Stocks To Watch: GAIL (India), Maruti Suzuki, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Adani Green, PVR Inox Stocks in focus: The GIFT Nifty traded flat during Tuesday’s early trading session, higher by 0.02% at 19,890.5, indicating a tepid opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex. Benchmark indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex ended with gains on Monday, snapping a two day losing streak. The Nifty 50 added 10.8 points to close at 19,753.8. On the other hand, Sensex advanced 0.56% to end at 66,527.67. “Indian indices have resumed their rally, following the global market trend, as cooling inflation across the globe gave hopes of an end to the policy tightening era. The latest positive development was the Eurozone’s inflation slowing for the third consecutive month in July, coming in at 5.3%, in line with market predictions. Moreover, the euro zone economy grew by 0.3% during the June quarter, according to preliminary estimates, slightly surpassing market expectations,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. Maruti Suzuki reported its Q1 sales at 4,98,030 units, a growth of 6.4% compared to the same period last year. Maruti Suzuki’s domestic sales stood at 4,34,812 units, growing 9.1% on-year. Additionally, Maruti Suzuki’s board has approved the termination of the contract manufacturing agreement with Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG). Presently, Suzuki Motor Corporation holds 100% equity capital of SMG. The acquisition of 100% equity capital by Maruti Suzuki India from SMC is a related party transaction and is expected to be completed by FY24. Adani Green Energy posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 323 crore for the first fiscal quarter, up 50.93% on-year. The firm’s total revenue came in at Rs 2,404 crore, up 41.32% from Rs 1,701 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal year. Reliance Retail has launched a new laptop targeting students who are looking for an affordable laptop with smart capabilities. Jio has now unveiled a new JioBook laptop at Rs 16,499. JioBook runs on the JioOS operating system, which is based on Android. India’s largest lender SBI raised Rs 10,000 crore via an infrastructure bond issue at coupon rate of 7.54% on 31 July, with a 15 year tenor. The proceeds of bonds will be utilised in enhancing long term resources for funding infrastructure and affordable housing segments. EaseMyTrip is set to acquire a 51% stake in Guideline, Tripshope and Dook each, in an all stock deal. The consideration will be paid by issuing equity shares to the selling shareholders of the companies on a preferential basis. Shares of Anant Raj, Adani Total Gas, Bikaji Foods, Cholamandalam Finance, Dalmia Bharat Sugar, Escorts Kubota, PVR Inox will be in focus today as they gear up to announce their first fiscal quarter earnings results.
Logistics, good or bad, are driven by the states and the commerce ministry has a LEADS (Logistics Ease Across Different States) report, based on perceptions. The 2023 version was released in December. Since states are heterogenous, in the reporting, they are divided into four groups—coastal, landlocked, north-east, and UTs. States that do well are called achievers. Nomenclature matters. Thus, states that are middling aren’t called average. They are called fast movers. States that are sub-par are called aspirers. Let me highlight coastal states, since 75% of export cargo is estimated to originate from them. Among coastal states, ones that do well are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. The ones that lag are Goa, Odisha, and West Bengal. While India’s logistics performance may have improved over time, that’s not true of every state. Some have slipped. Most states have a state-level logistics policy, including Goa and Odisha. West Bengal, bottom of the pecking order in the coastal category, doesn’t have one. To quote from LEADS 2023, “Looking ahead, the State (West Bengal) could benefit from formulating a State Logistics Master Plan and State Logistics Policy to drive efficiency improvements and facilitate investments within the logistics sector and undertake consultation with the logistics stakeholders for educating and informing them about the initiatives State is undertaking for the development and improvement of logistics sector.”
Logistics has been talked about for a long time and India has also focused on improving performance. We are now getting some precise data on measurement and quantification. That helps.
Bibek Debroy, chairman, EAC-PM. Views are personal.