Morning Update
Mask up’: PM Modi cautions against complacency at crucial Covid meet*
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi at a high-level meeting on Thursday cautioned against complacency and advised masking up and taking precautionary doses amid rising Covid cases in China and other countries. Modi told officials to strengthen surveillance measures, especially at international airports. He also stressed the need to ensure that the entire Covid infrastructure at all levels is maintained at a high level of preparedness in terms of equipment, processes, and human resources. Modi said states must audit Covid-specific facilities to ensure operational readiness of hospital infrastructure, including oxygen cylinders, pressure swing adsorption plants, ventilators, and human resources. The PM directed officials to ramp up testing and genomic sequencing efforts. The meeting was also attended by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Home Minister Amit Shah, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, and NITI Aayog Member-Health V K Paul.
*Equity benchmarks slip for third day, Sensex finishes below 61,000 mark*
Equity benchmarks surrendered early gains to finish in the red for the third session on the trot on Thursday as hawkish comments from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Covid-19 surge in China kept buying sentiment in check despite largely positive global market trends. After a gap-up opening, the 30-share BSE Sensex buckled under selling pressure as the session progressed and finally closed 241.02 points or 0.39 per cent lower at 60,826.22. During the day, it tumbled 430 points or 0.70 per cent to 60,637.24. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty dropped 71.75 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 18,127.35. Mahindra & Mahindra was the top loser on the Sensex chart, declining 2.61 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, L&T, Tata Steel and Axis Bank.
*DoT forms 4 task forces to boost domestic telecom mfg, remove hurdles*
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has formed four task forces to recommend to the government measures that will boost the domestic telecom manufacturing ecosystem and remove the bottlenecks, an official memorandum said The development follows a round table between Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and 42 chiefs of telecom gear makers early this month where he identified the need for creating a task force to resolve issues that the companies raised before him. Under one of the task forces, the DoT has sought recommendation for a phased manufacturing programme for telecom gear manufacturing to boost domestic component supply chain ecosystem as well as attract global players. This task force will be co-chaired by state-run research arm C-DoT CEO RK Upadhyay, the memorandum dated December 20 said.
*Commodity play*
Gold – Rs 54415/10gm, Silver – Rs 67416/kg, Brcrude – Rs 6210/barrel, Degumsyoil – Rs 1296/10kg, Copper – Rs 715/kg.
*Corporate News*
Reliance Infratel goes to Jio for Rs 3,720 crore for asset acquisition.
S Chand to sell its entire stake in iNeuron to PhysicsWallah for Rs 14 cr.
Sebi penalises 2 people for insider trading in Deepak Fertilizers shares.
SGX Nifty indicates negative start to Indian markets trading at 18081 levels down by 0.53% or 96.5 points at close. Dow Jones also ended yesterday`s session in red down by 1.05% at close.
Sector in focus – Banks, Metals, Pharma and Fertilizers.
Bulk Deals and insider Trades
Bulk Deals
*Ajanta Pharma Ltd : Icici Prudential Mutual Fund Buy 1086110 Shares @ Rs. 1160.1
*Ajanta Pharma Ltd : Nippon India Mutual Fund Buy 715450 Shares @ Rs. 1160.1
*Sula Vineyards Limited : Goldman Sachs Funds Goldman Sachs India Equity Portfolio Buy 695864 Shares @ Rs. 351.48
*Sula Vineyards Limited : Jupiter India Fund Buy 632155 Shares @ Rs. 361
*Thyrocare Tech Ltd : Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Ltd Sell 275000 Shares @ Rs. 659.69
*Sturdy : Punjab National Bank Sell 1158755 Shares @ Rs. 0.55
Insider Trade
* Acquisition*
*Global Growth Trust Promoter Group Acquisition 200 shares of Jindal Saw Ltd.
*VENKTESH INVESTMENT AND TRADING COMPANY PVT LTD Promoter Group Acquisition 1768 shares of Supreme Petrochem Ltd. on 01-Nov-22
*Mr R Haresh on behalf of Sundaram Trust Promoter Group Acquisition 10462 shares of Tvs Srichakra Ltd.
*Ashapura Industrial Finance Limited Promoter Group Acquisition 25000 shares of Ashapura Minechem Ltd. on 21-Dec-22
*Parag K. Shah Promoter Acquisition 50000 shares of Man Infraconstruction Ltd.
*Om Prakash Manchanda Director Acquisition 10500 shares of Dr. Lal Pathlabs Ltd on 21-Dec-22
*Disposal*
*Divi Madhusudana Rao Promoter Group Disposal 3000 shares of Divi’S Laboratories Ltd. on 21-Dec-22
*VENUGOPAL G NAIR Director Disposal 6000 shares of Shoppers Stop Ltd. on 20-Dec-22
*Pledge*
*Raksha Valia-Person Acting in Concert and immediate relative of Non Executive Non Independent Director Member of Promoter Group Promoters Immediate Relative Pledge 450000 shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. on 21-Dec-22
*Ravi Agrawal Trustee Ravi Agrawal Trust Promoter Pledge 645000 shares of Ajanta Pharma Ltd. on 21-Dec-22
Action in Stocks
Reliance Industries: The conglomerate, Reliance Industries which are in acquisition spree acquired METRO Cash & Carry India Pvt Ltd through its subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures Limited for a total cash consideration of Rs 2,850 crore. METRO India started operations in India in 2003 as the first company to introduce cash-and-carry business format in the country and currently operates 31 large format stores across 21 cities with about 3,500 employees. The multi-channel B2B cash & carry wholesaler has reach to over 3 million B2B customers in India, of which 1 million are frequently buying customers, through its store network and eB2B app. This acquisition would accelerate its plan to expand its retail presence. Through this acquisition, Reliance Retail gets access to a wide network of METRO India stores located in prime locations across key cities, a large base of registered kiranas and other institutional customers, strong supplier network and some of the global best practices implemented by METRO in India. The acquisition will further strengthen Reliance Retail’s physical store footprint and ability to better serve consumers and small merchants by leveraging synergies and efficiencies across supply chain networks, technology platforms and sourcing capabilities. Positive on Reliance Industries as this acquisition will help in expanding its retail presence in wholesale segment.
Federal Bank: Federal Bank is evolving as a strong business franchise with steady improvement in asset-quality trends and a healthy loan growth outlook. The bank is transforming and establishing itself as a next-generation bank in the private mid-segment. The bank has been spearheading digital initiatives through tie-ups with various payment platforms, neo banks, and fintech companies across its assets and liabilities. This enables the bank to lower its acquisition costs and increase revenue share. Further, the bank has a well-diversified loan book with a continued focus on increasing the retail mix. Factors such as better digital capabilities, sustaining healthy loan growth outlook, stable asset quality with higher-rated corporate book, and continued focus to increase its retail mix with higher-yielding businesses such as commercial vehicles, credit cards, and micro credit are expected to augur well for the bank’s growth going ahead. Asset quality should remain stable due to the benign credit cycle. Focus on growing assets and liabilities in a granular manner along with an improved return ratio augur well for the bank going ahead. Positive on Federal Bank given the improving asset quality and strong sector tailwind.
Corporate Actions
Landmark Cars will make its debut on the bourses on December 23. The issue price has been fixed at Rs 506 per share.
Abans Holdings will make its D-Street debut on December 23. The final offer price has been fixed at Rs 270 per share.
Dividend
29-Dec-22
ADVANIHOTR: Interim Dividend – Rs. – 2.00
IPO
Radiant Cash Management Services: Open: 23-Dec-22; Close: 27-Dec-22
Buyback
eClerx Services: Ex-Date: 26-Dec-22
Jagran Prakashan: Ex-Date: 05-Jan-23
Orbit Exports: Open: 15-Dec-22; Close: 28-Dec-22
Tanla Platforms: Open: 20-Dec-22; Close: 02-Jan-23
Dhanuka Agritech: Open: 26-Dec-22; Close: 06-Jan-23
Bonus
SecUR Credentials: Bonus Issue 3:1; Ex-Date: 26-Dec-22
Advait Infratech: Bonus Issue 1:1; Ex-Date: 28-Dec-22
KPI Green Energy: Bonus Issue 1:1; Ex-Date: 18-Jan-23
Stock Split
Filatex India: Stock Split From Rs. 2/- to Rs. 1/-; Ex-Date: 27-Dec-22
Supreme Petrochem: Stock Split From Rs. 4/- to Rs. 2/-; Ex-Date: 05-Jan-23
Rights Issue
Hatsun Agro Products: Open: 19-Dec-22; Close: 09-Jan-23
RSWM Ltd: Open: 23-Dec-22; Close: 06-Jan-23
