Markets End Volatile Week Higher

Tale of the Tape

Heya guys. The weekend is here! 😄

Markets snapped their three-week losing streak. Bounce from oversold levels plus favourable global cues aided the pullback. Midcaps (-0.2%) and Smallcaps (+0.3%) traded mixed. The advance-decline ratio was split evenly. ✌️

Most sectors ended lower. IT and FMCG were the key sources of weakness, down 0.7% each. Real Estate (+0.5%) stocks closed up for the fourth time in the past five days. 🔥

The rupee hit a new all-time low of Rs 82.43 against the US dollar. 🤕

This Rakesh Jhunjhunwala stock hit a new all-time high after rallying +30% in the past 3 months. More details below. 🚀

Hero MotoCorp launched its first electric two-wheeler, Vida V1. Read more below. 🛵

Varroc Engineering tanked over 9% intraday after the deal to sell their lighting business was lowered citing recession concerns in Europe. 👎

Nykaa will partner with Dubai-based Apparel Group to sell its products in the Middle East region. The stock closed flat. 🌍

Indian Hume Pipe (+11%) won a Rs 194 cr from the Maharashtra Govt to provide access to drinking water to 150 villages. 💸

Rattan India Enterprises (+8%) will acquire a 100% stake in electric two-wheeler company, Revolt Motors. ⚡

Electronics Mart India IPO got oversubscribed +70x on the final day. 💰

Cryptos traded mixed. Bitcoin was down 1%. Ethereum was flat. Doge fell over 2%. 🥱

Here are the closing prints:

Nifty	17,314	-0.1%
Sensex	58,191	-0.1%
Bank Nifty	39,178	-0.3%

All That Glitters Is Gold

Titan (+30%) hit a new all-time high after rallying +30% in the past 3 months. For comparison, the Nifty is up just 7% in the same period. What’s going on here? 🤔

Jewellery demand is expected to break all records during the ongoing festive season. Titan expects revenues from the core jewellery business to rise 18% YoY in Q2. PS – On a 3-year basis, the vertical has grown at a 20% CAGR, which is insane! 📊

Strong pent-up demand and aggressive store expansion are key growth drivers, said experts. Robust demand for premium studded products is expected to boost margins. Last quarter, Titan opened another 25 stores, up 18% over the previous year. Watches, the second-largest revenue contributor, posted the highest-ever quarterly revenue. 💸

Despite being #1, Titan controls <10% of the total jewellery market. Reason: 75%+ of the market is in the unorganized sector. But, recent struggles due to covid and its aggressive expansion plans have helped Titan gain market share. Other verticals like watches & wearables, and eyecare are also firing on all cylinders. The more the merrier. 🔥

At 63x price-to-earnings (P/E) the stock is anything but cheap. Having said that, some experts believe its valuations justified given the quality of the business. The jury is still out on that one. Besides that, fears of demand slowing down due to soaring inflation is a key concern. 👀

Riding Electric

Hero MotoCorp launched its first-ever electric scooter, the Vida V1. Let’s go!!! 🛵

The new electric scooter will come in three variants – the V1, V1 Plus and V1 Pro. You will however need to wait to book the scooter as it will only be available in Delhi, Bengaluru and Jaipur at the time of launch. The scooter is priced at a hefty Rs 1.45 lakh (ex-showroom) and deliveries are expected to start mid-December. Here’s more details on specifications and features by Autocar India. 💯

Hero MotoCorp is India’s largest two-wheeler maker, selling 1 in every 2 motorcycles. But, EVs are a completely different ball game. Hero MotoCorp will need to invest top $$$ on R&D, supply chain and manufacturing as they aim to replicate the same success. 📈

The electric two-wheeler market has become extremely crowded in recent years. Large players with deep pockets and new-age startups control the majority of the market with no clear winners. Hero’s latest offering will go head-to-head against the TVS iQube, Bajaj Chetak, Ola S1 and Ather 450. Note: Hero holds a 35% stake in Ather Energy. 🤼

Big Picture: India is the world’s largest two-wheeler market. But, EVs merely constitute 1% of the total two-wheeler sale. In 2020, there were just 1.5 lakh electric scooters and bikes sold in India. Experts predict that number to hit the 10 lakh mark by the end of 2025. A big hurdle in EV adoption, apart from high cost, has been the lack of charging infrastructure. Hero realizes this and plans to set up 20,000 charging points by the end of 2022. ⚡

Movers and Shakers

Here’s a look at this week’s top Nifty 500 movers. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders took the pole position after rallying +28%. 🥇 Cochin Shipyard (+19%) hit the highest level since April 2018. Suzlon (-11%) closed down for a fourth straight week. Godrej Consumer Products (-8%) had the worst week in 8 months. 📉 Check out their charts below: