No Christmas Cheer

Tale of the Tape

Good evening everyone and Merry Christmas! 🎄

Markets rebounded from the day’s low to close above key technical levels. Midcaps (-1%) and Smallcaps (-0.5%) snapped their three-day win streak. The market breadth was weak with two stocks falling for every one gainer. 🔻

Except for IT (+1.1%), all sectors ended lower. Investors booked profits in Pharma (-1.3%), Real Estate (-1.6%), and PSU Banks (-2%). 😐

L&T Finance sold its mutual fund business (finally) to HSBC for Rs 3,200 cr. The stock fell the most in over 2 months. Read more below. 🧐

HCL Tech jumped 5% intraday after 25 lakh shares changed hands in multiple block deals. 💸

Ajanta Pharma (+3%) will consider the proposal of a share buyback on Dec 28. 👍

ISGEC Heavy Engineering (+16%) started ethanol production at its new plant in Haryana. 🏭

AllCargo Logistics (+0.5%) approves business restructuring plans. Here’s ET with more. ✅

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) suspended a Rs 752 cr fine on United Breweries. The stock closed down 1% after opening higher. 🙃

Cryptos were back in business. Bitcoin jumped 6%. Ethereum rose 5%. Solana and Cardano rallied between 6%-8%. 🔥

Here are the closing prints:

Nifty	17,003	-0.3%
Sensex	57,124	-0.4%
Bank Nifty	34,857	-1.0%

And It’s Sold!

L&T Finance will sell its mutual fund business to HSBC for Rs 3,200 cr. The latest move is part of the Group’s long-term objective of streamlining operations and scaling its lending business. Yet the stock ended down 7%. Why so? 🤔

Experts say the deal valued L&T’s mutual fund business at a significant discount to its peers. Falling profits despite strong industry fundamentals and failed attempts to offload it in the past may have forced L&T to part with its business on the cheap. 🙅‍♂️

HSBC clearly got the better deal. Not only will it get L&T’s Rs 80,000 cr AUM for half the price but also become the 12th largest fund house overnight. That’s some bargain hunting. 💸

Overheard on Stocktwits

Here’s an interesting chart setup by Swapnil Kommawar on Stocktwits worth checking out. Add $HCLTECH.NSE to your watchlist and track the latest from our community.

Time Please

Good news for India’s Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, and Apple users. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has pushed its plan to ban all auto payments by six months. 😌

Here’s a quick recap: Previously, all subscription-based businesses were allowed to store users’ credit card details. Companies could auto-debit customers’ bank accounts at the end of each cycle. This ensured a super convenient renewal experience for both companies and users. 👍

BUT, the RBI saw potential issues and wanted to look out for the customer. ⛔ They mandated that companies to notify and customers to confirm each renewal. This requires a significant payment tech upgrade, which requires banks and payment processors to upgrade their software systems. 😔

Major companies like Apple made the switch to new rules. Banks, and payment aggregators reportedly missed the boat! As a result, autopayments stopped working, and several companies reported a hit on revenue. Hopefully, the 6 month extension provides time for banks and others to make the tech upgrade. 💸

In A Tight Spot

The Ministry of Education issued a detailed advisory warning parents of edtech platforms. Also, new ad guidelines were notified to prevent companies from misleading the public. ⚠️

Edtech companies are facing bouncers and yorkers from the Indian Government. From calling out their unethical practices to demanding better regulation, the sector is at the centre of the storm. 🚨

Industry leader Byju’s has been accused of selling paid courses to students without their knowledge. Former Byju employees blame the unfair sales tactics on aggressive sales targets and high-pressure sales culture. The topic also received the spotlight in a recent parliamentary session. 😲

Speaking of Byju’s, their business continues to flourish despite the noise. They’re considering listing in the US via a SPAC merger, which could fast-track the IPO timeline. They’re in talks to raise $4 billion at a whopping $48 billion valuation! We recently covered the details here.

Movers and Shakers

Here’s a look at this week’s top Nifty 500 movers. Minda Industries (+13%) took the pole position after advancing for a fourth straight week. Vakrangee (+13%) posted its highest weekly gain since August. Tata Teleservices (-14%) snapped its eight week gaining streak. Teamlease Services (-12%) post its worst weekly fall in over a month. Check out their charts below: