MARKET: Sensex holds gains, up 400 pts; Metro Brands debuts at 13% discount

Markets at 10 AM

LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices held on to their opening gains amid broad-based buying. The S&P BSE Sensex was up 442 points at 56,762 levels and the Nifty50 was hovering around 16,900-mark.

In the broader markets, the SmallCap index was outperforming with nearly 1.5 per cent gain.

New listing

Shares of Metro Brands debuted at Rs4 436 on the BSE, down 13 per cent against issue price of Rs 500.

The public issue of the company saw lower-than-expected subscription demand as the offer was subscribed 3.64 times between December 10 and 14. Qualified institutional buyers showed the most interest among investors, as their reserved portion was subscribed 8.49 times. Non-institutional investors had put in bids for 3.02 times the allotted quota, while the retail portion was subscribed 1.13 times.

============================================================

Opening Bell

LIVE market updates: Benchmark indices mirrored global trends and rallied up to 0.7 per cent on Wednesday. The BSE Sensex zoomed 408 points to quote at 56,727 level while the Nifty50 was at 16,891, up 121 points.

Barring Asian Paints, Wipro, and Dr Reddy’s Labs, all other Sensex constituents were in the green. Cipla was the additional loser on the Nifty.

Meanwhile, Tata Motors, Hindalco, IndusInd Bank, SBI, and UPL were the top gainers on the benchmark indices, up between 1.7-2.5 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices gained up to 0.9 per cent.

Among individual stocks, India Cements zoomed over 7 per cent on the back of heavy volume after billionaire investor Radhakishan Damani increased his stake in the company to 22.76 per cent, up from 21.14 per cent at the end of September 2021 quarter.

The shares of Zee Entertainment surged 1.25 per cent after the company and Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited (SPNI) announced that they have signed definitive agreements to merge ZEEL with and into SPNI and combine their linear networks, digital assets, production operations and program libraries.

Those of YES Bank also advanced 2.2 per cent after the private lender said its board has approved a proposal to raise funds up to Rs 10,000 crore through various instruments.

Among sectors, all the indices are in the green led by the Nifty PSU Bank (up 1.6 per cent) and the Nifty Auto index (up 1.3 per cent).

==============================================================

Pre-open session

LIVE market updates:

Frontline indices were trades with decent gains in pre-market session on Wednesday, extending yesterday’s rally. The BSE Sensex was up over 250 points at 56.589 level, while the Nifty50 was at 16,865, up 94 points.

===============================================================

LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices are likely to extend their recovery amidst supportive global cues. That said, volatility can be high as technical indicators are not supportive of the up move. Besides, Omicron concerns continue to weigh on investor sentiment.

At 8:15 AM, SGX Nifty was quoting at 16,850 compared with Nifty’s spot close of 16,771 on Tuesday.

New listing

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala backed Metro Brands shall be in focus, as the stock makes its debut on Wednesday. The issue had received a tipid response from investors and was subscribed 3.64 times.

Primary Market Update

CMS Info Systems IPO which opened for subscription on Monday received a poor response, with just 40 per cent subscription at the end of Day 1 of the bidding period. The retail quota was subscribed 79 per cent.

Global cues

The US markets staged a smart pullback rally on Tuesday. The Dow Jones gained 1.6 per cent, and the S&P 500 added 1.8 per cent. Nasdaq jumped 2.4 per cent.

In Asia, barring Hang Seng which was up a per cent, indices were seen holding marginal gains. Kospi had advanced 0.5 per cent, and Taiwan was up 0.3 per cent. Straits Times and Shanghai Composite were up 0.2 per cent each, while Nikkei edged 0.1 per cent higher.