Indian shares opened lower on August 18 as crude oil prices surged and significant stake sales by companies like Paytm parent One 97 Communications impacted market sentiment amid global and domestic economic concerns.
Indian equities opened weaker on August 18, with benchmark indices slipping at the start of trade as Brent crude moved above $91 a barrel, adding to pressure on sentiment. The Sensex opened at 77,418, down more than 200 points, while the Nifty 50 started near 24,223.85, according to the market update carried by GoodReturns. Broader market tone has also been fragile in recent sessions, with earlier trading days marked by selling in banking, technology and oil-linked shares, as the market digested global cues and domestic concerns around inflation and weather.
Paytm parent One 97 Communications is expected to draw attention after Resilient Asset Management B.V. proposed selling up to a 4.98% stake through a block deal. The floor price was set at Rs 1,535.10 per share, below the previous close, and the transaction could be worth about Rs 4,895 crore. Netweb Technologies is another key counter after launching a Rs 1,200 crore qualified institutional placement, with a floor price of Rs 4,885.90 a share. Such share sales and fund raisings often influence trading because they can change supply, pricing expectations and investor positioning in the short term.
Property and infrastructure names are also in view. Oberoi Realty drew interest after Haryana’s Department of Town and Country Planning rejected a plea by Advance India Projects Ltd seeking cancellation of the licence and developer approval for the Three Sixty North project in Gurugram. SPR Auto Technologies, formerly Shriram Pistons & Rings, has launched a Rs 1,000 crore QIP at a floor price of Rs 4,438.20 a share, while DCX Systems said it had received purchase orders worth around Rs 15.19 crore for cable and wire harness assemblies, covering domestic and export work. GMR Airports will also be watched after the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport in Visakhapatnam began commercial operations, expanding its reach across India, the Middle East and south-east Asia.
Other names in focus include Nelco, which announced a partnership and a $20 million investment in US-based Lunar Holdco Inc, operator of Elveo Mobile, and Bharti Airtel, after Airtel Payments Bank confirmed a leadership change. Sunil Mittal will step down as non-executive chairman and leave the bank’s board on September 30, with Shabnam Sinha set to take over as chairperson from October 1 for a three-year term, subject to approval from the Reserve Bank of India. The developments come against a broader backdrop of market caution, after the Sensex and Nifty both ended lower in earlier sessions amid selling across heavyweight stocks and uneven sector performance.
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