Sensex Ends Flat; Maruti Suzuki and M&M Among Top Nifty Gainers

Mon, 27 Sep Closing

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Indian share markets witnessed volatile trading activity throughout the day today and ended on a flat note.

After a strong start today, benchmark indices witnessed volatility tracking mixed global cues.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 29 points (up 0.1%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 2 points (up 0.1%).

Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the top gainers today.

HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,911, up by 62 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE MidCap index ended on a flat note, while the BSE SmallCap index ended down by 0.1%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the auto sector and realty sector witnessing most of the buying interest.

IT and healthcare stocks, on the other hand, witnessed selling pressure.

Shares of Phoenix Mill and Inox Leisure hit their respective 52-week highs today.

Asian stock markets ended on a mixed note today.

The Hang Seng ended up by 0.1%, while the Shanghai Composite ended down by 0.8%. The Nikkei ended on a flat note today.

US stock futures are trading on a positive note today with the Dow Futures trading up by 108 points.

The rupee is trading at 73.84 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 0.1% at Rs 45,960 per 10 grams.

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In news from the power sector, SJVN was among the top buzzing stocks today.

State-run hydropower generator SJVN has secured 1 gigawatt (GW) solar power project contract in the bids floated by Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) by quoting a tariff of Rs 2.45 per unit.

This comes in the backdrop of India's solar power tariffs starting to rebound from the record lows of last December, lifted by factors such as higher commodity prices and an increase in imported solar equipment cost from next year as reported by Mint earlier.

Rising commodity costs and a 40% basic customs duty on solar modules and 25% on solar cells to be imposed from April 2022 is influencing the keenly-contested auction rounds, with developers calibrating these new realities while placing bids.

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India's solar power tariffs hit a record low of Rs 1.99 per unit in December 2020 at an auction conducted by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam.

Nand Lal Sharma, chairman and managing director, SJVN said,

• SJVN bagged the full quoted capacity of 1,000-megawatt (MW) at a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) support of Rs 44.7 Lakh per MW by government of India. The power generated from above projects shall be solely for self-use or use by government/government entities, either directly or through discoms.
  
  SJVN participated in a VGF based competitive bidding process for solar project of capacity 5,000 MW floated by IREDA.

SJVN plans to have a 25 GW capacity by 2040. The firm has an operational portfolio of 2 GW and is executing 27 projects in hydropower, thermal, solar and wind sectors in India, Bhutan and Nepal.

The company has also pitched for more hydropower projects from Nepal as part of India's playbook of helping build a South Asia-focused energy security architecture.

SJVN share price ended the day up by 1.9% on the BSE.

Speaking of the power sector, it's interesting to note the power exchanged in India is about 4.5% of the overall power production, as can be seen in the chart below.

As per Tanushree Banerjee, Co-Head of Research at Equitymaster, India's power sector is currently in transition. It's driven by increasing reliance on short-term contracts and electricity spot markets.

This transition to the short-term market is happening due to quickly evolving industry dynamics.

Tanushree believes the Indian power sector will see a surge in spot power volumes due to certain factors.

Moving on to news from the food & tobacco sector...

United Breweries Slides on CCI Penalty

United Breweries share price slipped more than 4% today after the competition commission of India (CCI) penalised the company and rival Carlsberg India for carterlisation.

The anti-trust watchdog on 24 September imposed penalties of around Rs 9 bn on three beer-making companies and trade association All India Brewers' Association (AIBA) for cartelisation.

The CCI said SABMiller India, the makers of Foster beer, United Breweries, who make Kingfisher, and Carlsberg India resorted to cartelisation in the sale and supply of beer to various states and union territories between 2009 and at least October 2018.

While the CCI has directed United Breweries and Carlsberg India to pay Rs 7.5 bn and Rs 1.2 bn, respectively, it has given SABMiller India a 100% reduction in penalty for cooperating in the investigation.

The three companies engaged in price coordination in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Delhi and Puducherry, it said.

CCI also found coordination among United Breweries and Anheuser Busch InBev India with respect to purchasing second-hand bottles.

Four individuals of United Breweries, four of Anheuser Busch InBev India, six of Carlsberg India and the Director-General of AIBA were held to be liable for the anti-competitive conduct of their respective companies and association.

United Breweries share price ended the day down by 3.2% on the BSE.

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