Sensex, Nifty, Midcap off day’s high; Infosys, TCS, HDFC drag

1:42 pm Europe opens:Markets in Europe opened lower as investors contemplated a rate rise by the US Federal Reserve and digested news that North Korea has fired multiple ballistic missiles off its east coast.

1:29 pm IPO:
Music Broadcast, which owns FM radio stations Radio City and Radio Mantra, hit the Street with its Rs 488.5-crore public issue on Monday.

The issue comprises a fresh issue of up to Rs 400 crore and an offer for sale up to 26.58 lakh equity shares by selling shareholders. The initial public offer will close on March 8.

In total, the Radio City operator is going to raise Rs 486.13 to Rs 488.5 crore at price band of Rs 324 to Rs 333 per share.

1:20 pm CDR norms: Indian Banks Association, the umbrella body of banks, has approached the Reserve Bank of India seeking a revamp of the Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) scheme, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources.

The central bank already offers several tools to resolve large stressed assets such as Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A) and Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR). However, they have not achieved much success in the past.

Banks are now seeking a relaxation of stringent conditions attached to the current norms. Currently, not more than 10 percent of the debt can be converted into equity under the CDR scheme.

Also read – Radio City operator’s IPO opens today: Should you subscribe?

1:00 pm Market Check

Equity benchmarks as well as broader markets were off day’s high in afternoon trade due to selling pressure in technology stocks. However, Reliance, banks and auto stocks continued to support the market.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 132.61 points at 28965.06 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 36.55 points at 8934.10. The gap between advances and declines narrowed as about 1437 shares gained against 1257 falling shares on the BSE.

Reliance Industries continued to hold its momentum, up 3.4 percent on value buying interest on hopes of strong telecom and energy prospects.

Technology stocks TCS, Infosys and Wipro remained under pressure after the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency that oversees lawful immigration to the US, has announced that it will temporarily suspend premium processing of all H1B petitions.

Tata Motors, ITC, L&T, HDFC Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI were other gainers while Sun Pharma, HUL, HDFC and Tata Steel were losers.

Asian shares were mostly higher, dismissing earlier concerns about increased geopolitical risks in Asia after North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles.