Business News at 05:30 pm on 22nd November 2023

Let’s begin. The much-awaited Tata Tech IPO opens for subscription today and will close on Friday, November 24, 2023. The public issue will be the first IPO of a Tata Sons entity for almost 20 years after TCS in 2004. The bidding for anchor investors concluded on Tuesday, wherein the company collected Rs 791.05 crore. The price band for its public issue at Rs 475-500 per equity share with face value at Rs 2 each. The engineering services firm plans to raise Rs 3,042.51 crore through the OFS, with Tata Motors, Alpha TC Holdings, and Tata Capital Growth Fund I participating as selling shareholders. Ahead of the public issue, Tata Tech shares’ GMP soared 71 per cent over the upper end of the share price on offer. In a recent report, Goldman Sachs outlined an optimistic outlook for the Indian markets and expects the Nifty to reach 21,800 by the end of 2024, implying a 12 per cent return in rupee terms. However, the brokerage suggests that returns are likely to be back-loaded due to the challenging global backdrop and political uncertainty leading up to the elections. Goldman Sachs forecasts corporate profits in India to grow by 15% in 2024 and an additional 14% in 2025, with the expected growth appearing to be broad-based across various sectors. The note highlights a preference for domestic sectors, including banks, autos, cement, industrials, and utilities. Considering India to have the most promising structural growth prospects in the region, Goldman Sachs acknowledges potential external macroeconomic challenges. While the market buzz intensifies around the Tata Tech IPO, three other major mainline IPOs— Flair Writing, Gandhar Oil Refinery and Fedbank Financial Services have concurrently opened for public subscription today. Flair Writing IPO opened for subscription today. The bidding for anchor investors concluded on Tuesday, wherein the company collected Rs 177.90 crore. Gandhar Oil Refinery IPO also opened for subscription today. The bidding for anchor investors also concluded on Tuesday, wherein the company collected Rs 150.21 crore. On the other hand, Fedbank Financial Services IPO opened for subscription today. The bidding for anchor investors concluded on Tuesday, wherein the company collected Rs 324.68 crore. Fedbank Financial Services is a retail-focused non-banking finance company in India, catering mainly to MSMEs and self-employed individuals. Over to banking. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the recent tightening of norms on unsecured lending is a preemptive and targeted move in the interest of sustainability. Addressing the annual FIBAC event here, he said the RBI excluded certain sections like loans for house and vehicle purchase, and also the ones availed by small businesses, because of the advantage on the growth front they have. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Indian Banks’ Association are jointly organising the FIBAC event. Das said he does not see new stress building up in the banking system currently, but wants lenders to continue with stress testing. Even as headline inflation is showing signs of cooling, Das said RBI is focused on price rise. “Meanwhile, At a time when large IT companies are seeing BFSI vertical-led softness, the same is aiding the growth of some midcap companies. The reason: smaller IT firms cannibalising the BFSI revenue of larger companies. Companies such as Sonata Software, Coforge and Birlasoft have been witnessing growth driven by the BFSI vertical. For instance, Sonata’s revenue, which used to derive 7% from BFSI two quarters ago, is now deriving three times more at 21% of its revenue. Its fourth-largest vertical two quarters ago, BFSI has become its third-largest vertical in Q2FY24. Birlasoft is also seeing BFSI-led growth since the last two quarters. While every other vertical showed muted growth, the BFSI vertical was an outlier and grew year-on-year. ” Moving on. In a surprising move, OpenAI has made its previously paid ChatGPT voice chat feature free to all users. This decision comes amidst ongoing turmoil at the company, including the sacking of CEO Sam Altman and messy negotiations for his potential return. Users can now access the voice chat feature by tapping the headphones icon in the ChatGPT mobile app. This allows them to converse with ChatGPT using their voice and receive audio responses. OpenAI launched the voice chat feature in September first but it was exclusive to paying users. The latest announcement makes it free for all users. Lastly, let’s see how the share market performed today. Benchmark indices ended higher with Nifty above 19,800. Top gainers on the Nifty were BPCL, Cipla, NTPC, Infosys and Power Grid Corporation, while losers included IndusInd Bank, Hindalco Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports. Mixed trend seen on the sectoral front with bank, metal and realty down 0.5 percent each, while IT, power, healthcare and FMCG up 0.3-1 percent. BSE Midcap index rose 0.3 percent, while smallcap index down 0.7 percent.