In the centre of an ownership battle with Adani Group, New Delhi Television (NDTV) can prevent a takeover by the group if it can buy more shares from public shareholders, corporate lawyers told Business Standard. On Tuesday, the media arm of Adani Group said it had exercised rights to acquire an indirect stake of 29.18 per cent in NDTV through conversion of loans into equity in a promoter group entity of NDTV. This will trigger a mandatory open offer for an additional 26 per cent stake in NDTV, even as the broadcaster said its founder promoters had neither consented to the exercise of rights nor was any conversation or input given on the matter.
Late selling in realty, PSU and infrastructure stocks mainly dragged the market from early highs.
Mutual funds (MFs) are set to be net sellers of Indian equities for the first time in the past seven financial years, having sold stocks worth about Rs 1.27 trillion so far in 2020-21 (FY21), making it the highest net sales on record in a financial year. MFs had been net buyers in the previous six financial years, including purchases of over Rs 1.41 trillion in FY18, Rs 88,152 crore in FY19, and Rs 91,814 crore in FY20. The last time they offloaded Indian equities was in FY14, when they net sold stocks worth Rs 21,159 crore. In contrast, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have ramped up buying in FY21, purchasing more than Rs 2.6 trillion worth of shares.
Appreciating rupee against the dollar and fresh buying by domestic institutional investors added to the momentum
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has introduced an optional T+1 settlement cycle for the markets. T+1 means that settlements will have to be cleared within one day of the actual transactions taking place. The regulator has put the onus on the stock exchanges to decide whether they want to opt for the shorter settlement cycle for any of the listed scrips. This can be done after giving a one-month prior notice to all stakeholders.
Global funds have pumped in over Rs 38,000 crore (about $5.5 billion) into domestic equities since February 20, helping the Sensex rebound 2,671 points, or 7.6 per cent, from its 2019 low.
The local currency had surged 18 paise to 63.64 in Thursday's trade.
Investments in Indian capital market through participatory notes (P-notes) dropped to Rs 94,826 crore till November-end after hitting 43-month high in the preceding month. P-notes are issued by registered foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to overseas investors who wish to be a part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly. They, however, need to go through a due diligence process.
The biggest gainers on both the bourses were Reliance Industries, Infosys, NTPC, ONGC, HUL, PowerGrid, Asian Paints, ITC and HCL Tech, rising up to 2 per cent.
Both the indices closed at five-month highs, led by financial services, IT and metal stocks, amid persistent foreign fund inflows.
The move will increase working capital requirement for brokers, raise the work load on the system and will leave little room for contingencies.
Domestic markets are also aided by a rally in the global markets with US market surging to record high and a firming trend at other Asian bourses.
The broader Nifty declined by 73.90 points, or 0.71 per cent, to end at 10,378.40.
The mid-cap index fell while small-cap advanced.
For the 50-share NSE Nifty, the close came in at 10,739.35, higher by 47.05 points, or 0.44 per cent
The auction follows aggregate overseas investments in government debt securities yesterday reaching Rs 1,21,271 crore (Rs 1,212.71 billion), which is 97.46 per cent of total permitted limit of Rs 1,24,432 crore (Rs 1,244.32 billion).
Among the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance emerged as the biggest gainer by climbing 2.95 per cent. Tata Motors, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Maruti, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel were the other major winners. HCL Technologies, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra and Titan were among the laggards.
India's weight in the emerging market portfolios of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) has risen by about 100 basis points in June to 7.96 per cent as compared to May.
French energy giant TotalEnergies SE on Monday said it will make no new financial contribution as part of its investments in Adani group companies till the Indian firm's founder is cleared of bribery charges. The energy giant said it was not aware of the investigation into the alleged corruption. TotalEnergies is one of the biggest foreign investors in billionaire Gautam Adani's business empire and had previously taken stakes in the group's renewable energy venture Adani Green Energy Ltd (AEGL) and city gas unit Adani Total Gas Ltd (ATGL).
Every Rs 1-cr FII inflow has coincided with a Rs 11-cr investor wealth erosion.
Companies spent less money buying back their shares from the public last year than at any time since 2015. They announced buybacks of up to Rs 14,341 crore, show numbers from primary market tracker Prime Database. The total amount spent was Rs 13,597 crore. Both the amounts are lower than what was offered (Rs 39,564 crore) and spent (Rs 36,517 crore) in 2020.
A complex holding structure and unrelated businesses clubbed under one roof could have been the reasons that prompted investors to shun the stock, experts say. These are likely to impact the company's ability to raise funds, too, they add.
The NSE Nifty too breached the 11,500-level with a jump of 145.30 points.
Among sectoral indices, telecom led the chart, spurting 3.08 per cent, followed by oil and gas.
Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman said the drive against tax evasion is an ongoing process and the government has taken various steps under a multi-pronged strategy to deal with the issue of black money.
Weakness in the rupee against the US dollar also weighed on domestic stocks. The local unit fell 11 paise to 70.60 against the US dollar intra-day.
Yes Bank, Wipro, Kotak Bank, M&M, Sun Pharma, Maruti, HDFC, Hero MotoCorp, Infosys, TCS, L&T, Bajaj Auto and HUL were among the top gainers, rising up to 6 per cent.
Even though option to invest as a company is available, many FPIs have chosen trust route to enjoy less tax or zero tax through tax havens such as the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg.
