Asian Paints, Eternal, Bajaj Finance, Schaeffler India see Rs 8,000 cr worth block deals today

Asian Paints Ltd, Eternal Ltd (Erstwhile Zomato), Bajaj Finance Ltd and Schaeffler India Ltd are among stocks seeing over Rs 8,000 crore worth block deals on NSE today. Asian Paints alone saw 3,50,00,000 shares changing hands at Rs 2,201 apiece, amounting to Rs 7,703.50 crore. 

Bajaj Finance witnessed 1,75,000 shares changing hands in block deals at Rs 9,519 apiece.  The deal size stood at Rs 166.58 crore. Eternal saw 60,93,605 shares changing hands at Rs 257.07 apiece for Rs 156.65 crore. Schaeffler India also saw 79,559 shares worth Rs 33.32 crore changing hands at Rs 4,188.40 apiece, as per NSE data. 

Meanwhile, there were reports that PhonePe was reportedly looking to offload a 5 per cent stake in C.E. Info Systems Ltd (MapmyIndia) today at a floor price of Rs 1,750 apiece, which was at 10.4 per cent discount to Wednesday's closing price. Phonepe owned 1,01,97,966 shares or 18.74 per cent stake in CE Info Systems at the end o March and the block deal size was expected to be Rs 476.20 crore, as per CNBC TV18.

The benchmark indices were trading marginally higher in the pre-open session, with Sensex rising 56.21 points or 0.17 per cent to 82,571.35. 

In a note, Morgan Stanley said India has suffered from two quarters of a self-inflicted
economic slowdown and corporate earnings downgrade cycle, all driven by a combination of tight domestic fiscal and monetary policy. As growth risk has risen due to US trade policy uncertainty, and inflation has moderated to a multi-year low, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has shifted to an accommodative policy stance by cutting interest rates, it said.

"Based on recent data, encouraging signs of the domestic cycle bottoming have emerged. While US tariffs remain a risk, India is relatively insulated given their low goods export exposure to the US and a largely domestic-oriented economy," Morgan Stanley said in a note.