Indian market sentiment has been affected by recent US employment data, which showed the unemployment rate dropping to 4.1% in December. This strong labour market performance has dampened expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts, leading to tighter global liquidity conditions. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have responded by withdrawing Rs43,251 crore from Indian markets in January 2025 alone (as of 16 January 2025), following December's outflow of Rs16,982 crore.
Adding to market pressures, crude oil prices have hit a 15-week high, following new US sanctions on Russia. The US Treasury imposed new sanctions on Russian oil producers and 183 vessels, targeting 'shadow fleets'. These measures could significantly impact India's crude oil imports, as Russia currently supplies about 30% of the country's requirements. The sanctions might also derail plans for establishing direct currency exchange between India and Russia, forcing India to increase its reliance on West Asian suppliers like Iraq and Saudi Arabia, potentially at higher costs.
The Indian rupee's decline to a historic low of Rs86.27 on Monday against the US dollar, accelerating capital outflows and increasing import expenses—exacerbated market concerns, though there are some positive indicators on the domestic front. India's retail inflation showed improvement, with the consumer price index (CPI) dropping to 5.22% in December from November's 5.48%, remaining within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI's) tolerance band of 2%-6%.
The trends of the major indices in the course of the week's trading are given in the table below:
News
Zen Technologies secured design registration for its 60mm (millimetre) mortar training simulator under the Designs Act, India.
Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) launched new product ‘Toluene’. With an annual production capacity of 40 TPA (tonnes per annum), MRPL's Toluene facility exemplifies India's progress toward self-reliance and global competitiveness in the petrochemicals sector.
Signature global executed a sale deed for acquiring a land parcel admeasuring approximately 16.12 acres situated at Sector 71, Southern Peripheral Road, Gurugram (Haryana). The land has an overall potential developable area of approximately 2.73mnsqft (million square feet).
Sealmatic India successfully developed and supplied critical mechanical seals for defence application.
Power Grid Corporation of India acquired Kudankulam ISTS (Inter-State Transmission System) transmission (KISTSTL), the project’s special purpose vehicle (SPV) to establish transmission system under ISTS for evacuation of power from Kudankulam unit-3 and unit-4 (2x1000MW), on build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis from the bid process coordinator—PFC Consulting (PFCCL).
Godrej Properties launched Godrej Madison Avenue its first premium residential project in Kokapet (Hyderabad), underlining its commitment to expanding its footprint in Hyderabad’s high-growth residential real estate market. Situated on around three acres of land with an estimated booking value of Rs1,300 crore, Godrej Madison Avenue will feature around 1.2mnsqft of saleable area, offering premium residential apartments in 3- and 4-BHK (bedroom-hall-kitchen) configurations.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) launched the second multi-purpose vessel (MPV) christened ‘INS Utkarsh’, for the Indian Navy from its Kattupalli shipyard near Chennai. Following an accelerated production schedule, the launch of INS Utkarsh comes within three months of the launch of the first MPV INS Samarthak. The first vessel is now being readied for undergoing tests and trials prior to its delivery to the Indian Navy.
HCL Technologies entered into an agreement with Carrix, the world’s largest independent marine and rail terminal operator, to improve Carrix’s global port operations with HCL Tech’s advanced suite of AI of Things (AIoT) technology platform.
Alembic Pharmaceuticals received approval from the US food & drug administration (US FDA) for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for Brexpiprazole tablets, 0.25mg (milligram), 0.5mg, 1mg, 2mg, 3mg and 4mg.
ASK Automotive commenced the commercial production at its manufacturing facility in Karnataka, established by its wholly-owned subsidiary, ASK Automobiles. The facility is the 18th facility of the group and the third facility of ASK Automobiles and will primarily cater to the demand of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers in southern India.
Welspun Corp and Saudi Aramco signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) of strategic cooperation to establish a state-of-the-art line pipe manufacturing capacity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, at the ongoing Aramco IKTVA forum & exhibition 2025. The production capacity of this plant will be 350,000MTPA (metric tonnes per annum).
Gail (India) and SEFE Marketing & Trading Singapore entered into a settlement agreement. The terms of the settlement agreement include payment of US$285mn (million) by SEFE Marketing & Trading Singapore to GAIL (India) and withdrawal of arbitration proceedings before London Court of International Arbitration.
Orders
Rail Vikas Nigam received letter of acceptance from Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) for development (creation, upgradation and operation & maintenance) of middle mile network of Bharat Net on design-build–operate-maintain (DBOM) model. The size of contract is Rs3,622.14 crore.
Garuda Construction and Engineering (Garuda) won an order of Rs1,087.34 crore from Gorakhpur development authority - a department of the government of Uttar Pradesh. The company would build a state-of-the-art international convention centre - spread over 240,000sqft (square feet), with a seating capacity of 5,000. Located near Ramgadh Jheel Champadevi Park, the project will also offer the development of adjacent land parcels for commercial and residential use. This addition contributes to its order-book of Rs2,830 crore, demonstrating its growing market presence across diverse and specialised construction segments.
Refex Industries’ subsidiary -- Refex Green Mobility (RefexeVeelz) -- entered into a strategic tie-up with Gensol Engineering to acquire 2,997 electric four-wheelers (e4Ws).
Waaree Technologies received order of 99 set of solar off grid combo (comprising batteries, solar panel, inverters, etc), to be delivered in three months.
Premier Energies’ subsidiaries -- Premier Energies Global Environment, Premier Energies International, Premier Energies Photovoltaic -- received multiple orders aggregating Rs1,460 crore from two large independent power producers (IPP) and others. These orders include Rs1,041 crore for solar modules and Rs419 crore for solar cells. The supply of these modules is scheduled to commence from May 2025.
GR Infraprojects emerged as L-1 (lowest bidder) for a project construction of access controlled Pune ring road (east) in Maharashtra on engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) package PRR E6 from km81+900 Sonori to km97+900 Garade (taluka Purandar, district Pune; length-16.000km). The project cost is Rs1,947.00 crore.
Adani Green Energy commissioned a 57.2MW wind power component as part of its wind-solar hybrid project. This addition has increased the company's total operational renewable generation capacity to 11,666.1MW.
Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) emerged as the L1 for a financing project worth Rs316 crore. The project is being undertaken by a joint venture (JV) between NTPC and Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam.
United Drilling Tools secured first order from Taiwan worth US$482,444 by Magitech International. This overseas order comprises supply of survey line winch and integral blade stabilisers which are critical tools in advanced drilling operations. The delivery of these products is scheduled to be completed over a period of six months.
Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) emerged as the L1 bidder for financing Rs3,167 crore for the development of the Banhardih coal block in Latehar district (Jharkhand). This project is being undertaken by Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (PVUNL), a JV between NTPC (74% equity stake) and Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam (26% equity stake). The Banhardih coal block has been allocated to PVUNL as a captive coal source. Coal from the block will be transported to Chetar station via mine-gain-rail (MGR) and then to PVUNL's project site using Indian Railways.
Azad Engineering signed a long-term supply agreement with GE Vernova International LLC (USA) for supply of highly engineered, complex rotating and stationary airfoils for advanced gas turbine engines to meet their global demand in the power generation industry. This current phase of the contract is valued at US$112mn (Rs960 crore) to be executed in six years.
Investment/ Acquisition / Stake Stale
TARO Pharmaceuticals Inc, a subsidiary of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (+0.37%), agreed to acquire 100% stake in Antibe Therapeutics Inc (Canada).
Waaree Energies entered into a share purchase agreement with Enel Green Power Development Srl (seller) for acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Enel Green Power India for a total amount of up to Rs792 crore.
Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) completed the acquisition of 7,989 equity shares of Rs22,100 each, representing 55% of the issued and paid-up share capital of Rajscape Hotels for a total consideration of around Rs17.66 crore.
Gufic Biosciences made an investment of AED200,000 in Veira Life FZE’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Dubai (UAE) by way of initial subscription to the share capital. Veira Life FZE’ will carry on the business of marketing, distribution and sale of pharmaceutical products.
Minda Corporation received approval from board of directors to acquire 2,55,40,578 equity shares with face value of Re1 each of Flash Electronics (India) representing 49% of the total issued and paid-up equity share capital. The investment is a strategic partnership and would help unlock synergies across products, customers, technology and manufacturing excellence.
Morepen Laboratories received an approval for the hiving off the medical devices business, being an undertaking, to Morepen Medtech, a subsidiary of the company, on a 'slump-sale' basis, as a going concern. This hiving off is subject to the receipt of requisite regulatory approvals, including approval of the members of the company.
Earnings
PCBL Chemical reported 37.08% fall in net profit at Rs93.11 crore for Q3FY24-25 compared to Rs147.98 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income of the company increased by 21.46% at Rs2,021.09 crore for Q3FY24-25 compared to Rs1,663.93 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Avenue Supermarts reported 4.80% rise in net profit at Rs723.54 crore for Q3FY24-25 compared to Rs690.41 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company increased by 17.58% at Rs15,996.69 crore for Q3FY24-25 compared to Rs13,605.39 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Shoppers Stop reported 41.74% rise in net profit at Rs52.23 crore for Q3FY24-25 compared to Rs36.85 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company increased by 12.98% at Rs1,402.00 crore for Q3FY24-25 compared to Rs1,240.88 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
HDFC Asset Management Company reported 31.45% rise in its net profit at Rs641.36 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2024 compared to Rs487.92 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company increased by 26.23% at Rs1,027.72 crore for Q3FY24-25 compared to Rs814.18 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
L&T Technology Services reported 5.14% fall in its net profit at Rs319.50 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2024 compared to Rs336.80 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income of the company increased by 8.14% at Rs2,686.50 crore for Q3FY24-25 compared to Rs2,484.20 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Bank of Maharashtra reported 35.83% rise in its net profit at Rs1,406.73 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2024 compared to Rs1,035.69 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the Bank increased by 21.55% at Rs7,112.66 crore for Q3FY24-25 compared to Rs5,851.55 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Top gainers and losers of the major indices for the week are given in the table below:
