JSW Infra acquires PNP Port, M & M Financial Services sees 16% disbursement growth

Opening Bell:

Gift Nifty is down by 48.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.

Asian markets faced losses on Tuesday after Wall Street indices fell overnight, alongside various economic data releases in the region. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped by 0.67%, with the Topix seeing a slight decline. South Korea’s Kospi fell by 0.55%, and the Kosdaq decreased by 0.62%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures hinted at a slightly stronger opening.

US stocks ended lower on Monday, interrupting last week’s rally, as investors turned cautious ahead of employment data due this week that could alter expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates early next year. The S&P 500 receded, with megacaps Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia and Amazon dipping over 1%, pressured by higher US Treasury yields, which made returns on stocks less attractive. The S&P 500 declined 0.54%. The Nasdaq declined 0.84%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.11          .

European markets closed higher Thursday, rounding off a bumper month as investors assessed euro zone inflation data that suggests pressures from rising prices are easing. The regional Stoxx 600 closed up 0.5% at a 10-week high.

Stocks News:

👉 HCL Tech: HCL Investments UK, the step-down wholly-owned subsidiary of HCL Technologies, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with its joint venture partner, State Street International Holdings, for selling the entire 49% equity stake in the JV to State Street for $170 million, plus net book value.

👉 Honasa Consumer: Fireside Ventures Investment Fund, a venture capital fund, is looking to divest 1.9% stake in Honasa Consumer, the parent company of beauty and personal care products brand Mamaearth, through block deals on Tuesday. The floor price has been fixed at ₹368.7-384.1 per share, a discount of up to 4% on the prevailing market price.

👉 JSW Infra: JSW Infrastructure, part of the JSW Group, has acquired a stake in PNP Maritime Services (PNP Port) in Maharashtra’s Raigad through its subsidiary, JSW Dharamtar Port. The estimated enterprise value of PNP Port is around ₹700 crore.

👉 Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services: Estimated overall disbursement were at ₹5,300 crore in November, an increase of 16% year-on-year. Disbursements for April–November were at about ₹36,000 crore, also up 16% on year. Collection efficiency was at 94% for November, against 96% in the year-ago period.

👉 Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 2,073.21 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased Rs 4,797.15 crore worth of stocks on December 4, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed.          

Domestic and International Events

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in the Lok Sabha that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection has consistently increased on an annual basis since its introduction on July 1, 2017. The average monthly GST collection for the current fiscal is Rs 1.66 lakh crore, marking an 11% increase over the same period in the previous financial year
  
• South Korea’s inflation eased in November, a relief for policymakers concerned about persistent inflation risks. The Consumer Price Index rose 3.3%, down from October’s 3.8%. This drop, below the expected 3.7%, marked the first monthly decrease since November 2022, with the sharpest decline since October 2020. A core measure, excluding volatile elements like fuel and food, also slowed to 3.0%, the lowest since March 2022.
  
• Oil prices fell on Monday on concern about a drop in demand and on continued uncertainty about the depth and duration of OPEC+ supply cuts. Brent crude futures settled down 85 cents, or 1.08%, at $78.03 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures finished down $1.03, or 1.39%, at $73.04.
  
• Gold dropped over 2% after reaching a record high on Monday. Despite this, it stayed above $2,000 an ounce as traders reduced expectations for the US Federal Reserve’s first rate cut in early 2024. By 2:31pm ET, spot gold fell 2.1% to $2,026.69 per ounce, on track for its worst day since February. US gold futures closed 2.3% lower at $2,042.20.

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