News
Rupee’s Tug-of-War: Dollar Dominance vs RBI’s Defense
The Reserve Bank of India’s interventions to prop up the rupee are running into turbulence, with both local and global pressures testing its resolve. Friday’s 0.1% gain for the rupee—fueled by suspected central bank interventions and possible inflows—was a glimmer of hope. Early indicators from the 1-month non-deliverable forward suggest the rupee will open around 84.82-84.83 per dollar, a hair weaker than Friday’s close of 84.7875. This week, all eyes are on the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday meeting. A quarter-point rate cut seems locked in, but the focus will be on the Fed’s tone for 2025. The rupee’s immediate future looks like a wrestling match between RBI’s defense and a rising U.S. dollar, with inflation and Fed signals playing referee.
HBL Power Systems Rockets to New Highs
Monday marked a major milestone for HBL Power Systems, as its stock surged 6.5% intraday, hitting ₹739.65. The buzz? A ₹1,522.40 crore order from Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for their cutting-edge KAVACH Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)—a tech designed to make train travel safer and smarter. With India’s government pumping a record ₹2,62,200 crore into rail upgrades for 2024-25, safety and tech investments like KAVACH are at the forefront. HBL is a big telecom battery manufacturer with a deep research base. This isn’t just momentum. It’s a mix of strategy and timing. With its diversified portfolio—spanning batteries, electronics, and defense—HBL is well-positioned to ride the wave of India’s infrastructure push. For investors, the takeaway is clear: HBL is thriving in a market that values innovation and foresight.
PC Jeweller is making bold moves to stay on the radar of both institutional and retail players.
PC Jeweller shares took center stage today as they traded ex-date for a 1:10 stock split, an eagerly anticipated move designed to boost liquidity and make the stock more appealing to retail investors. The split transforms each ₹10 face-value share into 10 shares of ₹1 each, reshaping the stock’s accessibility. Adding to the excitement, the company has secured board approval for a preferential issuance of over 51 million shares to major lenders like SBI, PNB, Axis Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. PC Jeweller’s stock has been a superstar in 2024, with a jaw-dropping 247% gain year-to-date. It’s currently trading around ₹175, just shy of its 52-week high of ₹186.80 and miles above its ₹32.27 low. This remarkable rally speaks volumes about investor confidence in the company’s strategic maneuvers.
Dhanlaxmi Crop Science IPO: A Blockbuster Start
Dhanlaxmi Crop Science shares opened at ₹104.5. It indicates a considerable 90% gain as it starts from ₹55. The company offered 43.28 lakh new shares, reducing promoter holding from 76.7% to 56.3%, signaling a solid commitment to market participation. The IPO was a roaring success, retail investors came in hot, oversubscribing by 441 times, while non-institutional investors (NIIs) went even bigger with 1,241 times the demand. Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) weren’t far behind, bidding nearly 198 times their allocated shares. Dhanlaxmi’s stellar debut doesn’t just showcase strong demand—it sets a high bar for SME IPOs and positions the company as one to watch in the agri-solutions space.
Premier Explosives Soars on Joint Venture Deal in Defence & Aerospace
Premier Explosives shares shot up by a solid 10% upper circuit to ₹567 in early trading on Monday, December 16, the company has signed an MoU with Global Munition Limited, a subsidiary of NIBE Ordnance and Maritime, to create a joint venture focused on defence and aerospace manufacturing. In another significant move, Premier Explosives bagged a substantial ₹89.20 crore order from Singareni Collieries for supplying a range of explosives and accessories over the next two years. Premier Explosives is deeply embedded in India’s defence and space initiatives, producing solid propellants for missiles like Astra, Akash, and Agni, along with pyrotechnic devices and countermeasures. Its contributions to ISRO are equally notable, as it supplies key materials for satellite launch vehicles.
2024 Market – Mid & Small Caps Outshine Despite Global Factors
As 2024 nears its close, the market has delivered a solid 20% return, but it’s been the mid and small-cap stocks that have really shone this year. Midcaps have surged 28% while small caps have seen even stronger growth, climbing 31%, outpacing the more conservative large-cap returns of 17%. Between January and September, the market saw strong rallies driven by expectations surrounding corporate earnings, national election results, and the budget, all of which helped lift valuations. However, by the end of September 2024, the tide started to turn. Corporate earnings growth, which had been slowing since June, began to show signs of weakness, raising red flags about potential structural issues within India’s economy. The FIIs’ selling spree, which reached a peak between October and November, was exacerbated by the Yen Carry Trade issue. With interest rates rising in Japan, the lucrative short-term bets in Indian equities became less attractive. One key area to keep an eye on is India’s valuations, which remain above the long-term average. Investors will need to be selective and strategic about which themes and stocks to hold onto as the market enters 2025.
Vedanta Declares ₹8.5 Dividend Amid Positive Rating Upgrade
Vedanta Limited is keeping its shareholders happy with another dividend payout. On December 16, the company approved an interim dividend of ₹8.5 per equity share for FY25, marking its fourth such payout this financial year. The total payout comes to ₹3,324 crore, signaling the company’s solid cash flow and commitment to rewarding investors. But it’s not just the dividend that’s boosting Vedanta’s standing. The company also received a positive update from India Ratings & Research, which upgraded its non-convertible debentures (NCDs) rating to IND AA-. India Ratings attributed the upgrade to Vedanta’s reduced refinancing risk on USD bonds, thanks to recent overseas fund-raising efforts. This is expected to ease liquidity concerns and improve Vedanta’s financial flexibility moving forward. All in all, it’s a good day for Vedanta, with both a generous dividend and a stronger credit outlook.
Vikas Lifecare’s Strategic DRDO
Vikas Lifecare Limited (VLL), a penny stock that often flies under the radar, is catching some attention with a 6% jump in its share price on December 16. The company has entered into a Technology Transfer Agreement with DRDO’s Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), focusing on the production of biodegradable granules that could replace traditional polyethylene bags. Despite a decline in net profit in Q2 FY25 (down 67.35% YoY), Vikas Lifecare saw a solid 16.25% growth in sales, hitting ₹134.88 crore—showing resilience even as profits took a hit. If the biodegradable plastics initiative pays off, it could position Vikas Lifecare as a serious player in the green tech space, a trend that could sustain its stock growth long term.
Overview
As the year nears its end, analysts and experts are keenly watching the index’s potential movement and overall market sentiment. Meanwhile, Indian stock markets have seen a solid rebound, logging their fourth consecutive weekly gain. The recovery was marked by volatility, as markets briefly dipped below 24,200 before swiftly rebounding to close at 24,768, a modest weekly gain of 0.37 per cent. The resurgence was fueled by value buying in battered stocks, easing inflation, and resilience in key sectors.
The benchmark indices—the NSE Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex—have rebounded nearly 3 per cent from their recent lows, driven by broad-based buying that lifted over 40 Nifty stocks. The Nifty 50 climbed 0.89 per cent to 24,768.3, while the Sensex rose 1.04 per cent to 82,133.12. For the week, the Sensex gained 623.07 points or 0.76 per cent, while the Nifty added 90.5 points or 0.36 per cent. Despite this recovery, the blue-chip stocks remain about 5.5 per cent below their record highs from late September after slipping into correction territory in early November.
Across the globe, US stocks also saw slight gains on Monday, as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s final rate decision of the year, expected on Wednesday. The S&P 500 was up 0.3 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5 per cent.
Commodity markets showed mixed results, with oil futures slipping due to concerns over weak consumer spending in China, while gold prices rose, supported by ongoing geopolitical tensions and lower Treasury yields.
The market’s attention now turns to key data and decisions this week, with the US Federal Reserve’s rate decision and important economic indicators expected to influence global market movements.