Indian Defense Contracts, TPG Stake Sale, HAL OFS, and Lupin FDA Approval

Opening Bell:

SGX Nifty is down by 27 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.

Asia-Pacific markets largely fell on Friday, as investors weigh remarks from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said federal emergency actions to back up failed regional banks could be used again if necessary. The Japanese Nikkei is down by 0.22 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is down by 0.18 percent and South Korea’s Kospi is down by 0.68 percent in early morning deals.

Wall Street closed higher on Thursday as market participants were reassured by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s reassurances that measures will be taken to keep Americans’ deposits safe. The S&P 500 gained 0.30 percent and Nasdaq Composite added by 1.01 percent respectively.

Stocks News:

?The Indian Ministry of Defence has recently inked two contracts worth Rs 3,800 crore with Bharat Electronics (BEL), a leading Indian state-owned aerospace and defence electronics company. The agreement is aimed at the procurement of medium power radar and digital radar warning receivers (RWR) for the Indian Air Force.

?TPG Global, a prominent American alternative asset management firm, is reportedly planning to divest its entire 7.6% stake in Campus Activewear, an Indian apparel manufacturing and retail company. The sale will be executed through block deals scheduled for today, in which TPG will offer 2,32,07,692 shares of the company.

?The Indian government’s offer for sale (OFS) of shares in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a leading aerospace and defence company, is set to open for subscription to retail investors on Friday. The OFS has received an overwhelming response from institutional investors, with the institutional portion of the offering being oversubscribed by 226% on Thursday.

?Pharmaceutical company Lupin has announced that it has received tentative approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for Obeticholic acid tablets. Obeticholic acid tablets are available in strengths of 5 mg and 10 mg and had estimated annual sales of $255 million in the United States

?Foreign institutional investors (FII) have net sold shares worth Rs 995.01 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased shares worth Rs 1,668.85 crore on March 23, the National Stock Exchange’s provisional data showed.

Domestic and International Events

• Oil prices settled 1 percent lower on Thursday, reversing early gains after US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told lawmakers that refilling the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) may take several years.
• The Bank of England raised interest rates by a further quarter of a percentage point on Thursday and said it expects the surge in British inflation to cool faster than before, despite a surprise jump in price growth announced on Wednesday
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on March 23 said it will conduct a 5-day Variable Rate Repo auction for a notified amount of Rs 75,000 crore.
• Japan’s consumer prices rose 3.1 percent in February from a year earlier, government data showed Friday, slowing from the four-decade highs seen in previous months.

Key Equity Indices