Global jitters

Nifty50: 17,718 ▼ 97 (-0.5%)
Sensex: 59,456 ▼ 262 (-0.4%)

Hola, people!

With the markets being so indecisive before the US Fed interest rate decision, investors are feeling the heat. They might need to find innovative ways to cool their nerves. Like this 77-year-old man from UP, who wore a helmet with an attached portable fan to keep himself cool. That’s one way to beat the heat!

• Tracking weak global cues, Indian markets closed negatively to halt a two-day winning run. 
• In all, 36 of the Nifty50 stocks closed in the red. 
• Investors await the US Fed's interest rate decision later in the day.

Among the Nifty sectoral indices, FMCG (+1.1%) was the sole gainer, while Metal (-2.0%) and Pharma (-1.3%) were the top losers.

What’s trending

⭐ HUL says inflation is here to stay

HINDUNILVR (NSE): 2,622 ▲ 38 (+1.5%)

The CEO of FMCG major Hindustan Unilever said businesses need to be prepared for higher inflation along with some moderation in commodity prices in the next 2-3 years. He said unlike in the past, this time inflation is being seen across a range of commodities. And this is the reason it has become a global issue.

⭐ M&M to acquire stake in Swaraj Engines

M&M (NSE): 1,306 ▲ 4 (+0.3%)

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) will acquire an additional 17.4% stake in Swaraj Engines (SEL) from Kirloskar Industries (KIL) for ₹296 crore at a price of ₹1,400 per share. After this deal, M&M’s stake in SEL will increase to 52.1% from 34.7%, and SEL will become a subsidiary of M&M.

⭐ Yes Bank sells NPAs

YESBANK (NSE): 16.9 ▲ 0.5 (+3.0%)

Private lender Yes Bank has approved the sale of its stressed assets portfolio worth ₹48,000 crore to private equity firm JC Flowers. As per the bank’s management, this will substantially reduce the bank’s non-performing assets (NPA) to below 2% from over 13% as of Q1 FY23. Further, the bank has approved the acquisition of up to 19.99% equity stake in JC Flowers ARC.  

⭐ KPIT Tech acquires four new firms

KPITTECH (NSE): 596 ▲ 22 (+3.8%)

Shares of technology firm KPIT Technologies were upbeat today. The company announced that it has acquired four group companies of Munich-based Technica Engineering. The deal is valued at ₹640 crore and is expected to be completed by the end of October 2022, after which Technica Engineering will be a fully owned subsidiary of KPIT Tech. 

In Focus

Liquor stocks in high spirits

Shares of major liquor makers such as United Spirits, Radico Khaitan and Tilaknagar Industries have risen in the range of 6% to 16% so far this month. But, why are investors saying cheers to liquor stocks? Let’s uncork this bottle.

For starters, liquor makers have been witnessing strong traction in the last few months, thanks to upbeat consumption trends. Sales of alcoholic beverages at bars and restaurants are near their pre-Covid levels for the first time in two years. What’s more, in-home consumption continues to gain momentum. As a result, sales volume rose to 120 million cases in the first quarter of FY23, representing nearly 34% of the FY22 sales volume of 353 million cases.

As per industry experts, consumers have shown strong preference for premium and super-premium categories of alcohol in the past two years. This has also helped drive sales volumes. Besides this, the ongoing festive season has historically driven up demand and sales volumes because of social gatherings, weddings and events.

While liquor firms seem to be the toast of investors at the moment, there’s one thing that could dampen their spirits. Rising raw material prices have hit the profitability of liquor firms, which have limited scope to raise prices due to government regulation on selling price.

While the near-term challenges are likely to remain, liquor companies believe they have a good ‘shot’ during the festive season.

Ready-made Option Strategies on Upstox

Options offer traders the potential to make a profit whether the markets are moving up, down or sideways. However, options are complex instruments, and option strategies can be even more complicated. If not used in a disciplined way, they could lead to severe capital losses.

To solve such problems and to make options trading easier, Upstox has introduced Ready-made Option Strategies, which allow traders to:

• Choose from pre-curated option strategies
• Know profit probability, maximum profit and loss, and funds required for each strategy
• Trade with unique one-click entry and exit orders 

Click here to know more about Ready-made Option Strategies.

Good to know

What is churn rate?

Churn rate refers to the rate at which customers stop buying a company’s products or services. It is expressed as a percentage of subscribers who discontinue their subscriptions in a given time period. For example if a start-up acquired 100 subscribers in the first three months of its operations and lost 15 subscribers during the same period then the churn rate will be 15%. For a company to grow, its growth rate (new customer additions) must exceed the churn rate.   

Click here to join us on Telegram for trading and investment-related videos, daily market updates, details on upcoming IPOs and more.