Market Bizzz

Devang Mehta, Director of Spark Private Wealth, highlights a shift from conventional to non-conventional businesses in India’s benchmark indices. He suggests focusing on innovative companies in sectors like manufacturing, engineering, and capex, particularly power automation and renewables. He also notes the potential of recent IPOs like Swiggy and companies crucial for India’s growth, such as JSW Infra and Inox India.

Aayush Wellness shares are expected to draw attention on Tuesday, as the company has set December 26 as the record date to identify eligible shareholders for its bonus share issuance.

India launched an investigation into a potential surge in steel flat product imports following a complaint by the Indian Steel Association. The association, representing major steel producers, alleges harm to the domestic industry and seeks safeguard duties. The probe covers various steel products and will examine imports from October 2023 to September 2024, with a possible 20% safeguard duty considered.

Ultratech Cement’s bid to acquire a significant stake in The India Cements has received a green light from the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The acquisition involves a primary purchase and an open offer, totaling a potential 32.72% stake. While Ultratech Cement’s stock has seen fluctuations recently, this development could impact its trajectory.

Piramal Enterprises’ board has approved raising up to ₹2,000 crore via NCDs. The fundraising will occur in tranches, with each debenture having a face value of ₹1,000. The company’s shares, which yielded 23% returns over the past year and 17% in 2024 so far, closed 2.5% lower at ₹1,093.65 on Friday.

Indian markets exhibit weakness, with the Nifty and Bank Nifty facing selling pressure. FMCG stocks underperform, and sectors like banking remain weak pending broader market recovery. IT, pharma, and real estate show relative strength. Analysts recommend selling Hero MotoCorp, buying United Breweries, and buying Dr. Reddy’s.

“Several factors contributed to this surge in Investor interest, including the US Federal Reserve’s rate cuts, escalating geopolitical tensions, and unprecedented demand from central banks.”

“In the near term, defensives like pharma, IT, and consumer sectors might act as safe havens. These sectors have underperformed over the past two to two-and-a-half years. During this time, markets were driven by real estate, capital goods, defense, railways, and other capital formation-related stocks, many of which have moved ahead of fundamentals.”

The Indian rupee depreciated to an all time low during the day, but ended slightly stronger at 85.01 per US dollar on a closing basis, due to the rebalancing of FTSE’s equity index and interventions from the Reserve Bank of India, traders said.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has announced exclusion of 16 stocks from the futures & options (F&O) segment with effect from February 28, 2025 and no contracts will be available for trading from this date.