The Indian stock market recorded its best weekly gain in over four years, with both the Nifty 50 and Sensex rising over 4% last week. The surge was driven by strong domestic investor buying and reduced selling by foreign institutions. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net buyers for the first time in 13 weeks, purchasing equities worth Rs 5,819.1 crore over the week, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought Rs 4,337.9 crore worth of stocks.

FIIs were selling Indian equities earlier this month, but the pace slowed. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investment Services, said, “It can be argued that positive domestic fundamentals like pick up in growth, easing inflation, and a weaker dollar have contributed to the change in FII strategy.”

The mainboard IPO segment has seen no new launches for over a month, but the SME segment remains active. This week, six new SME IPOs are set to open, while three companies will make their market debut, following four listings last week.

Three SME IPOs are set for listing this week

Grand Continent Hotels, a hotels chain, will close its IPO on March 24 and list on the NSE SME platform on March 27. By day 2 of bidding, the IPO remained undersubscribed at 0.5X. In FY24, the company’s revenue grew 86% YoY, while net profit rose 3.9X.

Grand Continent and Active Infra draw HNI bids; Rapid Fleet lags behind

Active Infrastructures and Rapid Fleet Management will close their IPO bidding on March 25 and list on March 28. By the end of day 1, both remained undersubscribed at 0.2x and 0.1x, respectively.

Six SME IPOs to open for subscription this week

Desco Infratech is the first IPO to open this week, with the subscription period from March 24 to 26. The issue size is Rs 30.8 crore, with a price band of Rs 147-150 per share. The IPO is expected to list on the BSE SME platform on April 1.

Desco Infratech and Indentixweb’s net profit more than double in FY24

Other IPOs opening for subscription this week:

• ATC Energies System (March 25-27) has an issue size of Rs 63.8 crore, with a price band of Rs 112-118 per share.
• Shri Ahimsa Naturals (March 25-27) plans to raise Rs 72.8 crore, with a price band of Rs 113-119 per share.
• Indentixweb (March 26-28) aims to raise Rs 16.6 crore via a fresh issue, with a price band of Rs 51-54 per share.
• Retaggio Industries (March 27-April 1) has an issue size of Rs 15.5 crore, with a fixed price of Rs 25 per share.
• Infonative Solutions (March 28-April 3) is set to raise Rs 24.7 crore, with a price band of Rs 75-79 per share.

Four new companies listed last week; all declined post-listing

PDP Shipping & Projects listed on March 18 at a 19.8% discount to its issue price of Rs 135 and is now trading 31.2% lower.

PDP Shipping and Paradeep Parivahan see weak debuts; others list flat

Paradeep Parivahan debuted on March 24 at a 20% discount. Its IPO was subscribed 1.6 times the total shares on offer. The stock fell further, trading at a 22.4% discount.

Super Iron Foundry and Divine Hira Jewellers listed at their issue prices but have since declined. Super Iron Foundry is now down 14.2%, while Divine Hira Jewellers is trading 5% lower.

What buzzed in the primary market last week?

• Edtech company PhysicsWallah has confidentially filed draft papers to raise Rs 4,600 crore through an IPO. The offering includes a fresh issue of shares along with an offer-for-sale (OFS) by existing investors. The company is reportedly targeting a valuation of $2.8 billion.
• SEBI has approved the IPOs of LG Electronics India and Innovision. LG Electronics' IPO is completely an offer-for-sale of 10.2 crore equity shares with no fresh issue. Innovision, which provides manpower services and toll plaza management, plans to raise Rs 255 crore through a fresh issue, along with an offer-for-sale of 17.7 lakh shares.
• US e-commerce giant Amazon is reportedly considering spinning off its Indian unit and listing it in India. The company is in the early stages of discussions and has engaged with JP Morgan while initiating talks with investment banks in India.
• Saatvik Green Energy, a solar photovoltaic module manufacturer, has refiled its draft papers for a Rs 1,150 crore IPO after SEBI returned its earlier documents in February. The offering consists of a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 850 crore and an offer-for-sale of Rs 300 crore by promoters.
• SEBI has put the IPO approvals for Hero FinCorp on hold for nearly eight months and HDB Financial Services, an HDFC Bank subsidiary, for four months. The delay is due to concerns that their share sales might not comply with pre-IPO share sale rules.