Moneycontrol Selects: Top stories this afternoon

A round-up of the big stories

Here is a collection of all the important stories this afternoon:

Supreme Industries, REC surge on MSCI addition, ACC dropped from Global Standard Index

MSCI on August 11 unveiled its list of stocks as part of the August Global Standard Index review, effective from September 1, 2023. The revised index features notable additions, including Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), Astral, and Ashok Leyland. Read here

LIC goes shopping where not too many dare to go

India's largest institutional investor Life Corporation of India (LIC) has ventured into one of the hotly-contested segments of Dalal Street, with the insurer making fresh investments worth thousands of crores of rupees in the IT sector in the June quarter. While analysts have turned cautious, the country’s largest life insurer has shown confidence in the IT space by pumping in Rs 8,000 crore in some of India's biggest tech companies. Read here

Exclusive: Fin Min planning to offload 3 percent in Cochin Shipyard in Q3

The Finance Ministry is likely to offload a stake of up to 3 percent in Cochin Shipyard this fiscal year, likely in the October-December quarter, said a government official, adding that the divestment would be through the Offer for Sale (OFS) route. Read here

MC Selects

Corporate loans a taboo, bad assets building up, alerts this ace banking analyst

After having burned their fingers in the bad loan crisis that roiled the power sector back in 2017, Indian banks have truly managed to turn a corner. They now record robust credit growth amid low slippages, while constantly providing for bad loans. However, there might be more than what meets the eye, believes ASV Krishnan of HDFC Securities. Read here

HCL Tech surges most in 14 months after $2.1-billion Verizon deal

August 11 has turned out to be the best day for shareholders of HCL Technologies in the last 14 months with the intraday gains scaling a high of Rs 1,186.95, a day after it announced a deal with Verizon Business. Read here

SpiceJet Q1 Preview: What to look for in the results today

SpiceJet Ltd, the Gurugram-based company that operates the eponymous low-cost carrier, will declare its Q4FY23, full-year FY23 and Q1FY24 results on August 11. The airline had deferred its results for Q4 and FY23 owing to the ill health of one of the members of the audit committee. The company has been facing heavy going in the recent past yet continues to operate against all odds. Read here