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Shares of Bajaj Housing Finance slipped 6% to their day’s low of Rs 132.85 on the BSE in today’s session as today marks the end of the stock’s 3-month lock-in period wherein 12 million shares became available to trade in the market.This represents 2% of the total equity of the company, which was held by the anchor investors since the IPO.An anchor lock-in period for a stock in an IPO is a predetermined time frame during which the early investors are restricted from selling their shares after the company goes public.However, this doesn't mean investors will offload their holdings, it has just been freed up for trade.This period, often ranging from 90 to 180 days, helps stabilize the stock price by preventing a sudden influx of shares into the market immediately after the IPO. Once the lock-in period ends, these shareholders are free to sell their shares, which can impact the stock's price due to increased supply.Also read: Delhivery shares surge 3% as Macquarie gives Rs 460 target, maintains outperform ratingThe shares of Bajaj Housing debuted on the bourses in September at a price of Rs 150 on the NSE as well as the BSE. From its listing price, the price has fallen by 11.43% so far. However, as per the BSE analytics, the stock has gone up by 3% in the last month.On its listing, the shares of the company had given multibagger returns of 114%.For the second quarter ended September 2024, the Bajaj Finance-promoted company reported a 21% jump in net profit, reaching Rs 546 crore compared to Rs 451 crore in the year-ago period.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)

The Indian market remained volatile throughout Wednesday's trading session but ended flat with a positive bias. Sector-wise, buying was observed in auto, consumer durables, FMCG, and IT stocks.Stocks that hit fresh highs include Vedanta, which rose nearly 3%, Swan Energy, which closed with gains of over 9%, and Eris Lifesciences, which ended 1.4% higher on Wednesday.We spoke to an analyst on how one should look at these stocks the next trading day entirely from an educational point of view: Analyst: Hariprasad Kizhakkethara, SEBI Registered RA (INH200009351), Director of Livelong WealthVedanta: Strong Growth with Opportunity at Rs 524Vedanta, a leader in the metals and mining sector, has posted stellar results, with PAT up 124.1% YoY to Rs 2,980.80 crore and OCF at Rs 35,654 crore. Over the past year, the stock surged 106.84%.Currently trading near its 52-week high of Rs 524, the stock presents a fresh entry point with a target of Rs 569 and a stop-loss of Rs 489. While promoter pledging remains a concern, Vedanta’s strong fundamentals, including a 96% dividend yield and sector dominance, make it a strong pick.Swan Energy: Hold Swan Energy Ltd. is a strong candidate for holding, supported by a solid technical analysis setup. Currently trading near its 52-week high of Rs 780.40, the stock has shown consistent upward momentum, making it an ideal candidate for retention in portfolios.Investors can hold the stock with a target of Rs 893 while trailing the stop-loss to Rs 697. This approach offers capital protection while maximizing potential gains as the stock progresses. Regular monitoring of price movements is advised to align with market conditions.Traders can target Rs 893 in the short term while maintaining a strict stop-loss at Rs 697 to manage risks effectively. This setup provides a balanced risk-to-reward ratio, making it an attractive trade opportunity. Be sure to monitor the stock for price movements and market conditions.Eris Lifesciences: Promising Swing Trade OpportunityEris Lifesciences, a leading pharmaceutical company specializing in branded formulations for chronic and lifestyle-related therapies, is an attractive pick for swing traders. The company reported a net profit of Rs 96 crore in Q2 FY24, up from Rs 89 crore in the previous quarter, reflecting steady growth.With a strong operating profit margin of 36%, Eris demonstrates robust operational efficiency, despite concerns over rising debtor days, which increased from 61.2 to 76.7.The stock, currently trading at Rs 1,522, presents a promising short-term opportunity with a target of Rs 1,664 and a stop-loss at Rs 1,439. This setup offers a favorable risk-to-reward ratio for swing traders.Eris’s consistent performance and niche market focus further enhance its appeal. Traders are advised to monitor the stock closely while adhering to the recommended stop-loss level for effective risk management.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

ET Intelligence Group: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala family-promoted Inventurus Knowledge Solutions (IKS Health) is a tech-enabled healthcare provider enablement platform serving the United States healthcare market that has an annual spending of $4.8 trillion. It is rolling out an offer for sale of ₹2,498 crore that dilutes the promoter holding from 69.7% to 65.8%. Since it is an offer for sale, the proceeds of the issue are not coming into the company.Business: Incorporated in 2006, Navi Mumbai-based IKS Health provides a 24x7 comprehensive suite of solutions spanning the entire healthcare value chain assisting physician enterprises predominantly in the US. At the end of September 2024, it had over 775 healthcare organisations as clients. Around 94% of revenues are earned from repeat customers.Last October, the company acquired Aquity Holdings, an American firm engaged in tech-enabled clinical documentation, medical coding and revenue integrity solutions for healthcare. The acquisition enabled IKS Health to add over 800 clients and the opportunity to cross-sell to the newly acquired ones. IKS now has a globalised workforce of over 13,528 employees including 2,612 clinically trained employees and a market presence in the US, Canada and Australia.116231465Financials & Growth Prospects: The company's revenues grew at a CAGR of 54.3% from ₹764 crore in FY22 to ₹1,818 crore in FY24. The net profit rose at a CAGR of 26% to ₹370 crore in FY24. The Ebitda margin for FY24 stood at 28.6% with ROCE at 31.5%.The US healthcare market has an annual spending of $4.8 trillion with the outsourced market size topping $34 billion and estimated to grow at a CAGR of 12% over 2023-2028. Complex regulatory requirements, increased administrative burden on the physicians, high attrition of healthcare workers, shift to AI-driven automation and focus on reducing operating costs are the broad trends driving outsourcing of administrative operations in healthcare.Valuations & Risk Factors: At an implied market cap of around ₹22,802 crore, the IPO values the company at 53.8 times its annualised earnings for FY25. While IKS has no listed peer in India, a comparison with mid-sized IT companies shows that the issue has been aggressively priced for the scale of the business. Investors interested in partaking in the growth opportunity of outsourcing related to the world's largest healthcare market may consider investing in the issue with a long-term horizon.

Beijing: China's yuan slid the most in a week following a report that Beijing is considering allowing the currency to weaken next year in response to the threat of a trade war with the US. The offshore yuan dropped as much as 0.5% to 7.2921 per dollar after Reuters reported that policymakers are mulling letting the currency depreciate, possibly to around 7.5 per dollar. It later trimmed declines.The move triggered drops in regional peers, with the New Zealand dollar falling to the weakest in more than two years, while the Australian dollar hit levels last seen in November last year.Pressure on the yuan has intensified since the re-election of Donald Trump, who has threatened to impose tariffs on China and other countries. Some investors have speculated Beijing will abandon its current policy of maintaining a stable currency to compensate for any impact this could have on its economy."There is a compelling logic embedded in these comments," said Jane Foley, head of FX strategy at Rabobank in London. "China's economy is already weak, inflation is low, and it will have to position itself for Trump tariffs."But devaluing the yuan can carry huge costs. A rapid depreciation could lead to aggressive capital outflows, triggering even more currency declines. The downward spiral tends to dent appetite for China stocks and bonds, risks destabilising financial markets and hurting growth.The world's second-largest economy is already challenged by a prolonged property crisis and souring consumer sentiment. To rejuvenate growth, China earlier this week signaled bolder economic support next year, embracing a "moderately loose" monetary policy and pledging "more proactive" fiscal policy.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday that restoring normalcy is a top priority for governments and industries worldwide for the next decade, as wars and skirmishes disrupt supply chains, stoke inflationary pressures within and beyond conflict zones, and crimp economic growth.Flagging inflation as a big global challenge that knows no borders, Sitharaman called for an end to conflicts through dialogues. The minister was speaking at the Global Economic Policy Forum of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).116198157"In no way can there be enough justifiable reasons for skirmishes or wars. So, the first global priority for this decade should be to restore normalcy--sit, talk and discuss. War should be avoided. Disruption should be avoided. They are the main cause for supply chain disruptions. They are the main cause for disruptions in food value chains," Sitharaman said.Many countries, especially the developed ones, have faced runaway inflation in the aftermath of the pandemic and the Ukraine war.The minister rooted for blending economic priorities with political and strategic goals, underscoring the perils of ignoring the role of global politics and strategic considerations in shaping and altering supply chains currently.She said global supply chains need to be restored, realigned or expanded in such a way that geopolitical or strategic risks are not able to threaten the wellbeing of economies. The minister dwelt on the raging global debate on diversification away from certain dominant centres of concentration. "They didn't emerge from the inefficiency of economic (theories); they emerged from economic principles being influenced by political principles. And therefore, we have to build political and strategic sense into our economic policy-making," she said.'Blending of scale and spread'Sitharaman called for a judicious blending of both large enterprises, and small and medium ones in a country like India to ensure the necessary "scale and spread" to spur inclusive growth and job creation."Scale can't just be the only criterion. Large corporations are welcome because they give the advantage of scale. But I would think in terms of scale together with spread," she said. "We need to have a blend of large corporations for scale and small ones for horizontal scale."The minister said large companies, which are run with efficiency and based at few production centres in India, can generate only a limited number of jobs. But when smaller units are spread across the country, they produce a much larger number of employment opportunities.According to Sitharaman, nations like India, which always have had the strength of small and medium enterprises and whose populations comprise a large percentage of youths in need of employment, would benefit from the combination of scale and spread.Sitharaman advised against viewing climate change from the narrow prism of just emission and called for widening the discourse to include efforts to shield the poor and the vulnerable from the vagaries of weather.