ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Appoints New MD and CEO; Stock Rallies

Indian Markets:

• Nifty 50 Movement:  Indices settled above the 16,980 mark after hitting the days low of 16,850.15 in morning trade.
• The initial market sell-off came amidst risks of contagion in the global financial sector, after fresh turbulence at Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse Group AG announced that it will borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($53.68 billion) from the Swiss National Bank in what it called decisive action to boost its liquidity. The decision came shortly after shares of the lender fell sharply on Wednesday after its largest investor, Saudi National Bank, said it could not provide more financial assistance because of regulatory constraints.
• FMCG, media and realty shares were in demand. On the other hand, metals, IT and private banks witnessed selling.

Global Markets:

• The Dow Jones Futures were down 136 points, indicating a weak opening in the US stocks today.
• European markets advanced on Thursday as embattled lender Credit Suisse moved to shore up its liquidity position ahead of a European Central Bank policy-setting meeting. However, Asian stocks declined across the board in todays session.
• US stocks pared losses late on Wednesday but the Dow and S&P 500 still closed lower, as problems at Credit Suisse revived fears of a banking crisis, eclipsing bets on a smaller US rate hike this month. It also followed the recent collapse of three U.S. regional banks, most notably Silicon Valley Bank.
• US retail sales and wholesale prices slipped in February. Retail sales contracted in February by 0.4% to $698 billion, down from a revised $701 billion a month earlier, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.

Stocks in Spotlight:

• ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company announced that Anup Bagchi will replace N. S. Kannan as managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) effective from 19 June 2023. N. S. Kannan, MD & CEO will superannuate from the services of the company on the completion of tenure of his appointment on 18 June 2023.
• Titan’s shares closed 2.21 percent higher, following encouraging feedback from brokerages. JPMorgan expressed confidence in the company, citing its strategic initiatives and predicting market share gains to be a primary growth driver. As a favored discretionary play, Titan is poised to benefit from this positive outlook.
• The stock rose by one percent as Zee Entertainment Enterprises committed to repaying its outstanding debts to IndusInd Bank. This move is part of the company’s efforts to address the insolvency proceedings brought against it and move closer to completing its merger with a Sony Group subsidiary, with the aim of establishing a massive $10 billion media conglomerate.

News from the IPO world?

• Cello World kicks off IPO to raise around Rs 2,000 crore
• Quality Foils IPO closes today, subscribed 16.99 times on day 2
• Dev Labtech IPO opens on March 17th

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