Stocks To Watch: Adani Ports, Religare Enterprises, Power Finance Corp, Vedanta, LIC, Maruti Suzuki

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd., Religare Enterprises Ltd., and Power Finance Corp. will be among the companies in focus on Thursday.

Adani Ports approved raising Rs 5,000 crore via non-convertible debentures and has elevated Chief Executive Officer Karan Adani to the role of managing director.

The Burman family has called for a probe into the allotment of shares of Religare Finvest to Rashmi Saluja through employee stock ownership plans, while Power Finance Corp signed a MoU with the Gujarat government for projects worth Rs 25,000 crore on Wednesday.

Markets in Asia-Pacific region were trading in red in early Thursday, taking clues from the decline on Wall Street as the U.S. Federal Reserve's December meeting minutes suggested interest rates are going to stay elevated for a long time.

Share indices fell in Japan as it opens after a holiday break on Thursday. Nikkei slumped 2.01% or 669.15 points down at 32,792.90. S&P ASX/ 200 fell 0.29% or 22.20 points at 7,501.00 as of 06:29.

The S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 fell by 0.80% and 1.06%, respectively, on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 1.71%.

Brent crude was trading 2.36% higher at $78.25 a barrel. Gold was lower by 0.03% at $2,042.11 an ounce as of 06:32 a.m.

The GIFT Nifty was trading 0.09% or 23 points higher at 21,619 as of 6:33 a.m.

India's benchmark stock indices ended lower for a second day in a row on Wednesday, weighed by losses in index heavyweights HDFC Bank Ltd., Infosys Ltd., and Reliance Industries Ltd.

The BSE Sensex ended 0.75%, or 535.88 points, lower at 71,356.60, while the NSE Nifty 50 declined 0.69%, or 148.45 points, to close at 21,517.35.

The Sensex hit an intraday low of 71,303.97 and the Nifty 50 touched 21,500.35.

Overseas investors turned net sellers of Indian equities on Wednesday. Foreign portfolio investors offloaded stocks worth Rs 666.3 crore, while domestic institutional investors remained net sellers and sold equities worth Rs 862.9 crore, the NSE data showed.

The Indian rupee strengthened 3 paise to close at Rs 83.29 against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday.

Stocks To Watch 

• Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone: The company approved raising Rs 5,000 crores via non-convertible debentures. The company also approved the redesignation of Gautam Adani as executive chairman, the re-designation of Karan Adani as managing director, and the appointment of Ashwani Gupta as CEO, effective from Jan. 4.

• Religare Enterprises: The Burman family has called for a probe into the allotment of shares of Religare Finvest to Rashmi Saluja through employee stock ownership plans.

• Power Finance Corp: The company signed a MoU with the Gujarat Government for projects worth Rs 25,000 crore.

• Vedanta: The company recorded aluminium output at 599 KT, up 6% YoY, refined zinc output at 203 KT, down 4% YoY, and oil & gas average gross operated output at 1,23,413 boe/day, down 15% YoY. It also raised Rs 3,400 crores via private placement of NCDs. Vedanta Resources has received support from bondholders for its proposal to restructure four series of bonds.

• Telecom Companies: Bharti Airtel's net subscriber additions dropped in October to 3.52 lakh. Reliance Jio added 31.59 lakh wireless subscribers while Vodafone Idea lost 20.44 lakh wireless subscribers.

• Life Insurance Corp: The company received tax and penalty demands worth Rs 667.5 crore from Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and Gujarat tax authorities.

• Maruti Suzuki India: The company's unit received an adjudication order from the Gujarat GST Authority upholding Rs 174 crore GST demand. The unit will be filing an appeal against the order to the first appellate authority.

• IndusInd Bank:  The private lender recorded deposits at Rs 3.68 lakh crore as of Dec. 31, up 13% YoY, and net advances at Rs 3.26 lakh crore, up 20% YoY. The bank's CASA ratio stood at 38.5% vs 42% YoY.

• Steel Authority of India: The government decided to scrap the privatisation of the company's Salem Steel Plant in Tamil Nadu.

• Bank of Baroda: The lender signed an accord with REC to fund power and infrastructure projects.

• Grasim Industries: The company's Canada joint venture stops Pulp production citing market conditions.

• KPI Green Energy: The company along with its unit KPIG Energia under the captive power producer segment received new orders of 2.10 MW for executing solar power projects from Radhey Krishna Terene and Jay Metal Tech.

• LTIMindtree: The company received Rs 206 crore tax demand from Mumbai tax authorities.

• MRF: The company will buy a 27.2% stake in First Energy 8 for Rs 35.8 crore to enhance its source of renewable power supply.

• Zomato: The company's Poland unit Gastronauci SP. Z.O.O. initiated the process of liquidation on Jan. 2, 2024.

• BGR Energy Systems: SBI has classified its Rs 2,060-crore credit exposure to the company as sub-standard.

• Ujjivan Small Finance Bank: The company recorded total deposits at Rs 29,869 crore, up 29% YoY, and disbursements at 5,675 crores, up 17% YoY. The bank's CASA ratio stood at 25.3% vs 26.2% YoY.

• NHPC: The company signed a MoU with Gujarat Power Corp. for investing Rs 4,000 crore 750 MW Kuppa Pumped Storage Project.

• Ajmera Realty and Infra India: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs approved the incorporation of a wholly owned subsidiary in the name of New Horizon Acres.

• Torrent Power: The company signed four Memorandum of Understanding worth Rs 47,350 crore with the Gujarat government.

• Vikas Lifecare: The company expanded its operations with the acquisition of 1,800 sq. meters of new land in Rajasthan

• Chambal Fertilizer: The company will consider a share buyback on Jan. 8.

• Indian Energy Exchange: The company recorded Q3 overall volume at 28,326 MU, up 16.9% YoY, and December overall volume at 9,707 MU, up 14.9% YoY. The company's December total electricity volume was at 8,655 MU, up 8.7% YoY.

• Surya Roshini: The company received an order worth Rs 72 crore from the Odisha Urban Infrastructure Development Fund for the project and maintenance of the LED Street Lighting Project in 16 Urban Local Bodies.

Bulk Deals

• Cupid: Minerva Ventures Fund bought 0.75 lakh shares (0.56%) at Rs 1,193.15 apiece.

Insider Trades

• Info Edge: Promoter group Endeavour Holding Trust sold 32,000 shares on Dec. 29.

Pledge Share Details

• Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy: Promoter Shapoorji Pallonji and Company created a pledge for 6.16 lakh shares on Dec. 29.

Who's Meeting Whom

• Gravita India: To meet investors and analysts on Jan. 9.

• Jindal Saw: To meet investors and analysts on Jan. 8.

• Rail Vikas Nigam: To meet investors and analysts on Jan. 8.

• NHPC: To meet investors and analysts on Jan. 8 to Jan. 12.

• Khadim India: To meet investors and analysts on Jan. 8.

• Yasho Industries: To meet investors and analysts on Jan. 9.

• V-Mart Retail: To meet investors and analysts on Jan. 8.

Trading Tweaks

• Price band revised from 20% to 10%: Sun Pharma Advanced Research.

• Moved into a short-term ASM framework: Sun Pharma Advanced Research.

F&O Cues

• Nifty January futures down by 0.74% to 21,600 at a premium of 82.65 points.

• Nifty January futures open interest up by 0.01%.

• Nifty Bank January futures up by 0.12% to 47,931 at a premium of 227 points.

• Nifty Bank January futures open interest down by 12.5%.

• Nifty Options Jan 4 Expiry: Maximum Call open interest at 22,000 and Maximum Put open interest at 21,500.

• Bank Nifty Options 10 Jan Expiry: Maximum Call Open Interest at 50,000 and Maximum Put open interest at 47,500.

• Securities in ban period: Balrampur Chini Mills, Delta Corp, Hindustan Copper, Indian Energy Exchange, National Aluminium, SAIL, Zee Entertainment.

Research Reports

• Here Are The Top Stock Picks For January 2024 By Axis Securities

• IT Services Q3 Results Preview - Furloughs, Lower Discretionary Spend To Impact Outlook: IDBI Capital

• Building Materials Q3 Results Preview - Margin Expected To Improve, Healthy PAT: Prabhudas Lilladher

• AlcoBev Q3 Results Preview - Base Supports YoY Growth, QoQ Weak: Dolat Capital

• Happiest Minds - Agile Growth Aided By Robust Digital Services Portfolio: Axis Securities Initiates Coverage

• Utkarsh Small Finance Bank — Decade-Long Exposure To High Growth States: ICICI Securities

• Bayer, Dhanuka, Sumitomo, UPL - Structural Growth Story Is Intact: Anand Rathi Initiates Coverage With A 'Buy'

• UltraTech Cement - Modest Volume Growth But Inline With Estimate, Maintain 'Buy': Systematix

• M&M - Well Poised To Outperform Across All Its Verticals: Motilal Oswal

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