D-Street indices jump; some Adani stocks end in green

Mumbai: India's key equity indices jumped in a late surge on Friday as a rebound in bank shares coupled with recovery in some Adani Group stocks assuaged investors. Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL), the conglomerate's flagship entity, zoomed as much as 65% from the day's low in an unprecedented bounce after Fitch Ratings said there would be no immediate impact on the ratings of Adani entities and their securities rated by it. Six of the 10 Adani stocks however extended losses, resulting in the group losing another ₹32,000 crore in market capitalisation on Friday and ₹9.11 lakh crore since US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research released an adverse report January 24.

The Sensex closed at 60,841.88, up 909.64 points or 1.52% from the previous close. The Nifty advanced 1.4%, or 243.65 points, to end at 17,854.05. For the week, the Sensex rose 2.5% - the highest weekly gain in 27 weeks, while the Nifty advanced 1.4% - the highest weekly gain in six weeks.
"This week was very tough for the Indian markets with so many events but the markets appear to have started absorbing a lot of bad news, especially surrounding the Adani Group," said B Gopkumar, MD and CEO of Axis Securities.


Adani Enterprises ended at ₹1,584.20 on the BSE, up 1.25%. On the NSE, the stock ended at ₹1,531, down 2.2%. The stock, which had fallen as much as 35% earlier in the day, ended 57% above the day's low of Rs 1,017.45 - a level last seen on March 31, 2021.

Drop in Fear Gauge
Adani Ports gained 8% to close at Rs 498.85. Ambuja Cements surged 6% to Rs 373.70. ACC rose 4.39% to close at Rs 1,926.30.

Other Adani stocks extended their losing run. Trading in Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission stopped after hitting the 10% lower circuit barrier. Adani Total Gas, Adani Wilmar, Adani Power and NDTV were also locked-at a 5% lower circuit.

Rating agency Moody's said its immediate focus is primarily on assessing the rated entities' overall financial flexibility, including their liquidity position and access to funding to support refinancing and ongoing growth initiatives in the wake of the "significant and rapid decline" in stock prices.

Adani Total Gas, Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission have plunged 50-58% since last Tuesday. Adani Wilmar, Adani Power, and Adani Ports lost a little over 30%.

"Nevertheless, these adverse developments are likely to reduce the group's ability to raise capital to fund committed capex or refinance maturing debt over the next one-two years," said a Moody's statement on Friday. "We recognise that a portion of the capex is deferrable, and the rated entities do not have significant maturing debt until FY2025."