Higher opening on the cards on firm global cues

A higher start for the domestic bourses is in the offing owing to the firmness in Asian stocks and overnight positive closing in US stocks. Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could gain 10.60 points at the opening bell.

Overseas, Asian stocks rose following overnight advances in US stocks. The Japanese government raised its overall assessment of the domestic economy for the first time in 21 months today, 21 December 2016, though it still took a cautious line on uncertainties in the global economy.

The government said in its monthly report for December that the economy is continuing on a moderate recovery path. Previously, the government said there were spots of weakness while noting that a gradual recovery was under way.

US stocks rose yesterday, 20 December 2016, with the Dow Jones Industrials Average and Nasdaq hitting their latest in a series of records, as the market's recent upward trend, led by a rally in bank stocks continued unabated.

Among corporate news back home, State Bank of India announced after market hours yesterday, 20 December 2016, that its shareholders approved the proposal to raise capital through the issue of preferential shares to the government. They also gave an in-principle nod to additional fund raising by way of a public issue, should the bank need to tap the markets.

According to a notification issued to stock exchanges, shareholders approved a preferential issue of shares for upto Rs 5681 crore to the Government of India. This is part of the government's capital infusion plan into the lender.

Separately, shareholders also approved fund raising upto a limit of Rs 15000 crore via a public issue. This fund raising could be in the form of a follow-on public offer (FPO) or private placement through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) or through other means such as American Depository Receipts (ADRs) or Global Depository Receipts (GDRs). Any such public fund raising would be subject to the condition that the government's shareholding in SBI does not fall below 52%.

Bharti Airtel announced after market hours yesterday, 20 December 2016, that its subsidiary Network 12i has entered into a definitive agreement with Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding S.A.E (Orascom) to acquire Orascom's entire equity stake in Middle East North Africa Company Submarine Cable Systems S.A.E (MENA-SCS). The acquisition is subject to requisite regulatory approvals.

MENA-SCS is a 100% subsidiary of Orascom. MENA- SCS owns and operates a submarine cable network between India and Europe covering Middle East, with options to extend the network to Africa.

The proposed acquisition of MENA-SCS is aimed at further strengthening Airtel's global network that currently runs across 225,000 Rkms, covering 50 countries and 5 continents. The additional capacity will enable Airtel to serve the growing demand for data services and enterprise services across its footprint of 18 countries across South Asia and Africa.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries announced that all the formalities for the closure and the process for acquisition of 85.1% of JSC Biosintez, a Russian pharmaceutical company have been concluded. The company had announced about the transaction on 23 November 2016. JSC Biosintez is engaged in manufacture and marketing of pharmaceutical products in Russia and CIS region. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 December 2016.

The two key benchmark indices viz. the S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty 50 index registered yet another session of losses, continuing with their recent trend yesterday, 20 December 2016. Key indices dropped for the fifth straight session. The Sensex lost 66.72 points or 0.25% to settle at 26,307.98, its lowest closing level since 7 December 2016.

The foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 685.93 crore yesterday, 20 December 2016, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 418.93 crore yesterday, 20 December 2016, as per provisional data.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News