This is likely to a very crucial meeting of the Fed as the US central bank is likely to flag off the start of talks about when and how to exit from the crisis-era policies. These measures were adopted in the aftermath of the pandemic. US inflation has been rising faster and the GDP is expected to also pick up in the US. The rates and the bond buying program are likely to remain intact. However, Fed is expected to start debate on a possible unwinding of the COVID support program. The trajectory given by the Fed will hold the key.
The Shyam Metalics IPO was oversubscribed 121X at the close of subscription on Wednesday. The IPO generated bids worth Rs.78,000 crore. While the QIB portion saw 153X subscription, the HNI portion was subscribed 340X and the retail portion 12X. The IPO price band was Rs.303-306 per share and at the upper end of the range, the market cap is likely to be Rs.7,805 crore. Based on last rolling year earnings, the stock trades at 14.6X P/E ratio; much lower than other steel stocks. This leaves sufficient room for upsides.
Brent crude prices touched the highest level since October 2018 on expectations of higher demand led by an economic recovery and tighter supply. During the day, the WTI Crude gained to $72.31/bbl while Brent Crude also rallied to $74.29/bbl. Crude prices have been led higher by falling US inventories and hopes of a revival in growth as vaccinations pick up. In the last few days, the spread between Brent Crude and WTI crude also narrowed considerably. Rising inflation pressures has vastly increased the appeal for crude oil.
Net direct tax collections for FY22, as of June 15, doubled to Rs.185,871 crore. In the corresponding period last fiscal, the net direct tax collections stood at Rs.92,762 crore. This is the net figure after adjusting for tax refunds. The gross collections till date stand at Rs.216,602 crore. There has been a spike in personal tax collections as also corporate tax and securities transaction tax or STT. Advance tax collections for the first quarter of FY22, stood at Rs.28,780 crore. That is a jump of nearly 146% on a yoy basis in collections.
According to a report published by ICICI Securities, the results for the fourth quarter of FY21 saw a much larger number of companies beating analyst expectations. On a yoy portfolio, the net profits of the Nifty-200 portfolio has risen by 120% on the back of a sharp cyclical recovery. Profits of Nifty-50 companies almost doubled. This is evident from nominal GDP revised upward by 0.8% to Rs.197 trillion. Quarterly scorecard was boosted by sectors like metals, cement, building material, capital goods and automobiles.
Mumbai bench of NCLT has questioned the decision by the COC of Videocon to let creditors take 96% haircut on their loans. Videocon is being taken over by Anil Agarwal of Vedanta Global. Interestingly, the registered valuers have estimated the worth of assets of the 13 group companies at fair value of Rs.4,069 crore and liquidation value of Rs.2,568 crore. Vedanta is offering just Rs.2,962 crore against admitted claims of Rs.64,838 crore. NCLT has called for increasing the pay-out to operational creditors of Videocon.
Despite the clarifications coming from the Adani Group and from NSDL, Adani group stocks fell for the third day in succession. The selling was triggered after media reports that NSDL had frozen the demat accounts of 3 funds with exposure of Rs.43,500 crore to the Adani group. On Wednesday, most of the Adani group companies saw value depletion in the range of 3% to 5%. In the last one year, the Adani group companies were the star performers on the bourses, which led to Adani adding $45 billion to his wealth.
The latest start-up to raise funding is Apna, a professional networking and jobs platform for blue-collar workers. Apna has raised $70 million in Series-B funding led by Insight Partners and Tiger Global. As of date, Apna has already raised $90 million and is currently valued at an enterprise value of $570 million. Apna will use the funds to strengthen its reach. Apna was founded in 2019 to connect people with the right opportunities. It harnesses smart technology and power of communities to help people find a job.