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Benchmark stock indices snapped three-week losing trend and closed higher helped by gains in IT, realty and metal stocks. For the week, the Sensex gained 1.33% to 58,191.29 and the Nifty 50 index rose 1.29% to 17,314.65.
In broader markets, the BSE Midcap index jumped 2.14% to 25,384.80. The BSE Smallcap index surged 2.57% to 29,182.93.
Top gainers among Nifty sectoral indices were Media [4.8%], Realty [3.4%], Metal [2.8%], IT [2.8%] and Bank [1.4%]. Top losers were FMCG [-1.3%] and Auto [-0.5%].
In the cash segment, FIIs were net sellers and sold for Rs 36.6 crore and DIIs bought for Rs 1024 crore during the week.
Indian rupee depreciated further to 82.33 against the US dollar as rising oil prices weighed on currency traders’ sentiments.
Company News
Reliance Jio: The telcom arm of Reliance Industries launched the beta trial of 5G services in four Indian cities on the occasion of Dussehra. The Jio True 5G service will be launched in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Varanasi for the existing Jio users by invitation. The invited customers will get unlimited 5G data with a speed up to 1 gigabyte per second.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL): Shares of the company rose after Sanmina Corp, a US-based electronics contract manufacturer, and RIL’s subsidiary, Reliance Strategic Business Ventures, completed the previously announced joint venture transaction. The partnership will leverage Sanmina’s 40 years of advanced manufacturing experience and Reliance’s expertise and leadership in the Indian business ecosystem.
The day-to-day business will continue to be managed by Sanmina’s management team in Chennai, which will be seamless from an employee and customer perspective. All the manufacturing will take place at Sanmina’s 100-acre campus in Chennai, with the ability for site expansion to support future growth opportunities as well as to potentially expand to new manufacturing sites in India over time based on business needs.
Airtel: The telecom company said that its customers across eight cities will get access to the new 5G Plus services at existing rates until the 5G service becomes more widespread. The new bouquet of services went live in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur, and Varanasi on Thursday. The company said that its customers need not change their SIM card as existing Airtel 4G SIMs are 5G-enabled.
Hero MotoCorp: The two-wheeler maker launched its first electric scooter worldwide and the new Hero Vida V1 electric scooter will be offered in two variants — Vida V1 Plus and Vida V1 Pro. It would be first launched in New Delhi, Jaipur and Bengaluru. The deliveries of this electric scooter will start from the second week of December.
Vida V1 Pro, which is priced at Rs 1.45 lakhs, will have a top speed of 80 kmph, a range of 165 km and acceleration of 0 to 40 kmph in 3.2 seconds. Further, Vida V1 Plus, which is priced at Rs 1.59 lakh, will have a top speed of 80 kmph, a rang of 143 km and acceleration of 0 to 40 kmph in 3.4 seconds.
Meanwhile, brokerage firm Jefferies upgraded the company’s stock to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and kept the target price at Rs 3,000 apiece. The brokerage firm cited that the Indian auto sector I recovering and likely to post a strong 17-19% volume CAGR for PVs, 2-Wheelers and trucks over FY22-25.
Adani Group: The group’s chairman Gautam Adani announced Rs 65,000 crore investment in Rajasthan over the next 5 to 7 years in setting up a mega 10,000 MW solar power capacity, expanding cement plant and upgrading Jaipur airport. Speaking at the Invest Rajasthan 2022 Summit here, he said the Adani Group would also develop a network to supply piped natural gas and CNG to accelerate cleaner fuel availability to industrial, commercial, transport and domestic consumers, and set up new transmission projects to move the renewable power being generated.
In other news, Adani Group will raise money from the market to buy road projects from Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund (MAIF), Business Standard reported. Two entities of Adani Enterprises — Adani Road GRICL (ARGL) and Adani Road STPL — will raise up to Rs 800 crore through non-convertible debentures, according to the report. Each of the entities will raise up to Rs 400 crore by issuing debentures. ARGL will acquire 56.8% stake in Gujarat Road Infrastructure Company (GRICL). ARGL is also evaluating to subsequently acquire IL&FS’s 26.8% stake in GRICL and ultimately have 83.6% shareholding in the entity. ARSL will acquire 100% holding in Swarna Tollway Pvt. Ltd (STPL) from Macquarie.
Adani Enterprises: In an exchange filing, Adani Enterprises announced the creation of two new subsidiaries — Adani Disruptive Ventures (ADVL) and Alwar Alluvial Resources (AARL). The mission statement of ADVL says, “As ‘your partner for growth’, ADV aims to turn great ideas into great outcomes by leveraging its existing platform to enable companies to create commercially viable solutions.” Meanwhile, the manufacturing and processing of minerals, the production of pigments and TiO2 slag, and other incidental activities related to these will be undertaken by AARL.
Infosys Technologies: The IT company is in trouble again after an ex-employee levelled allegations of discrimination against the company while hiring in the US. A suit was filed by Infosys VP (Talent Acquisition) Jill Prejean in the US District Court Southern District of New York against Infosys, Infosys Senior VP and Head (Consulting) Mark Livingston and former partners Dan Albright and Jerry Kurtz. In her complaint, Prejaen alleged that the partners allegedly expressed reluctance to hire additional consultants of Indian origin, women with children at home and candidates over 50 years of age.
Biocon: The biotechnology company said that European medical regulator found one major ‘deficiency’ at its Bengaluru API plant. Biocon said the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare conducted a good manufacturing practices inspection of its API plant in Bengaluru from September 12-14. The company also added that it will respond to the agency with appropriate corrective and preventive actions. Shares of Biocon fell more than 3% in intraday on Friday.
Mahindra Lifespace Developers: The company said that it has entered into an agreement with Actis to establish a joint venture platform for developing industrial and logistics real estate facilities across India. Under the joint venture, the companies will acquire up to 100 acre of land with ready infrastructure in the two Mahindra World Cities, offering a built-up space of over two million square feet, subject to requisite approvals.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS): The IT company has announced a major applied engineering and research partnership with The National Robotarium, the UK’s largest and most advance AI and robotics research centre. TCS Research will work closely with the new centre along with Heriot-Watt University on innovation, support early-stage AI, robotics product development, entrepreneurship, job creation and building digital skills in the workforce.
Yes Bank: The Reserve Bank of India has given its approval for appointment of Prashant Kumar as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Yes Bank for a period of three years effective from October 6. Earlier Prashant Kumar was appointed as MD & CEO of Yes Bank after reconstruction in March 2020.
Quess Corp: The company has entered into definitive agreements to divest its 53% stake in subsidiary Simpliance Technologies, to Aparajitha Corporate Services, a HR compliance services company. The deal is valued at an enterprise value of Rs 120 crore, on a cash and debt free basis.
FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa): The lifestyle retailer has signed a strategic partnership with Middle East-based retailer Apparel Group and they will recreate omnichannel beauty retail platform in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Apparel Group has more than 75 brands with over 2,000 stores across 14 countries.
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise: The company said it has acquired a 60% stake in leading classical Ayurveda hospital chain AyurVAID for a consideration of Rs 26.4 crore. The investment will be used to upgrade existing centres, set up new centres, strengthen enterprise platforms, and for digital health initiatives, the healthcare major said in a regulatory filing.
Economy News
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index stood at 54.3 in September, signalling growth for the fourteenth consecutive month. The services PMI stood at 57.2 in August. The report by S&P Global said that September saw a broad stabilisation of input cost inflation and the slowest upturn in prices charged for the provision of services since March. However, the steep depreciation of the rupee at the end of September due to interest rate hikes in the US would lead to additional challenges to the Indian economy.
Meanwhile, the composite PMI declined to 55.1 in September from 58.2 in August, pointing to the weakest expansion since March.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) stood at 55.1 in September 2022, expanding for the fifteenth month in a row. The headline figure, however, slipped from 56.2 in August, though pointed to a solid rate of growth.
Separately, the Indian government collected Rs 1.48 lakh crore as Goods and Services Tax (GST) in September 2022, registering a rise of 26% compared to September 2021, the finance ministry said. The September GST collection was 2.8% higher from August 2022.
India’s eight core infrastructure sectors’ output grew 3.3% in August 2022, lowest since November 2021, as against 12.2% in the year-ago period, according to official data. The previous low was in November 2021 at 3.2%.
Global Markets
The US markets ended higher but pared most of its gains after a strong job reports data indicated aggressive monetary policy. For the week, the S&P rose 1.51%, the Dow added 1.99% and the Nasdaq gained 0.73%.
On the economic front, the US job growth slowed moderately in September, while the unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%, pointing to a tight labour market. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 263,000 jobs in September after rising by 315,000 in August, according to government data. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5% in September from 3.7% in August. The average hourly earning rose 0.3% in September after a similar increase in August and it was up 5% year-on-year in September. Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) gauge of manufacturing activity fell to 50.9 in September.
Japanese equities rose during the week as investors hunted for beaten-down stocks. Japanese equities rallied on four days of the week, but ended lower on Friday. For the week, the Nikkei 225 index jumped 4.55%, while the broader Topix surged 3.86%.
China’s stock markets were shut during the week for the National Day holiday, which is also known as Golden Week. Meanwhile, the US dollar strengthened against the Chinese yuan.