The 2025 contraction marks the steepest decline in both the number of billionaire promoters and their aggregate wealth since 2012.
Gautam Adani-owned Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) will replace IT major Wipro in the 30-share BSE Sensex from June 24, according to an official announcement on Friday. This marks the first inclusion of any Adani Group firm in Sensex. The group has 10 listed firms with a combined market valuation surpassing Rs 17 lakh crore.
The NSE Nifty slid 40.75 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 10,490.75 after scaling a new peak of 10,552.40.
Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) reported an over sevenfold year-on-year (Y-o-Y) rise in its consolidated net profit, attributable to the owners of the company, for the January-March quarter of 2024-25 (Q4FY25) due to an exceptional item gain. The conglomerate's net profit was recorded at Rs 3,844.91 crore, up from Rs 450.58 crore a year ago.
The 50-share NSE Nifty too lost 34.50 points, or 0.33 at 10,458.35 after shuttling between 10,525.50 and 10,447.15.
Adani group stocks faced heavy drubbing during the early trade on Thursday, with Adani Energy and Adani Enterprises tumbling 20 per cent, as billionaire Gautam Adani has been charged by US prosecutors over his role in an alleged years-long scheme to pay $250 million bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts. The stock of the group's flagship firm Adani Enterprises plunged 20 per cent, Adani Energy Solutions tanked 20 per cent, Adani Green Energy plummeted 19.17 per cent, Adani Total Gas tumbled 18.14 per cent, Adani Power slumped 17.79 per cent, and Adani Ports dived 15 per cent on the BSE.
The NSE 50-share Nifty also spurted by 98.10 points, or 0.97 per cent, to end at 10,211.80
Adani group is on track to surpass a combined Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) of Rs 1 trillion in the ongoing financial year (FY25) as it prepares for a $2 billion (over Rs 16,700 crore) share sale by its flagship entity Adani Enterprises next month, according to a source close to the matter.
The 50-component Nifty closed at 10,214.75, a solid gain of 96.70 points, or 0.96 per cent
Two firms belonging to the Adani group - India's most valued conglomerate - are part of the Nifty 50 index. The group, however, has no representation in the Sensex. And it could stay this way if a proposed index qualification rule change gets approved. Recently, Asia Index, a joint venture between S&P Dow Jones Indices and BSE responsible for index composition, floated a consultation paper where it proposed that a stock must have a derivative contract to be eligible for inclusion in the flagship 30-share Sensex index.
The broader NSE Nifty dipped below the 10,200-mark to hit a low of 10,180.25 before ending at 10,195.15, down by 165 points, or 1.59 per cent.
ITC, Sun Pharma, Maruti, M&M, Tata Motors, HCL Tech, Wipro, Infosys, HUL, Bharti Airtel and Reliance were among the major losers. Kotak Bank rose the most by 1.59 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv. L&T, SBI, TCS and HDFC Bank also closed higher.
Major losers include Lupin 1.96 per cent, along with Tata Motors, Coal India and Sun Pharma.
This is its biggest single session fall since August 24, 2015, when it had lost 1,624.51 points.
A widening probe by US authorities involving top drug companies following complaints of price fixing of generics was a point of worry for the participants, said analysts.
Reliance Industries Ltd was the biggest wealth creator during the five-year period from 2018 to 2023 while Adani Enterprises Ltd was the top all-round wealth creator, according to a study by Motilal Oswal Financial Services. The study, based on stock market performance of companies, said for the fifth time in succession, Reliance emerged as the largest wealth creator, adding Rs 9,63,800 crore wealth over 2018-23. It was followed by Tata Consultancy Services (Rs 6,77,400 crore wealth addition), ICICI Bank (Rs 4,15,500 crore), Infosys (Rs 3,61,800 crore) and Bharti Airtel (Rs 2,80,800 crore).
The combined market capitalisation of Adani Group companies fell by Rs 54,876 crore, to Rs 10.92 trillion, as investor sentiment turned bearish on Wednesday. Shares of Adani Transmission fell by 7.7 per cent to close at Rs 886 while those of Adani Power lost 7.1 per cent to end the day at Rs 323. The stock of Adani Enterprises, the flagship company of the group, lost 6.2 per cent to finish at Rs 2,530.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) was the star performer in Friday's session, spurting over 6 per cent to its all-time high, Other Sensex gainers included Bajaj Finance, PowerGrid, ICICI Bank, Maruti, Axis Bank and SBI. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, ITC, M&M HDFC and Infosys shed up to 2.94 per cent.
Tata Steel was the day's worst performer in the Sensex pack, plunging 3.25 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel at 3.05 per cent.
Shares of paint companies faced pressure, falling up to 5 per cent on the BSE in Monday's (February 26) intraday trade amid concerns that Grasim Industries' entry into the paint sector will intensify the competition. Asian Paints reached a 10-month low of Rs 2,850, slipping nearly 5 per cent after brokerage firm CLSA downgraded the stock following the Birla Opus launch. The paint maker's stock traded at its lowest level since April 28, 2023.
The broader NSE Nifty struggled before ending well above the 10,500-mark.
The net profit of the listed Adani group companies more than doubled year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in the first half of 2023-24 (H1FY24), even as their revenue declined in this period. The nine firms posted a 107.7 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 23,929 crore in April-September compared to the year-ago period. Net sales, on the other hand, were down 14 per cent to Rs 1.49 trillion in H1FY24, data collated by Business Standard showed.
The broader NSE Nifty too dived by 131.70 points, or 1.24 per cent, to close at 10,453.05.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) will shift the expiry of Bank Nifty derivatives contracts from Thursday to Friday, after smaller rival BSE did so earlier. The change, effective July 7, will apply to both weekly and monthly futures and options (F&O) contracts of the widely traded banking sector index. The first Friday expiry will be on July 14, 2023. NSE dominates the derivatives segment.
From the Sensex pack, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries were among the major laggards. Bucking the trend, auto stocks Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra closed with gains.
Shares of eight of the ten listed firms of the Adani Group ended with gains on Tuesday after taking a beating in recent sessions. Adani Enterprises stock jumped 14.22 per cent to settle at Rs 1,364.05 on the BSE. During the day, it rallied 19 per cent to Rs 1,421.95.
The broader NSE Nifty reclaimed the key 10,000-mark and touched a high of 10,143.50 before finally settling at 10,130.65
Shares of Adani Group firms continued to remain weak for the seventh day running on Friday amid a host of negative events surrounding the companies. The stock of Adani Enterprises tumbled 20 per cent to Rs 1,173.55 -- its one-year low -- on the BSE. Shares of Adani Ports tanked 10 per cent, Adani Transmission (10 per cent), Adani Green Energy (10 per cent), Adani Power (5 per cent), Adani Total Gas (5 per cent), Adani Wilmar (4.99 per cent), NDTV (4.98 per cent), ACC (4.24 per cent) and Ambuja Cements (3 per cent).
Heavyweights such as Coal India, L&T and SBI ran up losses, taking cues from overseas markets.
The NSE Nifty gained 77.85 points, or 0.71 per cent, to finish at 11,008.30. Intra-day, it shuttled between 10,821.55 and 11,035.65.
Shares of most of the Adani group firms ended lower on Monday, a day after it released a 413-page response to allegations of wrongdoing brought by a US-based short seller Hindenburg Research.
The 50-share Nifty bounced 83.35 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 9,794.15 at close.
The broader Nifty also slipped from record by falling 33.15 points at 10,081.50 as investors booked profits.
Most of the Adani Group companies fell in the morning trade on Friday and flagship Adani Enterprises tumbled 10 per cent after index provider MSCI decided to reduce the weightage of four firms in its indices following a review. Amid volatile trading in the market, seven Adani Group firms were in the negative territory while three others were in the green. Adani Enterprises plunged 10 per cent to Rs 1,734.60 per share, its lower price band on the BSE, and the company's market valuation dropped to Rs 2.14 lakh crore.
Financial index provider MSCI on Thursday said that it is reviewing the free float status of some Adani Group securities after market participants flagged concerns over eligibility of some of the group firms' securities for its indexes. MSCI defines the free float of a security as the proportion of shares outstanding that is considered available for purchase in the public equity markets by international investors. In a statement, the index provider said that it has received feedback from a range of market participants concerning the eligibility and free float determination of specific securities associated with the Adani Group for the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes.
The combined market-cap of all listed Adani group firms has plunged nearly Rs 7.11 trillion since January 24 when the Hindenburg report was made public.
The NSE Nifty too recovered over 100 points, or 0.96 per cent, to end at 10,576.85.
Nifty has a virtual monopoly in the index derivatives segment.
The ongoing corporate results and the Union budget are also making participants tread cautiously though the GST agreement provided some relief.
Investors took comfort from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's statement, who underlined the need to have globally compatible tax rates to broad-base the economy