Sensex, Nifty end flat; Star Health settles at issue price; PSBs shine
The key benchmark indices languished in the negative zone, exhibiting lackluster movement for the major part of the trading, before recouping losses at close led by fresh buying in auto and financial shares.
The BSE benchmark index, the Sensex, opened 110-odd points lower at 58,697, and after briefing sneaking into the positive zone, fell to a low of 58,415 – down nearly 400 points. However, the Sensex eventually ended the day with a minor loss of 20 points at 58,787. In the process, it did snap its three-day winning streak. For the week, the BSE index was up 1.9 per cent (1,091 points).
The NSE Nifty declined to a low of 17,405, before settling six points lower at 17,511.
Asian Paints was the major gainer among the Sensex 30 stock, it surged 3 per cent to Rs 3,277. SBI, Mahindra & Mahindra and TCS were the other notable gainers. On the flip side, Titan, HDFC, Axis Bank and Kotak Bank were the notable losers in trade on Friday.
Debutant Star Health and Allied Insurance made a weak stock market debut at Rs 845, a 6 per cent discount to its issue price of Rs 900. The IPO had received poor response due to expensive valuations. Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is a promoter of Star Health, which is India’s first and largest private standalone health insurance company. The stock touched a low of Rs 827.50 on the BSE, but eventually ended on a flat note at Rs 900.
The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices by a wide margin. The BSE Midcap index advanced 0.3 per cent, and the Smallcap index jumped 0.8 per cent. The breadth too was fairly positive, with 2,068 advancing shares versus 1,198 declining stocks on the BSE.
Indian Energy Exchange soared 9.5 per cent to 295 amid heavy volume in trade on Friday. The company on December 8, informed the exchanges that it had allotted 599 million equity shares of Re 1 each as fully-paid up bonus equity shares, in the proportion of 2:1 to the eligible members.
In the broader markets, Network18 Media & Entertainment hit an over 11-year high of Rs 102.75 amid heavy volumes in an otherwise subdued market. The stock was up for the fourth straight day, having gained 42 per cent during the period.
Bajaj Electricals surged to a high of Rs 1,160, and was trading 7.5 per cent higher at Rs 1,125 as the company’s board approved a porposal to consider corporate structuring.
Metro Brands IPO was off to a slow start, with just 22 per cent as of 03:20 PM so far on the first day of the public offer. None of the segments were fully subscribed.
C. E. Info Systems (MapmyIndia) was subscribed 4.15 times. The retail quota was subscribed 6.2 times and NIIs (wealthy investors) 2.92 times.
Today is the final day for subscribing to the Shriram Properties IPO. So far the issue was subscribed up to 3.39 times, with strong retail demand – subscription up to 12.14 times.
Here are some picks from the week gone by.
