Business News at 10:00 am on 17th June, 2024

Let’s begin… The share price of Vodafone Idea jumps 2% to intra-day high of Rs 16.38 after the company announced plans to raise up to Rs 2,458 crore through a preferential share issue to its European equipment vendors Nokia and Ericsson. This move aims to clear a portion of their pending dues and support the telco’s expansion of 4G services and rollout of 5G technology. VIL’s board of directors approved a preferential allotment of 1.66 billion equity shares at Rs 14.80 per share. Nokia of Finland will invest up to Rs 1,520 crore, while Ericsson of Sweden will invest up to Rs 938 crore. The issue price represents a 35% premium over the April follow-on offer price of Rs 11 per share and includes a six-month lock-in period.

Moving on, Shares of sugar companies rallied up to 15% over two days following reports that the central government is considering raising the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar for the upcoming 2024-25 season, starting October 1, 2024. Prominent sugar stocks that caught investors’ attention included Shree Renuka, which rose by 11.62%, Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar up by 15.03%, Dhampur Sugar Mills increasing by 6.70%, KCP Sugar and Industries Corp surging by 15.31%, and Dwarikesh Sugar Industries up by 7.91%. Other notable gains were seen in Balrampur Chini, which climbed 3.92%, Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries up by 7.28%, Magadh Sugar & Energy increasing by 8.08%, Rana Sugars rising by 8.37%, and Mawana Sugars, which jumped by 13.78%.

Furthermore, Defence stocks are on a winning spree on Friday, June 14, after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that his primary goal is to enhance the country’s security, achieve self-reliance in defence manufacturing, and ensure the welfare of both serving and retired soldiers. Singh emphasised that, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ministry aims to strengthen India’s security apparatus further. Increasing India’s defence exports by a large margin is one of Singh’s top priorities. The defence sector exported goods worth a record Rs 21,083 crore in the fiscal year 2023–2024. Singh has set an ambitious goal to raise this amount to more than Rs 50,000 crore by 2028–2029, which demonstrates the government’s determination to establish India as a leader in the world of defence.

Additionally, The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has announced comprehensive reforms aimed at enhancing the overall customer experience in the life insurance sector. Detailed in the newly-released Master Circular on Life Insurance Products, these reforms focus on increasing transparency, accessibility, and policyholder satisfaction. One of the most significant changes is the simplification of the Customer Information Sheet (CIS). This updated CIS format presents complex policy details in clear, understandable language, ensuring that customers can fully comprehend their policy benefits, exclusions, and other critical information. This initiative is expected to lead to more informed decision-making and higher customer satisfaction. Additionally, the IRDAI has extended the free look period, allowing policyholders more time to review and potentially cancel their policy without penalty.

Moving to economy, India’s wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation accelerated for the third consecutive month to 2.61 percent in May, primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, manufacturing of food products, crude petroleum and natural gas, mineral oils, and other manufacturing, said the provisional data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. In April, WPi inflation was at 1.26 per cent on increase in prices of food articles, electricity, crude petroleum & natural gas, etc. The month over month change in WPI index for the month of May 2024 stood at 0.20 per cent as compared to April 2024. The rate of inflation based on WPI Food Index increased from 5.52 per cent in April 2024 to 7.40 per cent in May 2024, the data showed.

Furthermore, Jindal Stainless Limited on Friday announced that its board has approved the acquisition of the remaining 46 per cent stake in Chromeni Steels. The acquisition is carried out for a cash consideration of Rs 277.90 crore, which included Rs 188.19 crore towards equity purchase and Rs 89.71 crore towards CSPL’s debt. CSPL has a cold rolling mill located in Mundra, Gujarat, with a capacity of approximately 0.6 MTPA. The earlier acquisition of 54% equity stake of Chromeni Steels was to enable Jindal Stainless to increase its cold rolled capacity in its product mix which will strengthen the company’s presence in the value-added segment in the long term. Now, the remaining 46% acquisition will further help in better control, uniformity of policies and greater synergies between the two companies.

Lastly, The benchmark equity indices closed the trading session on a positive note on June 14. The BSE Sensex gained 139 points or 0.18% to finish the day’s trading at 76,949.49, while the NSE Nifty 50 closed 55 points or 0.24% higher at 23,453.90. Nifty Midcap 100 closed 527.30 points or 0.96% at 55,179.55. Bank Nifty closed in the green up 133.80 points or 0.27% at 49,980.50. Eicher Motors, Adani Ports & SEZ, M&M, Shriram Finance, and Titan were the top gainers in the Nifty 50. While Tech Mahindra, TCS, Wipro, HCL Tech, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major losers in the Nifty 50 on June 14.