BOI to raise Rs. 6500 crore, ICICI Lombard General Insurance records massive jump in profits

Opening Bell:

SGX Nifty is down by 21.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.11 percent up in early trading, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipped 0.27 percent and the Topix fell 0.3 percent. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.29 percent, while the Kosdaq was also up 0.12 percent.

Stock futures ticked downward Tuesday night as traders weighed the latest round of earnings. Dow Jones S&P 500 ticked higher by 0.09 percent where as The Nasdaq Composite closed slightly lower by 0.04 percent.

Stocks News:

?SBI executive board has approved the long-term fund-raising in single / multiple tranches up to $2 billion, through a public offer and/or private placement of senior unsecured notes in US dollar or any other convertible currency during FY24.

?Bank of India has approved the raising of capital up to Rs 6,500 crore for FY24, comprising Rs 4,500 crore via issue of fresh equity capital in the form of FPO/QIP/Rights issue/preferential issue and/or Basel III compliant additional Tier-1 (AT-1) bonds, and Rs 2,000 crore via Basel III compliant Tier-2 bonds.

?Zydus Lifesciences has received final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market Estradiol Transdermal system in the US. Estradiol transdermal system is indicated for prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

?ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company has recorded a massive 40% year-on-year growth in profit at Rs 437 crore for quarter ended March FY23. Net premium earned for the quarter grew by 12.3 percent to Rs 3,726 crore and total income increased by 13.3% to Rs 5,256 crore compared to year-ago period.

?Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 810.60 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth Rs 401.66 crore on April 18, National Stock Exchange’s provisional data showed.

Domestic and International Events

• As a part of its efforts to rationalise tax structure in the petroleum sector and promote investments, the government has revised the windfall tax on domestic crude oil production to Rs 6,400 per tonne. A windfall tax is a higher tax levied by the government on specific industries when they experience unexpected and above-average profits.
• Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Wednesday as US crude inventories were seen falling and on strong Chinese economic data, signaling strengthening fuel demand. Brent crude futures gained 7 cents to $84.84 a barrel at 0020 GMT. West Texas Intermediate US crude was up 3 cents to $80.89 a barrel.
• US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday will lay out the Biden administration’s principal objectives for the US-China economic relationship in a speech in Washington, the Treasury said on Tuesday as tensions between the world’s two largest economies has thwarted high-level meetings
• Gold prices clawed their way back above the key $2,000 level on Tuesday as the dollar and bond yields retreated, with investors weighing whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will pause its interest rate hike cycle after the May meeting.

Key Equity Indices