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MUMBAI - With the pace of selling by foreign portfolio investors slowing down significantly on Dalal Street in February compared to January, eight sectors got lucky to witness cumulative inflows of more than Rs 30,000 crore. However, the unlucky one was financial services, as stocks in this sector continued to be dumped by the big bulls. The highest inflows was in the consumer services sector at Rs 7,538 crore, which is more than eight times higher than the inflows of Rs 918 crore seen in January, according to data by NSDL.The automobiles and auto components sector was second in the queue, witnessing inflows of Rs 5,542 crore. This is against the net outflows of Rs 2,067 crore seen in January. The healthcare sector saw third highest inflows of around Rs 5,200 crore last month, against outflows of Rs 362 crore in January. The capital goods and IT sector also got lucky, getting inflows of Rs 3,906 crore and Rs 2,197 crore, respectively in February. Which sectors were unlucky?The five sectors that faced the blow from FPIs were financial services, construction, fast moving consumer goods, oil and gas, and telecommunications, witnessing outflows of more than Rs 26,400 crore in February. The sector to be hit the most for the second consecutive month was financial services, as it saw outflows of Rs 9,977 crore in February. This was, however, far lesser than the outflows of more than Rs 30,000 crore seen in January. The next in the line were construction and fast moving consumer goods, with both the sectors seeing net outflows of Rs 4,494 crore and Rs 4,472 crore, respectively last month. The outflows in the FMCG sector in February was much higher than that in January at Rs 2,650 crore. The other sector where FPI selling intensified last month was telecommunications, as it saw net outflows of Rs 3,933 crore in February, compared to just Rs 84 crore worth of outflows in January. FPIs, which were buyers in the oil and gas sector in January, turned sellers last month. They net sold shares worth Rs 3,543 crore in February, after buying shares worth Rs 3,467 crore in January. What’s likely in March?Equities may witness a volatile March as selling is likely to persist in the broader market and as year-end redemption pressures could see domestic mutual funds liquidating positions. In the last two months, FPIs net sold equities worth Rs 29,198.4 crore in the secondary market, with a majority of it in January. Crucial factors such as the geopolitical situation, movement in the US bond yields, dollar, and cues around US Federal’s future policy action will determine the inflows in the near term, said experts.From a sectoral perspective, Pradeep Gupta, co-founder and vice-chairman, Anand Rathi Group is cautious on capital goods, engineering, infrastructure, and realty sectors as they face headwinds from regulatory challenges, cyclical demand fluctuations, and investment cycles.“Investors may consider reallocating resources from these sectors to capitalize on opportunities in more promising areas, aligning their portfolios with emerging trends and risk-return profiles,” Gupta said.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Brokerage firm Citigroup maintained a buy rating on UltraTech Cement but downgraded MGL to sell. Jefferies downgraded IIFL Finance to hold and JPMorgan maintained an overweight rating on RIL.We have collated a list of recommendations from top brokerage firms from ETNow and other sources:Citigroup on UltraTech Cement: Buy| Target Rs 11700Citigroup maintained a buy rating on UltraTech Cement with a target price of Rs 11700. The pace of demand growth has slowed down.FY25 growth is seen at 8-9% despite a muted first half owing to elections. The management indicated prices are likely to be soft as producers focus on market share.Historically, when India's capacity utilisation goes beyond 85%, then there is natural pricing power.Also Read | Zomato shares fall 4% as Ant likely sells Rs 3,000 crore worth stake in block dealCitigroup on MGL: Sell| Target Rs 1405Citigroup downgraded MGL to sell from a buy earlier and has also reduced the target price to Rs 1405 from Rs 1480 earlier.The global brokerage firm is concerned by recent statements by the oil minister. The minister said that end-consumers have failed to fully benefit from the govt's gas reforms.The minister said that city gas distribution companies (CGDs) are continuing to enjoy high profits. The minister said that the gov't would be willing to consider drastic steps to ensure consumers benefit.“We fear this could translate into renewed concerns on exclusivity & margins,” said the note.Jefferies on IIFL Finance: Hold| Target Rs 435Jefferies downgraded IIFL Finance to hold from buy earlier and has also slashed the target price to Rs 435 from Rs 765 earlier.RBI's restriction should dent earnings due to the rapid unwinding of the profitable gold loan book. The timing of the lifting of the ban is uncertain.Assuming the ban stays for 9 months, we cut FY25-26 EPS by 26-27% and ROE by 460- 480bps. The global investment bank expects profit to fall 6% in FY26E.JPMorgan on RIL: Overweight| Target Rs 3100JPMorgan maintained an overweight rating on RIL with a target price of Rs 3100. Only 3 variables are large enough to drive EPS beats - refining margins, petrochemical margins, and telecom tariffs.Reliance cannot influence the first two but can control telecom pricing. Tariff hikes can then be a significant earnings and stock catalyst in the coming quarters.While retail earnings are relatively modest, it can drive a valuation catch-up on the eventual listing.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)

Athens-headquartered Eurobank is looking to establish a presence in India and is in the process of consulting with advisors and the Reserve Bank of India to open a representative office in Mumbai, said people close to the bank.With 80.5 billion euros of assets and 540 branches across Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and UK, the bank, which has a robust corporate client-focused business in these countries, aims to serve the needs of Indian businessmen looking for a commercial presence in Europe.“Trade relations between Europe and India are on the cusp of taking off. We aim for Eurobank to become a key facilitator and the banking partner of choice for Indian businesses considering establishing a local hub in Greece or Cyprus to gain a footing in the EU market,” said Fokion Karavias, chief executive officer, Eurobank.Karavias believes that the unified European market presents a vast opportunity for Indian businessmen.“By creating a rep office in India, we will be able to best serve Indian businesses to make their first step into the largest single market area in the world.”Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was in India for a state visit in late February. During the visit, both countries proposed to double their trade by 2030.Karavias also accompanied the Greek PM as part of a business delegation. During the visit, Eurobank struck a partnership with National Payments Corporation of India to introduce Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based remittances from Greece to India.The people cited above said Eurobank will not initially offer banking products to Indian customers. The representative office will instead handle marketing, client relations and other non-transactional operations.The bank’s management is of the view that India is important for its business for two reasons. Firstly, it believes India will benefit from the diversification of production hubs for Western consumption. This will move more manufacturing activity to India and boost trade between India and Europe, said the people cited above.Secondly, the bank’s management believes that in a post-Brexit world, Indian businesses will not necessarily look to the UK to gain a foothold in the EU market and countries like Greece and Cyprus, which are Eurobank’s strongholds, will take up more of that space, the people said.Eurobank’s major shareholder is Fairfax Financial, an insurance and investment giant founded by Indian-Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa.

Indian government bond market participants said on Wednesday they expect inflows of less than $5 billion from the recent inclusion in the Bloomberg Index Services, which is unlikely to have any material impact on bond yields. Bloomberg Index Services said on Tuesday it would include 34 Indian government bonds eligible for investment via the country's fully accessible route (FAR), in its Emerging Market Local Currency Index (EMLC) from Jan. 31, 2025. Axis Bank expects inflows of $1-$2 billion, citing the $10-$20 billion worth of bonds benchmarked to the Bloomberg EMLC index. "More acceptability from benchmark providers is likely to lead to greater allocation from pension funds, endowments etc. Some flows from unconstrained funds are likely as well. Thus, our overall estimate is at $2 billion to $5 billion," Neelkanth Mishra, chief economist at Axis Bank said. Bond yields did not react to the news as the market had already factored it into the prices, and inflows are much smaller compared to the $25 billion-$30 billion expected from the inclusion of Indian bonds in JPMorgan's index. "We may not see any incremental positive reaction for now," said VRC Reddy, treasury head at Karur Vysya Bank, adding that he expects inflows of around $3 billion to $4 billion. Indian benchmark bond yield has remained around 7.05% for the last few sessions, and is unlikely to ease much in the near term. Meanwhile, some traders have also pointed out that the inclusion in a much larger Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index may be delayed to 2025, as the index provider may "test waters with this smaller index," said Madhavi Arora, lead economist at brokerage Emkay Global, who expects inflows of around $1 billion to $2 billion. "Macro impact of global bond index inclusions is positive overall," she said, adding that, "structurally, all of this will lower India's risk premia/cost of funding across curves, and help India finance its fiscal and CAD and could trigger positive externalities."

The initial public offer (IPO) of namkeen and wafer maker Gopal Snacks opened for subscription today. The issue is completely an offer for sale (OFS) of up to Rs 650 crore.Ahead of the issue opening, the Rajkot-based company has garnered Rs 194 crore from anchor investors.Gopal Snacks IPO reviewAnalysts are mixed on the IPO over the competition in the industry and over reliance on specific product categories and regions."At the upper price band, the issue is valued at an EV/EBITDA of 25.9x based on FY23 earnings, which we think is expensive and recommend Avoid for this issue," said Arihant Capital.Meanwhile, Anand Rathi gave a subscribe recommendation as it sees the valuations as fair."Gopal Snacks will be focusing on geographical markets which are close to existing manufacturing facilities. Therefore, this move will not only enable them to increase their top line growth but will also rationalize its operating expenses. We believe that valuations of the company are fairly priced and recommend a Subscribe-Long Term rating to the IPO," it said.Gopal Snacks IPO. 10 things to know before subscribing to the issueGopal Snacks IPO price bandGopal Snacks has fixed a price band of Rs 381-401 per share for its maiden public offer. Investors can bid for 37 shares in one lot and in multiples thereafter.About 50% of the offer will be available for qualified institutional investors for reservation, 35% for retail investors and 15% for non-institutional investors.Other detailsGopal Snacks a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company in India with a major presence in Gujarat, offering a wide variety of savoury products under its brand ‘Gopal’, including ethnic snacks such as namkeen and gathiya, western snacks such as wafers, snack pellets and extruder snacks.As of September 2023, its product portfolio comprised 84 products with 276 SKUs across our various product categories. The company operates six manufacturing facilities comprising three primary manufacturing facilities and three ancillary manufacturing facilities in India.The three primary manufacturing facilities are located at Nagpur, Rajkot and Modasa and these facilities primarily focus on the manufacturing of the company's finished products.The three ancillary manufacturing facilities primarily focus on producing besan or gram flour, raw snack pellets, seasoning and spices which are primarily used for captive consumption in the manufacturing of finished products.For the six months ended September 2023, revenue from operations fell 3% year-on-year to Rs 676 crore. Profit after tax during the same period increased marginally to Rs 55.5 crore from Rs 51.9 crore in the last year period.Intensive Fiscal Services, Axis Capital, and JM Financial are the book-running lead managers, and Link Intime India is the registrar of the offer.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)