Nifty50 index is likely to open with a gap of 80 points gains on Monday, as trends emerge on SGX Nifty. The SGX Nifty is ruling at 15,240 against Nifty50 February futures’ Friday close of 15,161.

Positive consumer price index data and index of industrial production will also boost market sentiment, said analysts. The IIP is also giving broad indications of a rebound in economic activity with the reading for December 20 at 1 per cent against negative 2.10 per cent for November 20. What is significant is the pick-up in both consumer durables and non-durables as also infra goods.

Similarly, the CPI has come down from 4.59 per cent in December 2020 to 4.06 per cent in January 2021, indicating a consistent fall in the retail inflation in the last couple of months, owing to moderation in food inflation.

“While the general direction is of improvement in the reading, it may be too early to make any inference based on IIP numbers of a month of two,” said Dr Joseph Thomas, Head of Research - Emkay Wealth Management.

Asia-Pacific markets too present a bullish trend. Benchmark indices of Australia, Japan, Korea and China have gained over 1 per cent, while others such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia moved up over 0.5 per cent.

Last week, the US markets closed at record high levels.

Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said, the overall long-term structure of the market remains positive given confluence of economic recovery, containment of Covid-19, earnings beat, and an expansionary Budget.

“However, with markets hitting multiple new highs and valuations largely factoring in an earnings recovery, one should trade cautiously with stock-specific actions and book profit intermittently,” he said, and added: “In the near term, market would actively track key macro data like IIP, CPI and WPI data along with global cues.”

Stocks to watch

The Board of Amara Raja Batteries has approved setting up a greenfield lead acid recycling plant with an estimated capacity of one lakh tonnes per annum at a total outlay of ₹280 crore to be spent over the next 18 months. This will help the company comply with recycling standards whilst adopting advanced technology in the most environmentally-friendly manner. It is also setting up a 50-MW solar captive power plant in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, at a total outlay of ₹220 crore to support the sustainability initiatives of the company. This will further reduce the cost of power and simultaneously bring down the carbon footprint, Amara Raja Batteries has informed the bourses.

Bajaj Healthcare Limited has announced that there was a minor fire accident at one of its units at M.I.D.C, Tarapur, Maharashtra, on Saturday. The company informed the exchanges that there was no substantial loss of property or injury to human life in the incident. However, the company is ascertaining the extent of loss and has already informed the insurance company as the entire factory and goods therein are adequately insured, it said, and added that it is taking steps to ensure operations get back to normal at the plant at the earliest.

Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL), the first and only listed depository in India, hit a new milestone last week by becoming the first depository to open three crore plus active demat accounts.

The Board Godrej Industries has granted approval for engaging in financial services business. To pursue the opportunity in housing finance business, the Board has approved the proposal of acquiring shares of Godrej Housing Finance which recently obtained a license to operate as a housing finance company (HFC) from Anamudi. Further, Godrej Industries will pursue non-retail lending opportunities through another subsidiary, — Ensemble Holdings and Finance, a non-banking finance company.

Havells India is planning to set up a new facility to manufacture washing machines in Ghiloth in Rajasthan with an estimated investment of ₹65 crore and an annual capacity of three lakh units. Further, the company is planning to set up a new facility to manufacture air conditioners at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh with an estimated investment of ₹250 crore and an annual capacity of 5.6 lakh units. The new capacity is proposed to be added within the next 12-18 months and will be funded through internal accruals and term loans, it said in a notice to the stock exchanges.

Info Edge (India) has entered into an agreement to invest about ₹9 crore in 4G networks. through its wholly-owned subsidiary, which will acquire 1,747 compulsorily convertible preference shares.

The board of ONGC has approved formation of a new wholly-owned subsidiary to focus on the gas and LNG business value chain. It has also approved acquisition of 5 per cent stake in Indian Gas Exchange as a strategic investment, according to its disclosure to the stock exchanges.

The board of Ruchira Paper has approved preferential issue of 28.8 lakh warrants, convertible into an equivalent number of equity shares of ₹10 each to the promoter and promoter group. The price will be determined in accordance with the SEBI (ICDR) Regulations, it said. The conversion can be exercised at any time within a period of 18 months from the date of allotment, it further said,

IPO corner

Nureca

: The ₹100-crore IPO of Nureca opens for subscription today. The offer comes in a price band of ₹396-400 and is set to be listed on the BSE and NSE exchanges. Ahead of the IPO, Nureca raised ₹44.55 crore from two anchor investors on Friday, February 12, 2021.

The company, which owns the Dr Trust brand, will use the proceeds for funding incremental working capital requirements and general corporate purposes.

Investors can bid for a minimum one lot of 35 equity shares and in multiples extending up to 14 lots. A total of up to 75 per cent of the issue will be reserved for qualified institutional buyers, up to 10 per cent for retail investors and the rest 15 per cent for the non-institutional category.

RailTel anchor issue

The ₹819-crore initial public offering (IPO) of RailTel Corporation of India will open on Tuesday. Ahead of the issue, the anchor portion will open on Monday for institutional investors. The price band of the IPO has been fixed at ₹93-94 per share of face value ₹10 each.

As the IPO is entirely an offer-for-sale, the entire amount will go to the Centre, which will offload over 8.71 crore (8,71,53,369) equity shares through the OFS.

Results corner

As many as 24 companies will declare their quarterly results on Monday. Among these are Jet Airways, Hindustan Everest Tools and Kerala Ayurveda.

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