Holding on

Nifty50: 16,793 ▲ 135 (+0.8%)

Sensex: 56,247 ▲ 388 (+0.7%)

• The markets opened with a gap down and saw a sharp recovery throughout the day.
• In all, 33 stocks of the Nifty50 pack closed in the green.
• Oil prices jumped as sanctions and pressures on Russia kept mounting.
• The markets will be closed tomorrow on account of Mahashivratri.

Among the Nifty sectoral indices, Metal (+4.9%) and IT (+1.1%) were the top gainers, while Auto (-0.6%) and Bank (-0.6%) were the top losers.

For more updates on F&O, click here.

Here are the top stories of the day.

Government’s lifeline to weak PSBs

The central government has announced capital support for weak public sector lenders like the Central Bank of India and Punjab & Sind Bank. This is part of the capital earmarked for capital infusion in state-owned banks for the current fiscal.

The money will help the banks to augment capital to the required levels and save them from coming under stress, which would warrant prompt corrective action (PCA). In the recent Union Budget, the government trimmed the capital infusion target to ₹15,000 crore from ₹20,000 crore estimated earlier for 2021-22

Kalyan Jewellers to accelerate expansion

The Kerala-based jeweller is reportedly looking to expedite its expansion plans through the franchise model in the first half of the next financial year. The company is mainly looking to expand in non-south Indian markets in the next 2-3 years.

In the franchise model, the cost of opening a store is likely to be around ₹20 crore, with minimal capex and the major cost being inventory. Currently, the company has 121 company-owned showrooms in India and 30 in the Middle East and is likely to add an additional 15 showrooms funded through internal accruals by the end of FY22.

Biocon subsidiary to acquire biosimilars business

Biocon Biologics (BBL) is set to acquire the biosimilars business of US-based pharma company Viatris. The stock and cash deal is valued around $3.3 billion (about ₹25,000 crore). 

The acquisition will expand BBL’s large biosimilars portfolio, which currently has 20 biosimilars and strengthen its position in providing affordable access to diabetic, oncology, immunology and other patients with non-communicable diseases through its portfolio. Viatris also will pay $50 million (about ₹390 crore) to Biocon Biologics to fund certain capital expenditures. Meanwhile, the stock is down nearly 15% from its 52-week high of ₹424 it touched on 9 April 2021.

IPO Corner

According to reports, the market regulator SEBI is expected to give its nod to LIC’s draft red herring prospectus before 10 March 2022. This comes after the government allowed foreign direct investment in LIC under the automatic route last week. For more details on the LIC IPO, click here.

Good to know

What is the asset-turnover ratio?

Asset-turnover ratio measures the efficiency with which a company uses its assets to produce sales. A company with a high asset-turnover ratio indicates a company using its assets more efficiently as compared to competitors with a lower ratio. Possible reasons for a low ratio can be excess production capacity or poor inventory management. Industries with low profit margins tend to generate a higher ratio, while capital-intensive industries tend to report a lower ratio.

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