Market Closing of 19-May-2021

Nifty50: 15,030 ▼ 77 (-0.5%)
Sensex: 49,902 ▼ 290 (-0.5%)

The markets opened weak, and after some initial buying, the benchmark indices witnessed selling pressure all day. Of the Nifty50 stocks, 27 closed in the red. 

The Nifty Realty (+2.1%) and Nifty Media (+2.0%) indices witnessed the strongest gains, while Financial Services (-0.9%) and Metal (-0.9%) indices were the weakest today.

Here are the top stories of the day.

Adani Green to acquire SB Energy

• Adani Green Energy has signed an agreement to fully acquire SB Energy India, which has a 5 GW renewable energy portfolio. This acquisition at an enterprise value of $3.5 billion (~₹26,000 crores) is reportedly the largest M&A transaction in the renewable energy sector in India.
• SB Energy India is an 80:20 joint venture between Japan-based SoftBank and Bharti Group. With this acquisition, Adani Green will achieve a total renewable capacity of 24.3 GW and an operating renewable capacity of 4.9 GW. Shares of Adani Green rose 3.5% today and have gained about 22% this month.

Jyothy Labs posts stable quarter

• The Mumbai-based FMCG company reported a 26% YoY jump in its Q4 revenue from operations, which stood at ₹495 crores. Revenue from the flagship fabric care segment rose about 16%. However, the top line was boosted by the dishwashing and household insecticide segments, which grew over 30% each.
• Meanwhile, profit after tax rose 2.6% YoY to ₹27 crores. Profit growth remained muted because of a ₹23.5 crore write-off of excise duty receivable for previous years, which is an exceptional item. The stock was down 4% today and has been trading flat so far this month.

Domestic air traffic drops in April

• Domestic airlines carried a total of about 57 lakh passengers in April, a drop of 27% MoM. In April 2020, flight operations were suspended due to Covid. 
• The average seat occupancy of market leader Indigo dropped from 66% to 58% and that of Spicejet fell from 76% to 70%. However, with a steady decline in new cases, both stocks witnessed buying interest this month. So far this month, shares of Indigo have gained about 2.4% and Spicejet is up 20%.

NBFCs stare at rising defaults 

• The second wave has been harsher on NBFCs. Reports suggest that non-banking lenders have seen a 50% rise in customers missing payments in the first half of May. 
• Most NBFCs have been forced to stop door-to-door collections after a rise in collection agents succumbing to Covid. This has resulted in a drop in collection efficiency during April and May. Some of the top NBFCs like Bajaj Finance (-1.2%), Muthoot Finance (-0.5%) and Shriram Transport Finance (-2.5%) ended weak today.