Business News at 05:30 pm on 28th June, 2024

Let’s begin… India, the fifth largest equity market in the world, has added more than $1 trillion to its market capitalization over the last six months. The relentless rally in stocks has propelled frontline indices to fresh record highs and given a boost to participation. Since the beginning of 2024, the combined market capitalization of companies listed on Indian bourses has surged by 24.5% to $5.23 trillion. In contrast, the second-largest market, China, saw a $1.06 trillion erosion in market capitalization during the same period. Data reveals that while the Japanese market remained almost flat over the last six months, the fourth largest market, Hong Kong, added just $428 billion. In absolute terms, the Indian market has never seen an increase of this magnitude except in 2007.

Moving on, Shares of Central Depository Services rallied almost 16% to a fresh 52-week high of Rs 2,324.80 after the company announced to consider issuance of bonus shares on July 02. The board of directors will meet on July 02 to consider and approve the aforementioned issuance. The stock of CDSL gave a return of 14.5% in the last five days and it has risen 26% in the last six months. The depository stock has raised the investors’ wealth by almost 27% from year to date. It has risen over 107% in the past year. To compare, the benchmark index, Nifty 50, has risen 2.7% in the last five days. The index has given a return of more than 10% in the last six months.

Furthermore, Shares of Reliance Industries gained over 2% to record highs of Rs 3,129.85 on the following news Reliance Jio announced on Thursday, June 27, a tariff hike of 12% to 25% on its prepaid and postpaid plans, marking the first price increase in two and a half years. Extending the bull trend for the fourth straight session, Reliance’s share price today opened upside at Rs 3,062.05 apiece on NSE and surged to an intraday high of Rs 3,129.85 per share, bettering its previous peak of Rs 3,075 per share, made on Thursday. While climbing to this new peak, Reliance shares touched a new high for the third straight session. Reliance Industries Limited’s subsidiary has increased the prices of its existing plans, ranging from monthly to annual.

Aditionally, Public sector bank Punjab National Bank has enhanced the insurance coverage and other benefits for all serving personnel of the Indian Army under its flagship scheme – “PNB Rakshak Plus”. The country’s leading public sector bank’s move to enhance such benefits, aimed at further strengthening its support to the armed forces, came into effect from April 1, 2024. The addendum to the existing MoU was signed by PNB Chief General Manager Sunil Agrawal and Major General V K Purohit, AVSM, YSM, SM, Additional Director General Personal Services. Under the addendum as part of a revised MoU, personnel of the Indian Army will now receive Air Accidental Insurance coverage of Rs 1.5 crore, and Personal Accident Insurance and coverage for total or partial disability of Rs 1 crore.

Moving on, FMCG major ITC Ltd, in its annual report for FY24, announced that its businesses have achieved over 50 per cent of the conglomerate’s renewable energy target during the year. With this, it added, ITC has already met its 2030 commitment of achieving 50 per cent renewable energy share in FY24 itself, seven years in advance. ITC has made a commitment to reduce dependence on energy from fossil fuels and accordingly, all its factories have incorporated appropriate green features and premium luxury hotels, and office complexes continue to be certified at the highest level by either the US Green Building Council (USGBC) or Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), it said.

Next up, Gautam Adani-owned Ambuja Cements announced that its board has approved the merger with Adani Cementation Ltd, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises. As part of the scheme, Adani Cementation will be merged with Ambuja Cements, while Adani Cement Industries will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ambuja Cements. “We wish to inform that the Board of Directors of Ambuja Cements Limited (Transferee Company or Company) in its meeting held today i.e. 27th June 2024 considered and approved the proposed Scheme of Amalgamation of Adani Cementation Limited (Transferor Company) with the Company and their respective shareholders (proposed Scheme),” the company said in a regulatory filing. The proposed scheme, the company said, will consolidate cement capacity within the group to bring synergistic benefits for all stakeholders.

Lastly, The benchmark equity indices closed the trading session on a negative note on June 28. The BSE Sensex fell 230 points or 0.29% to finish the day’s trading at 79,014, while the NSE Nifty 50 closed 35 points or 0.15% lower at 24,009. Bank Nifty closed in the red down 490 points or 0.93% at 52,320.40. Bucking the trend, Nifty Midcap 100 closed 305 points or 0.55% higher at 55,729. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, ONGC, Reliance Industries, SBI Life Insurance, and Tata Motors were the top gainers in the Nifty 50. While Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and IndusInd Bank were the major losers in the Nifty 50 on June 28.