,887.72 during the session after a weak start. It finally finished at 54,333.81, lower by 768.87 points or 1.40 per cent.
Apart from these, the top major events that occurred in the first week were trading facility to trade in US stocks from March 3 via NSE IFSC, LIC IPO delayed to uncertain time, Auto Sales Report for Feb ’22, Steel Price Jump, Shortage in Semiconductor chips and more.
Indian retail investors can now trade in select US stocks via NSE-IFSC platform
- Trading in US Stocks made easy by NSE IFSC from March 3
- NSE IFSC at Gift City has received approval to trade receipts of 50 US-based stocks
- Initially starting with 8 Stocks: Alphabet, Amazon, Tesla, Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, Apple & Walmart
NSE IFSC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India, on Thursday said it has launched trading in unsponsored depositary receipts, which will offer Indian retail investors an opportunity to invest in the US stocks listed on bourses like NYSE and NASDAQ in an easy and affordable way.
The trading in unsponsored depositary receipts — NSE IFSC Receipts — has been launched in association with HDFC Bank, under the regulatory sandbox framework prescribed by the IFSCA, according to a statement.
Auto Sales February 2022: M&M’s Sales Surged 89%, Tata Motors Increased 47%
Top automobile manufacturers recently reported their sales for the month of February 2022. A shortage in the supply of semiconductors has impacted the production and hence the sales of these companies.
Tata Motors registered a 47% Growth
Tata Motors registered a 47% sales growth in the passenger vehicle segment. It sold 39,981 units in February 2022 as compared to 27,225 units in 2021.
TVS Motor Sales Decline 5%
TVS Motor Company Limited posted a total sales of 2,81,714 units in February 2022, down by 5% as compared to 2,97,747 units in the same month, last year. The company said “The shortage in supply of semiconductors has impacted the production and sales of premium two-wheelers. We are cautiously optimistic that the supply of semiconductors will improve in the coming months.”
Mahindra & Mahindra Sales Increased By 89%
Automotive manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra’s sales surged by 89% to 54,455 units in February, as compared to 28,777 units in February last year.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict Delayed The LIC IPO
- The government is likely to hold a meeting to reassess the timing of the LIC IPO and postpone it to the next financial year in view of the volatility in the markets due to the escalating Russia-Ukraine war.
- “The process for it is already on and we are prepared to go ahead but when a war of this magnitude is happening, a review is certainly required,” a top government official said.
- The government is trying to rope in the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and the Govt of Singapore Investment Corp as anchor Investors.
The government is likely to hold a meeting to reassess the timing of the LIC IPO and postpone it to the next financial year in view of the volatility in the markets due to the escalating Russia-Ukraine war.
LIC IPO: Government to take call in best interest of investors, says official
The government will take a call on the IPO of the country’s largest insurer LIC in the “best interest of the investors”, a senior official said on Friday as it is closely watching the market amid volatility caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said that while the government’s desire is to come out with the Initial Public Offer (IPO) of the state-owned life insurer in the current fiscal, it is a “dynamic situation”.
Through the IPO of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), the government aims to garner over Rs 60,000 crore in the current fiscal to meet its revised disinvestment target of Rs 78,000 crore.
However, in the wake of the market volatility due to the Ukraine-Russia war, there might be a rethink on the timing of the LIC share sale
Rs 12 hike in petrol, diesel price needed to break-even — ICICI Securities
Petrol and diesel prices, which have been on a freeze for the past four months in view of assembly elections in states like Uttar Pradesh, need to be increased by over Rs 12 per litre by March 16 for fuel retailers to break even.
International crude oil prices shot above USD 120 a barrel for the first time in nine years on Thursday before retreating a little to USD 111 on Friday, but the gulf between cost and retail rates has only widened.
With international oil prices — on which domestic fuel retails are directly benchmarked — spiking in the last two months, state-owned fuel retailers “need a massive price hike of Rs 12.1 per litre on or before March 16, 2022, just to breakeven and a price hike of Rs 15.1 is required” after including margins for oil firms, ICICI Securities said in a report.
Russia-Ukraine conflict to further worsen chip shortage: Report
The Russian-Ukraine war can hit the global supply chains that are already constrained due to the pandemic and the worst impact will be on ongoing chip shortage because the warring nations brutally control supplies of key raw materials that go into making semiconductors, warns a report.
Since Russia controls as much as 44 per cent of global palladium supplies, Ukraine produces a significant 70 per cent of the global supply of neon — the two key raw materials that go into making chips.
Steel prices jump up to Rs 5,000 per tonne as supply chains hit amid Russia-Ukraine conflict
Domestic steel makers have hiked the prices of hot-rolled coil (HRC) and TMT bars by up to Rs 5,000 per tonne as the supply chain is being impacted amid ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
According to industry sources, the prices have been increased in the past few days and are expected to go up further in the coming weeks with the crisis deepening between the two countries.
Vodafone to infuse Rs 3,375 crore in VIL, Company proposed raising funds worth Rs 14,200 crore.
Promoter Vodafone plans to infuse up to Rs 3,375 crore into debt-ridden Vodafone Idea Ltd as part of the company’s proposed raising of funds worth Rs 14,200 crore. Besides Vodafone, Aditya Birla Group plans to pump in up to Rs 1,125 crore, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.
The telecom operator will seek shareholders’ approval for raising up to Rs 14,500 crore as well as increase its authorised share capital to Rs 75,000 crore at its Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to be held on March 26.
The board of Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) has already approved the fundraising plan, which includes Rs 4,500 crore coming in from Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone, while the remaining amount of Rs 10,000 crore would be mopped up by way of equity or debt instruments.
