Get App
Benchmark indices pared some gains after rallying to lifetime highs on positive sentiments, strong buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), easing crude oil prices. For the week, the Sensex gained 0.92% to 62,868.50 and the Nifty 50 index advanced 0.99% to 18,696.10.
Broader markets outperformed the key indices. The BSE Midcap index rose 2.84% and the BSE Smallcap index gained 2.43%.
In the cash segment, FIIs were net buyers for Rs 15,067.55 crore and the DIIs were net sellers for Rs 1,335.57 crore.
Top gainers among Nifty sectoral indices were Media [4.18%], Realty [4.15%], Metal [3.71%], FMCG [2.38%] and IT [2.37%]. All indices ended in the green.
Indian rupee fell 10 paise to 81.32 against the US dollar on Friday.
The WTI Crude prices stood at $79.98 per barrel and the Brent Crude prices stood a $85.57 a barrel.
Company News
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL): The company is buying Russian refined fuels, including rare purchases of naphtha, after some Western buyers stopped Russian imports, Reuters reported. India imported about 410,000 tonnes of naphtha, used for making petrochemicals in September-October 2022. Out of this, Reliance received about 150,000 tonnes from the Russian ports of Ust-Luga, Tuapse and Novorossiysk during the two months, Reuters report said.
ONGC and Reliance Industries (RIL): The Kirit Parikh panel on gas pricing is set to recommend the gradual lifting of the price ceiling on gas produced from difficult fields when it submits its report on Wednesday, Livemint reported. The price of gas from difficult fields, including deepwater, ultra-deepwater, and high pressure-high temperature areas such as Reliance Industries currently has a cap. The panel would recommend a floor price and a cap for the legacy or old fields operated by state-run ONGC and Oil India Ltd (OIL).
Maruti Suzuki India: The automaker sold a total of 159,044 units in November 2022 compared to 139,184 units in November 2021, recording a 14.27% growth. Domestic sales stood at 1,35,055 units, sales to other OEM was 4,251 units and exports were 19,738 units. Shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles, mainly in domestic models.
Maruti Suzuki India also said it is planning to raise prices across models in January 2023 due to increased cost pressure driven by overall inflation and recent regulatory requirements. Shares of the company fell 1.68%.
Separately, the company released its production volume numbers. The total passenger vehicles produced stood at 151,326 units in November 2022 as against 142,025 unit in November 2021. It produced 1,460 units of light commercial vehicles as against 3,535 units.
Tata Power: The company plans to invest Rs 6,000 crore in Odisha, the company’s CEO and MD Praveer Sinha said during a “Make in Odisha Conclave”. The four power discoms of Odisha, where Tata Power has a majority stake, are committed to Rs 6,000 crore capex investment in the next five years. Sinha said the company will also set up 1,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging points, 1,00,000 solar pumps, microgrids, rooftop and floating solar plants in the next five years.
PB Fintech (Policybazaar): Shares of the company surged 6% to Rs 489 in intraday trade on the NSE after 5% equity of the company changing hands via block deal. About 22.84 million shares representing 5% of total equity of PB Fintech worth Rs 1,042.53 crore changed hands on the NSE in the pre-open deals at Rs 456.30, the exchange data showed.
Adani Green Energy: The company through its subsidiary, Adani Solar Energy AP Six Private Ltd, has raised JPY denominated facility to refinance its existing debt. The facility comprises JPY 27,954 million ($200 million approx.) amortising project loan facility, assessing the 16 years debt structure with door-to-door tenor of 10 years and average tenor of more than 8 years. The project loan facility is supported by MUFG Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp with equal participation.
Tata Motors: The automaker said its sales in the domestic & international market for November 2022 stood at 75,478 units compared to 62,192 units during November 2021, up 21%. Total sales included commercial vehicle sales of 29,053 units, a YoY decline of 10%. Passenger vehicle sales rose 55% YoY to 46,425 units. Total domestic sales stood at 73,467 units in November 2022, 27% higher compared to 58,073 units sold in November 2021.
Easy Trip Planners: The company has entered into a deal to acquire the 75% stake in Nutana Aviation. Nutana Aviation leases charter aircraft enabling operators to run efficiently along with providing charter booking services to its clients, within and outside India. Under this transaction, EaseMyTrip will hold a majority stake in the Nutana aviation. Post investment by EaseMyTrip, Nutana Aviation will continue to run and operate as an independent entity. With this acquisition, EaseMyTrip will add a new segment that will ‘fast-track’ its growth.
In other news, Easy Trip Planners has become the travel partner for the International Indian Film Academy and Awards (IIFA) 2023 event, which will take place on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, for the second consecutive year from February 9 to February 11, 2023. Under this partnership, EaseMyTrip will sell exclusive packages for the event and free IIFA passes on buying tickets to Abu Dhabi to attend the event.
State Bank of India (SBI): The largest lender in India has approved raising Rs 10,000 crore through infrastructure bonds during the financial year 2023, according to its exchange filing. “Raising Infrastructure Bonds up to an amount of Rs. 10,000 crores (including a green shoe option of Rs. 5,000 crores) through a public issue or private placement, during FY23,” the release said. SBI’s Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara last week said that the lender is expected to maintain its asset quality even though loan growth is higher.
Britannia Industries: The food processing company has entered into a joint venture with France’s Bel Group. Both the companies will make and market cheese products in India and other countries via Britannia Dairy1, which will be a joint venture. Britannia will sell 49% of its equity stake in the dairy unit to Bel for Rs 262 crore. Meanwhile, 51% equity in Britannia Dairy will continue to be held by Britannia.
Britannia Industries expects its cheese products business to grow around five-fold in the next five years to touch around Rs 1,250 crore. The company is forecasting consumption growth in cheese segment coming from the domestic consumer. The company plans to invest Rs 160 crore in the next three years, said Britannia Industries Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Varun Berry.
Hero MotoCorp: The two-wheeler manufacturer sold 3.9 lakh units in November 2022, a growth of 12% over the corresponding month of the previous year. The company had sold 3.49 lakh units in November 2021. The company said it expects the momentum to build-up in coming quarters on favourable economic indicators, including encouraging farm activity and positive consumer sentiments.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T): The company said it has closed a $107 million sustainability-linked loan with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). The facility incorporates interest rate reductions linked to the achievement of two of L&T’s predetermined sustainability targets – reduction of greenhouse gas emission intensity and water consumption intensity against the target levels. L&T Group CFO and Whole Time Director R Shankar Raman said that L&T continues to focus on achieving water neutrality by 2035 and carbon neutrality by 2040.
Wipro: The IT major announced that it is an official launch partner for Amazon Security Lake from Amazon Web Service (AWS), which provides modern enterprises with intelligent security data to solve more security use cases, increase security visibility and reduce threats. Amazon Security Lake allows customers to build a security data lake from integrated cloud and on-premises data sources as well as from their private applications.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL): The state-run company has formed a consortium with Titagarh Wagons and is among five entities which have bid for the mega Rs 58,000 crore contract to manufacture 200 Vande Bharat trains and maintaining them for the next 35 years.
Gland Pharma: The company said it will buy French pharmaceutical firm Cenexi for 120 million euros (approximately Rs 1,015 crore) as it plans to expand in European markets. Singapore-based unit Gland Pharma International PTE has entered into a ‘Put Option Agreement’ to buy 100% of Cenexi Group for an equity value not exceeding EUR 120 million, the company said in a regulatory filing. Cenexi, along with its subsidiaries, is engaged primarily in the business of contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) of pharmaceutical products with expertise in sterile liquid and lyophilized fill finished drugs.
Economy News
India’s economic growth slowed down to 6.3% in the July-September quarter of FY23, as manufacturing output contracted. However, strong activity was witnessed in the services sector.
In comparison, the economy had expanded 13.5% in the quarter-ended June of FY23 due to a low base in the same period of FY22 on account of severe covid-19 restrictions.
Separately, the growth rate in the production of eight core sectors slowed down to a 20-month low of 0.1% in October 2022 on account of contraction in the output of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, and cement, according to the official data released.
India’s gross GST revenue came in at Rs 1,45,867 crore in November 2022, 11% higher during the same period a year ago, but about 4% below October’s collections which stood at Rs 1.52 lakh crore on the back of festive spending.
To read about other economic news, click here
Global Markets
Wall Street ended higher following the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments indicating that the US central bank could slow down its pace of interest rate hikes in the coming months. For the week, the Dow gained 0.24%, the S&P 500 advanced 1.13% and the Nasdaq climbed 2.09%.
On the economic news front, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the number of job openings declined by about 3,53,000 to 10.3 million. Nonfarm payrolls data showed that the US economy added 263,000 jobs in November The unemployment rate stood at 3.7%. The core personal consumption expenditure price index, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, increased 5.0% year over year, moderating from the 5.2% inflation rate recorded in September.
Chinese stocks rose amid signs that the Fed would decelerate the pace of interest rate hikes and Beijing’s plans to fully reopen the economy after months of pandemic restrictions. For the week, the CSI 300 index climbed 2.52%, the Shanghai Composite index advanced 1.76% and the Hang Seng soared 6.27%.
The private Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI rose more than expected to 49.4 from October’s reading. However, the reading was less than 50, indicating contraction in the manufacturing sector due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Japanese equity markets closed lower during the week, with the Nikkei 225 index falling 1.79% and the broader Topix index down 3.17%, as export-related stocks fell amid rising yen.
Japan’s industrial production fell 2.6% month-on-month in October and unemployment in October stood at 2.6%.