Accessibility of finance is a big issue in MSMEs around the world, said Raghav Gupta, Founder of Censor Black, a collaborative Defi platform that serves investors and SME supply chains.

“I think LIC is a very good IPO but it may not be the right time for it,” said Basant Maheshwari, the co-founder of Basant Maheshwari Wealth Advisers LLP.

“Let us just not give it the multiple of SBI today itself because SBI itself went through a six, seven years of clean up in their loan book, improvement in their technology, improvement in their product portfolio. LIC will go through that cycle for the next three to five years as market scrutiny will improve the governance, and transparency.”

A total of 6,644 shares changed hands on the counter till 01:29PM (IST).

The stock quoted a 52-week high price of Rs 1420.65 and a 52-week low of Rs 910.0.

As of 31-Dec-2021, promoters held 38.18 per cent stake in the company, while FIIs held 18.57 per cent and domestic institutional investors had 3.14 per cent.

An agreement for the consumer unit may be announced as soon as the next few weeks and is contingent on approval from the Reserve Bank of India, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The deal would include a cash component of less than $2 billion, accounting for the consumer business’s liabilities, the people said.

Operating profit margins for a sample of 432 companies (excluding banks and financials) contracted 200 basis points year-on-year (Y-o-Y) as raw materials costs jumped 466 basis points Y-o-Y. High costs ate into margins.

“It is better to be safe right now. Be in stocks where you are sure about the earnings; concept stocks and price to sales and some other random multiples can be avoided. We are broadly underweight IT but we would be long on specific stocks where we think there is strong earnings momentum; we have been very long in PSU banks and have upped our exposure. In auto, commercial vehicles make the best bets.”

A $10 move in crude adds about 0.4 per cent to the current account deficit (CAD) and a higher current account deficit impacts the currency, said Aniruddha Naha, Head-Equity, PGIM India Mutual Fund, who believes one has to closely track crude oil prices.