Zomato’s Block Deal, Tata Power’s Renewable Energy Win, PCBL’s Acquisition

Opening Bell:

Gift Nifty is up by 26.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.

Asia-Pacific markets are  lower opening as investors react to US Federal Reserve comments and anticipate Australia’s October inflation figures. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 continued its climb, gaining 0.27%, anticipating the upcoming inflation report. However, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipped by 0.29%, the Topix by 0.14%, and South Korea’s Kospi fell by 0.23% after reaching a two-month high. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures at 17,327 indicate a weaker start compared to the previous close at 17,354.14.

Stocks climbed on Tuesday, continuing November’s rally, buoyed by comments from a Federal Reserve official suggesting a possible pause in interest rate hikes. The Dow Jones rose 0.24%, the S&P 500 edged up 0.10%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.29. Fed Governor Christopher Waller’s optimistic remarks hinted at the current policy’s effectiveness in managing the economy and targeting 2% inflation. Markets anticipate the Federal Open Market Committee to maintain its key lending rate during its meeting on Dec. 12-13.

European markets closed lower Tuesday, as the lackluster sentiment seen at the start of the week continued in the region and beyond. The Stoxx 600 provisionally closed down with most sectors in the red, as the steady momentum that has powered the index’s best month since January stalled.

Stocks News:

👉 Zomato Ltd: Ant Group’s payments platform Alipay is set to offload shares of Zomato Ltd in a $395 million block deal on Wednesday, according to a term sheet reviewed by Mint. Alipay’s share sale follows a partial stake sale by Softbank Group in the food delivery aggregator last month where the Japanese investor sold 1.1% stake for ₹1,200 crore. Alipay is selling 296 million shares in the online food delivery company and expects to raise ₹3,290 crore.

👉 Tata Power Company: Subsidiary Tata Power Renewable Energy has received a Letter of Award (LOA) for developing a 200 MW firm and dispatchable renewable energy (FDRE) project with SJVN. The installation of the said project will offset ~9 lakh metric tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

👉 PCBL Ltd: RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group’s PCBL Ltd has agreed to acquire 100% stake in Pune-based Aquapharm Chemicals Pvt. Ltd for ₹3,800 crore, beating rivals Dorf Ketal and Tata Chemicals Ltd. The acquisition will give PCBL, among the largest manufacturers of carbon black material in India, a crucial foothold in the specialty segments of water treatment chemicals and oil and gas chemicals.

👉 BHEL signed a deal with Electricité de France to explore the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant Project in Maharashtra. This joint project between India and France aims to generate 9.6 gigawatts of electricity, potentially powering 70 million households.   

👉 Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 783.82 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased Rs 1,324.98 crore worth of stocks on November 28, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed.       

Domestic and International Events

• In November, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have surged around Rs 12,400 crore into India’s debt markets, marking the highest inflow in over two years. The attractive yields in India’s debt market, coupled with the inclusion of Indian G-Sec in the JP Morgan Government Bond Index Emerging Markets, have fueled foreign fund interest. Throughout 2023, FPIs have shown bullishness in Indian debt, with net investments totaling Rs 47,900 crore this calendar year, except for a pullout in March. The latest influx surpasses the previous high in September 2021, reaching Rs 12,400 crore.

• The US Treasuries extended their rally and the yields dropped, while the dollar weakened on speculation the Federal Reserve is done with interest-rate hikes and will be able to ease policy next year. The yield on the benchmark US 10-year Treasury note on Tuesday fell 2 basis points to 4.31%, while that on the 30-year bond eased by 2 bps to 4.499%. The two-year US Treasury yield dropped 16 basis points to around 4.72%.

• Oil prices jumped over 2% on Tuesday amid expectations that OPEC+ would extend and deepen output cuts due to global demand worries. Brent crude rose by $2.07 (2.59%) to $82.05 a barrel, and U.S. WTI crude gained $2.03 (2.71%) to $76.89, ahead of the OPEC+ ministerial meeting on Thursday.

• Gold prices steadied near the highest level since May, with recent strength fueled by a slump in Treasury yields, Reuters reported. MCX gold price hit their all-time high on Tuesday as it surged to ₹62,670 per 10 grams.     

Key Equity Indices