Asian share markets have erased early gains and are presently trading on a negative note.
The Hang Seng is down 1.8% while the Nikkei is trading lower by 0.8%. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.7%.
In US stock markets, Wall Street indices closed higher on Wednesday as rising crude prices boosted energy shares and positive US data suggested inflation has topped out and the economic recovery remains robust.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average settled 0.7% higher while the Nasdaq rallied 0.8%.
Back home, Indian share markets have opened on a positive note.
The BSE Sensex is trading up by 128 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 44 points.
IndusInd Bank and ITC are among the top gainers today.
TCS, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.
Both, the BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index have opened higher by 0.5%.
Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the telecom sector and metal sector witnessing buying interest.
Power stocks, on the other hand, are trading in red.
Shares of Quess Corp and Nocil hit their 52-week highs today.
The rupee is trading at 73.53 against the US$.
Gold prices are trading down by 0.1% at Rs 46,876 per 10 grams.
Meanwhile, silver prices are trading up by 0.2% at Rs 63,445 per kg.
Crude oil prices slipped today but kept most of previous day's gains following a larger-than-expected drawdown in crude oil stocks in US.
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Moving on to stock specific news...
Hindustan Copper is among the top buzzing stocks today.
The government on Wednesday announced that it will sell up to 10% stake in Hindustan Copper via offer for sale (OFS), at a floor price of Rs 116.
The floor price has been set at a 7% discount to yesterday's closing price of Rs 124.50.
The offer will take place today and tomorrow in a separate window of stock exchanges. It will open today for non-retail investors and retail investors can bid tomorrow, Friday.
In case of under subscription, the unsubscribed portion shall be available to other bidders in non-retail category.
The government is selling 48.3 m shares representing 5% of the total paid up share capital of the company.
The OFS also includes a 5% green-shoe option.
This option entails an option to additionally sell 48.3 m equity shares, collectively representing 10% of the total issued.
If the entire 10% sale goes through, it could fetch the government around Rs 11.2 bn at the set floor price and would bring down its shareholding to 62.76%.
Note that this is the third time the government is offloading its stake in a public sector undertaking (PSU) through an OFS in the current financial year.
The first one was NMDC and the second being HUDCO.
So far, the government has mopped up Rs 83.7 bn through OFS of NMDC, HUDCO and selling stake in Axis Bank in the current fiscal.
Hindustan Copper share price has opened the day down by 4.8%.
Note that copper prices have been on downtrend as the metal's August imports by top consumer China fell to their lowest since June 2019. This was because high prices and sluggish economic growth hit demand.
London copper prices have roughly traded within US$9,000-US$10,000 a tonne since hitting a record high of US$10,747.50 per tonne in May 2020.
Because of this, shares of Hindustan Copper have been on a downtrend for the past few months.
Moving on to news from the media sector, institutional investors who own a majority stake in Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) are seeking more clarity from Invesco fund on its proposal to revamp the board of the company and will support it if the plan is well defined.
Large investors prefer continuity at the top to avoid any disruption in the operations of the company.
A senior official of a mutual fund house said,
Institutional investors hold around 78% stake in ZEE.
On Tuesday, the news came out that Invesco Developing Markets Fund and OFI Global China Fund LLC, which own 18% in the company, have sought removal of the current MD and CEO Punit Goenka and appointment of six directors on the board as its nominees.
Following this news, ZEE shares settled 40% higher on Tuesday.
Institutional investors say with promoters holding just 3.99%, it was only a matter of time before the board was revamped.
Markets are eagerly waiting for the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) called by Invesco. According to the current rules, the board needs to call the EGM within 21 days following receipt of the requisition to decide on these proposals. Or else, Invesco can call an EGM within the next 45 days.
Zee Entertainment share price has opened the day up by 0.6%.
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