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Tale of the Tape

Happy Monday everyone. Markets were flattish today. 😐

Nifty and Sensex cooled off after opening higher. Midcaps (+0.1%) and Smallcaps (-0.1%) were equally lazy. 🥱 The advance-decline ratio was split evenly.

Most sectors ended higher but the gains were muted. Autos (+3%) rebounded after weeks of underperformance. IT stocks (-3%) witnessed profit booking. 💸

Zee Entertainment (+0.3%) is in focus after its largest investors renewed demands to sack MD & CEO, Punit Goenka. The stock was volatile AF. Read more below. 🤼‍♂️

PVR and Inox Leisure gained between 6%-9%. The Maharashtra Government will reopen cinema halls from 22nd October. Check out their charts below. 📈

Maruti Suzuki (+6%) gained the most since December 2020. Media reports over the easing chip crisis boosted investor sentiment. 🚘

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) fined United Breweries Rs 750 cr. The stock cracked 3%. Here’s more.

Reliance Industries (+2%) hit a new all-time high. The company’s market cap crossed Rs 17 lakh crore mark. 🤑

The Uttar Pradesh Government increased sugarcane prices by Rs 25 to Rs 350 per quintal. This is negative for UP-based sugar mills like Balrampur Chini (-1.6%), and Triveni Engineering (-1.3%) as it will increase their cost of production. 📊

Patel Engineering (+9%) won a new order worth Rs 1,251 cr. 👷‍♂️

Cryptos mostly traded up. Bitcoin gained +0.5%. Ethereum rose 3%. Solana jumped +7%. ✌

Here are the closing prints:

Nifty	17,855	+0.1%
Sensex	60,078	+0.1%
Bank Nifty	38,171	+0.9%

Its Not Over Until Its Over

Zee Entertainment dipped 5% after its largest shareholders stuck to their demand of removing the company’s top management. 📉 The stock later recovered to close flat.

What’s popping? Earlier this month, Invesco Developing Markets Fund and OFI Global China Fund wrote a letter seeking the resignation of three directors. This included the current Managing Director and CEO, Punit Goenka. The letter also proposed the appointment of six independent directors. 🚫

Instead, Zee went and joined hands with Sony Pictures to form India’s #1 broadcasting company! The non-binding agreement would see Goenka retain his current position for another five years. This clearly didn’t sit well with Invesco and shots were fired: 🧨

“Decisions of material strategic import must follow and not precede proper and independent governance structure as determined by the company’s shareholders. In this context, and against the backdrop of our EGM requisition, your disclosure of September 22 is symptomatic of the erratic manner in which important and serious decisions have been handled at the company.”

What Next? Punit Goenka was instrumental in initiating the merger talks with Sony. Experts believe his sacking would throw a big question mark over the deal. So far, Invesco does not oppose the merger. But, they believe an “independent” board will be better suited to take a fair decision. As per law, Zee has three more weeks to call the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). If it fails to do so, Invesco can call the meeting within six months. 👀

Anyone down for a Netflix show on this? 🍿

Chartbusters

Multiplex operators were in high demand today. The Maharashtra Government allowed cinema halls to reopen post October 22. Maharashtra is the largest market accounting for 20% of the total movie screens. Strong pent-up demand and a healthy lineup of big-ticket releases like Suryanvansham boosted investor sentiment. 🎥

PVR and Inox Leisure jumped 6%-9% each. Quick service restaurants (QSR) chains like Westlife Development (+4%) and Barbeque Nation (+7%) also recorded tasty gains. 🍔 Check out their charts below:

The latest episode of #StockRoomSunday is proving to be a big hit! 💯 Indo Count Industries, one of Vishal’s top momentum calls, rallied ~10%. GHCL (+5%) also posted stellar gains on Day 1. 🔥 For more awesome ideas like these, subscribe to our Youtube channel here – https://bit.ly/3u8Bzn2

Stock Room Sunday is a weekly show hosted by Saket Mehrotra, a professional portfolio manager, and Vishal Mehta, co-chair of India’s CMT Association. Join each weekend for an entertaining run-through of the markets and see what stocks are moving. You may find a few jokes and fundamental vs technical analysis debates along the way.

Primed For Success?

Amazon is entering the content distribution business in India with Prime Video Channels. The new platform will allow users to watch content from different streaming services in one location. That means, no more hopping between platforms, remembering multiple usernames and passwords. 😇

Amazon has currently partnered with eight platforms including Discovery+, Lionsgate Play, and Eros Now. Prime customers will still have to pay individually for subscribing to each streaming service. But, to woo more users Amazon is offering attractive discounts. Here’s Indian Express with more. 💸

Gaurav Gandhi, Country Manager, at Amazon Prime Video, India said:

With the launch of Prime Video Channels, we now take the next big step in our journey to entertain India by creating a video entertainment marketplace – first of its kind in India – which will not only delight our customers by giving them even more entertainment choices, but also benefit the OTT Channel partners who collaborate with us to leverage Prime Video’s distribution, reach and tech infrastructure.

Amazon Prime Video has seen strong growth in recent years. But it continues to lag behind Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix, and MX Player. India is a critical market for Amazon and access to a large catalog of original content will help the company big time. Let’s see how this one goes. 🧐