Stocks in the news: GAIL, Bank of Baroda, ONGC, Sona Comstar and J&K Bank

Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 19 points, or 0.11 per cent lower at 17,949, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a negative start on Thursday. Here are a dozen stocks which may buzz the most in today's trade:

ONGC: The state-owned oil explorer signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) with global oil giant ExxonMobil Corp for exploration of oil and gas in the deepsea on the country's east and west coasts. The two oil explorers would focus on the Krishna Godavari and Cauvery basins in the eastern offshore and the Kutch-Mumbai region in the western offshore.

GAIL (India): The state owned gas transmission player has received the board approval for additional fundraising of $3.125 billion via external commercial borrowing and up to Rs 25,000 crore via non-convertible debentures. This is on top of Rs 25,000 crore already borrowed by the company.

Telcos: The Department of Telecom has received upfront payment of around Rs 17,876 crore from Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Adani Data Networks and Vodafone Idea for spectrum they won in a recent auction. Bharti Airtel has paid Rs 8,312.4 crore and Reliance Jio has made payment of Rs 7,864.78 crore, Vodafone Idea Rs 1,679.98 crore and Adani Data Networks Rs 18.94 crore.

Bank of Baroda: The state owned lender said it has raised Rs 1,000 crore through issuance of bonds for financing infrastructure and affordable housing projects. The bonds, with a tenure of seven years, will offer a coupon rate of 7.39 per cent.

Sona BLW Precisions Forgings: Blackstone is seeking to raise as much as Rs 3,180 crore through the sale of shares in Indian automotive component maker, according to terms of the deal seen by Bloomberg News. An affiliate of the US firm is offering the shares at Rs 500 each, the terms show. That’s a 7.2 per cent discount to Wednesday’s closing price.

Natco Pharma: The drug maker said it has received tentative approval for its abbreviated new drug application for Trabectedin for injection for the 1mg/vial. Trabectedin is a generic drug for Yondelis. According to industry sales data, Yondelis generated annual sales of $49.7 million for 12 months ending June 2022 in the US market.

Jammu & Kashmir Bank: The PSU lender is looking to raise up to Rs 2,000 crore this fiscal through a mix of debt and equity as it sees loan demand picking up due to increased economic activity. The union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are witnessing "unprecedented growth" with over 1 crore tourists visiting the region during January-July.

IDBI Bank: The centre is learnt to have reached out to global buyout funds and financial players including Carlyle Group, TPG Capital and Fairfax Holdings to gauge investor interest in buying majority stakes held directly by government and LIC in the bailed out lender, ET now reported citing sources.

Indo Amines: The commodity chemicals firm has received environmental clearance for the expansion of 'synthetic organic chemical' production at its manufacturing plants in Thane and Dhule, Maharashtra.

Kilburn Engineering: RBL Bank said it has offloaded over 12 per cent stake in Kilburn Engineering since May for a total consideration of over Rs 17 crore. The private sector lender had acquired 67,50,000 equity shares of Kilburn Engineering under a debt recast plan.