Volatile day

Nifty50: 17,322 ▼30 (-0.1%) 

Sensex: 57,996 ▼145 (-0.2%)

• The markets started off on a weak note before picking up momentum crossing the day’s high only to erase gains in the last hour of the day.
• 33 of the Nifty50 stocks closed in the red.
• Vedant fashions, which owns the ethnic wear brand Manyavar, listed at a premium of 8% compared to the issue price of ₹866.

Among the Nifty sectoral indices, Realty (+1.1%) and Pharma (+0.5%) were the top gainers, while PSU Bank (-1.1%) and Media (-0.6%) were the top losers.

For more updates on F&O, click here.

Here are the top stories of the day.

CRISIL rises on strong profit growth

The ratings, research and advisory services provider posted a consolidated revenue of ₹706 crore, up 18% year-on-year aided by strong growth in advisory and research segment. Its consolidated profit grew 53% year-on-year to ₹168 crore on account of lower associate service and professional fees.

The advisory segment business bagged large wins from multilaterals and expanded its overseas footprint. CRISIL Ratings continued to maintain its market-leading position in corporate bond ratings as companies sought to refinance debt and strengthen liquidity.

NPA norms delayed, NBFC stocks gain

Shares of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) were in focus as the RBI delayed the implementation of the new NPA norms. The new guidelines call for non-bank lenders to upgrade bad loans to standard assets only after all interest dues and principal outstanding are repaid across credit facilities.

The new rules are widely expected to deteriorate the asset quality of NBFCs. HDFC, having implemented the new guidelines saw its gross NPA ratio increasing to 2.32% in the December quarter from 2% in the September quarter.

Airline stocks face turbulence

Airline stocks hit rough weather as aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices hit a record high after oil companies hiked jet fuel prices by about 5%. ATF reportedly accounts for almost 40% of the Indian airlines operating cost. It remains to be seen whether airlines will hike airfares to offset the rise in fuel costs.

According to reports, India may resume regular operations for international flights by March-April. The scheduled international flight ban has been in place since March 23, 2020 although special passenger flights have been operating under air-bubble arrangements.

IPO Corner

The IPO-bound life insurer LIC paid net death claims worth ₹21,325 crore in the first six month of FY22, according to the DRHP filed by the company. This is almost 91% of the death claims paid in the entire pandemic-hit FY21 and higher than FY20 (pre-pandemic levels). It is important to note that in the first three months of the current financial year India witnessed a severe second wave.

Good to know

What is a freemium model?

The word freemium was coined by joining the words ‘free’ and ‘premium’. It is a type of business model that offers basic features of a product or service at no cost and charges a premium for advanced features. The model is popular among software applications and internet-based businesses. For instance, DropBox, which offers cloud-based storage uses a freemium model by giving upto 2GB of storage free. For more space, the users have to pay and upgrade.

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