Street signs: Passive boost for equities, NSE consolidates position & more

Passive boost for Indian equities

The Indian markets may see buying worth nearly Rs 900 crore by foreign funds following the rejig in popular global indices. On Friday, the global index providers removed China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) from their global indices following an investment ban imposed by the US. Analysts say funds tracking these indices will be forced to buy Indian shares. “The MSCI has announced the deletion of CNOOC from respective MSCI indices and changes will be done on January 26. Hence, as part of immediate rebalance, India may see $120 million inflows from January 25. The flow will get distributed in various stocks,” said Abhilash Pagaria of Edelweiss Alternative Research.

Home First, Stove Kraft GMP above 25%

The grey market premium (GMP) for the maiden offerings of Home First Finance and Stove Kraft is in excess of 25 per cent, said market players. Home First’s Rs 1,154-crore IPO closes on Monday, while Stove Kraft’s Rs 412-crore issue closes Thursday. Indigo Paints, whose IPO closed Friday, is commanding GMP of 60 per cent. Four IPOs have got launched ahead of the Union Budget, taking advantage of the positive sentiment in the secondary market and abundant liquidity. The benchmark Sensex last week topped the historic 50,000-mark.

NSE consolidates top position

The NSE has cemented its spot as the largest derivatives exchange in the world for the second consecutive year. Derivatives contracts traded in 2020 grew to 8.85 billion, a 48 per cent rise over the previous year, the data from Futures Industry Association shows. The NSE is ahead of Brazil's B3 exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange whose contracts traded totalled 6.3 billion and 2.4 billion last year, with the former registering a 63 per cent growth. The Dalian Commodity Exchange and the Korea Exchange made up the top five with contracts totalling 2.2 billion and 2.1 billion, respectively.