After opening the day on a negative note, Indian share markets continued their downtrend as the session progressed and ended lower.

Benchmark indices were dragged down by IT services companies, after a strong US jobs report renewed fears that the Federal Reserve was likely to continue with aggressive rate hikes for longer.

An ongoing selloff in Adani group stocks further added to the pressure.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 335 points (down 0.6%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 90 points (down 0.5%).

Adani Ports, BPCL, and Apollo Hospital were among the top gainers today.

Divis Laboratories, JSW Steel, and Hindalco on the other hand were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,761, down by 79 points, at the time of writing.

Broader markets settled on a positive note. The BSE Midcap ended 0.8% higher while the BSE SmallCap index rose 0.5%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the telecom sector, FMCG sector, and realty sector witnessing buying.

While stocks in the power sector, IT sector, and metal sector witnessed selling.

Shares of Zydus Lifesciences, Jindal Saw, and ITC hit their 52-week highs today.

Asian share markets ended the day on a mixed note. The Hang Seng fell 2%, while the Shanghai Composite index ended 0.8% lower. The Nikkei edged 0.7% higher.

US stock futures are trading on a negative note. Dow futures are trading down by 0.6% and Nasdaq futures are trading down by 1.1%.

The rupee is trading at 82.75 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading higher by 0.9% at Rs 57,074 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.4% at Rs 67,845 per kg.
 

Adani Group promoters prepay US$1.1 billion loan: report

Reportedly, Adani Group promoters have prepaid share-backed loans worth US$1.1 billion on Monday, 19 months ahead of their maturity in September 2024.

The prepayment will release the pledge from three group companies, Adani Ports, Adani Green Energy, and Adani Transmission.

The company attributed this step to the continuation of the promoters' commitment to reducing the overall promoter leverage in light of the recent market volatility.

The prepayment would result in the release of 168.27 million (m) pledged shares of Adani Ports & SEZ or 12% of the promoter holdings.

Besides Adani Ports, 11.77 m shares, or 1.4% of the overall promoter holding of Adani Transmission, and 27.56 m shares, or 3% of promoter holding in Adani Green Energy will also be released from the pledge.

In its report dated 24 January 2023, Hindenburg Research accused the group of 'stock price manipulation by using shares as collateral'. In a 413-page rebuttal, Adani group denied all the charges.

It remains to be seen how the Adani vs Hindenburg battle pans out.
 

Varun Beverages declares interim dividend

Moving on to news from the FMCG sector, shares of Varun Beverages jumped 5.8% today.

This comes on the back of a 27.7% YoY rise in revenue to Rs 22.1 bn for the December 2022 quarter. It was due to growth in realization per unit through strategic measures.

The company reported a 150.2% YoY rise in net profit to Rs 815.2 m.

Net realization increased by 6% to Rs 164 primarily due to price hikes in select SKUs, rationalized discounts/incentives, and improvement in the mix of smaller SKUs especially the energy drink - Sting, which has a higher net realization.

Total sales volumes grew by 17.8% YoY to 132 m cases compared with 112 m cases a year back.

On a full-year basis, Varun Beverages' net profit surged 107.8% YoY to Rs 15.5 bn on a 49.3% YoY jump in revenue to Rs 131.7 bn. The growth in the profit was mainly driven by high growth in revenue from operations, improvement in margins, and transition to a lower tax rate in India.

Looking forward, it aims to further strengthen our position as a key player in the beverage industry by leveraging our strong presence in fast-growing markets, solid infrastructure, and well-established distribution network.

Meanwhile, the company's board has recommended a final dividend of Re 1 per equity share for the financial year ending 31 December 2022.

It is a Part of RJ Corp group, a diversified business conglomerate with interests in beverages, quick-service restaurants, dairy, and healthcare

In January 2023, shares of the company saw a steep decline of 13%. 

Indian Oil Corporation to partner LanzaJet

Moving on to news from the energy sector, shares of Indian Oil rose 1% today.

This rise in stock came in after the chairman of Indian Oil announced that Indian Oil Corp will sign an agreement with LanzaJet to produce cleaner aviation fuel at its Panipat refinery in northern India.

The company has a tie-up with LanzaTech for converting waste gas to ethanol, and U.S.-based LanzaJet will be helping in upgrading ethanol to jet fuel.

The oil refiner is also in talks with Italy's Snamprogetti SpA for the conversion of gas pipelines into hydrogen pipelines.

By 2030, 2% of aviation fuel produced by Indian Oil will be sustainable aviation fuel.

Indian Oil Corporation is the largest oil refining & petroleum marketing company in India.

With its recent initiative to install EV charging facilities at 10,000 fuel stations in the next three years, it is among the top 5 EV charging infrastructure stocks in India.

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