Weekly Market Review: Birla Takes on Tata & Reliance, Upcoming IPOs, and A Crucial Fed Meeting

Hello investors, welcome to this week's stock market wrap up!

In the week gone by, Indian markets have navigated a dynamic landscape influenced by a mix of corporate earnings, global cues and most important of it all - the Union Budget 2024.

Let's see what transpired in the Indian markets this week and what lies ahead for the next...

How Sensex, Nifty and Broader Markets Performed

Helped by a massive rally on Friday, the BSE Sensex closed nearly 1,300 points higher, while the Nifty ended at a record high as investors looked beyond the capital gains tax hike in the Budget.

From the BSE 30 pack, all stocks except Nestle India registered strong gains.

IT stocks lead the pack after data showed the US economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter. IT companies earn a major share of their revenue from the US and data showing improvement in the US economic growth augurs well for the sector.

On a weekly basis, benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty gained 1.1% while the broader markets rallied more.

The BSE Smallcap and the BSE Midcap index gained 3.1% and 3.5%, respectively.

Here are the top gainers and losers from each of these indexes -

BSE Sensex - Weekly Top Gainers and Losers

Company	Current Price	Weekly Change (%)
Tata Motors Ltd.	1,118	13.00%
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.	1,714	9.30%
NTPC Ltd.	397	8.80%
Titan Company Ltd.	3,495	7.30%
ITC Ltd.	503	6.00%
State Bank Of India	863	-3.00%
ICICI Bank Ltd.	1,208	-3.20%
Bajaj Finserv Ltd.	1,586	-3.30%
Nestle India Ltd.	2,479	-4.60%
Axis Bank Ltd.	1,178	-8.90%

Source: Equitymaster

BSE Midcap - Weekly Top Gainers and Losers

Company	Current Price	Weekly Change (%)
IDBI Bank Ltd.	104	8.80%
Tata Motors Ltd.	1,118	7.30%
The Indian Hotels Company Ltd.	647	6.00%
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.	376	5.00%
Biocon Ltd.	369	4.90%
Godrej Properties Ltd.	3,127	-3.70%
Nestle India Ltd.	2,479	-4.60%
Supreme Industries Ltd.	5,430	-6.00%
Axis Bank Ltd.	1,178	-8.90%
Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd.	183	-10.80%

Source: Equitymaster

BSE Smallcap - Weekly Top Gainers and Losers

Company	Current Price	Weekly Change (%)
Antony Waste Handling Cell Ltd.	880.6	49%
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.	97.1	40%
Bhagiradha Chemicals & Industries Ltd.	357.7	35%
PC Jeweller Ltd.	85.8	28%
Gravita India Ltd.	1,698.40	28%
Protean e-Gov Technologies Ltd.	1,821.10	27%
PG Electroplast Ltd.	441.4	26%
EMS Ltd.	842.3	26%
Hester Biosciences Ltd.	3,206.50	25%
Sportking India Ltd.	1,242.50	24%
Tejas Networks Ltd.	1298.75	-8%
Rites Ltd.	667.05	-8%
Poonawalla Fincorp Ltd.	375.75	-9%
Shipping Corporation Of India Ltd.	278	-9%
Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd.	552.7	-10%
Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd.	2211.45	-10%
VST Industries Ltd.	4092.35	-11%
The Phoenix Mills Ltd.	3533.8	-11%
KSolves India Ltd.	1069.9	-11%
Ircon International Ltd.	274.7	-13%

Source: Equitymaster

Birla Takes on Tata and Reliance

In a big move, the Aditya Birla group on Friday launched a jewellery retail brand, Indriya, that directly pits it against the Tata Group's Tanishq and the Reliance Group's Reliance Jewels.

It also puts them against other national chains such as Kalyan Jewellers and Joyalukkas.

To be honest... this move could not have come at a better time... ahead of the festive and wedding seasons.

The Indian jewellery market is estimated to be worth Rs 6.7 trillion according to reports and the Birla group is all set to dip its toes in a largely unorganized market.

Big Acquisitions that Made Headlines...

In the week gone by, there were some pretty interesting mergers and takeover deals that caught the attention of savvy investors.

The biggest one was Mankind Pharma's Rs 136.3 bn acquisition of Bharat Serums and Vaccines (BSV) through internal accruals and a mix of debt and equity.

With this deal, Mankind is now the leader in the fast-growing women's health segment with an around 20% market share, edging past Emcure Pharma.

Next was railway company Texmaco Rail acquiring Jindal Rail Infra for Rs 6.2 bn to boost its manufacturing capacity.

While another acquisition that caught the eye was Murugappa group's CG Power buying 55% stake in Bengaluru-based GG Tronics for Rs 3.2 bn.

What the Top Investing Gurus are Buying and Selling

With the earnings season in full swing, super investors recalibrated their stake in their various investments.

We found some interesting names in the list - Zota Healthcare, Repro India, Samhi Hotels, Thomas Scott, VST Industries, among others.

Ace investor Mukul Agrawal increased his stake in Zota Healthcare by an additional 1.5% in the June 2024 quarter, raising his total holding to 8.4%. His 2.2 million shares are currently valued at somewhere Rs 1.4 billion (bn).

Meanwhile, another super investor Ashish Kacholia trimmed his holding in Repro India. Apart from Repro India, Kacholia also trimmed stakes in Garware Hi-Tech Films, Ugro Capital, and Shankara Building Products.

Madhusudan Kela on the other hand offloaded his holding in Samhi Hotels.

Shankar Sharma acquired 300,000 shares of Thomas Scott while Radhakishan Damani sold 262,748 shares of cigarette manufacturer VST Industries.

Dolly Khanna trimmed her holding in Control Print while her stake in Pondy Oxides went below 1%.

Rekha Jhunjhunwala sold some of her holding in Federal Bank and Nazara Technologies.

Vijay Kedia was also in news after selling his entire stake in Reliance Infrastructure.

To stay updated with the latest buying and selling activities of the top investing gurus in India, stay tuned to this space.

IPOs to Watch Out Next Week

The coming week is going to be filled with a slew of new initial public offerings (IPOs).

Nearly eight IPOs including Akums Drugs, Ashapura Logistics, and Rajputana Industries, are scheduled to open for subscription.

Akums Drugs and Pharmaceuticals IPO - this offer comprises a fresh issue worth nearly Rs 6.8 bn and an offer for sale with promoters offloading shares worth Rs 11.7 bn.

Ashapura Logistics IPO - this IPO opens on Tuesday, 30 July 2024, and will close on Thursday, 1 August 2024. The company has fixed the price band at Rs 136 - 144 apiece and the lot size of 22 shares.

Rajputana Industries IPO - this one opens on Tuesday, 30 July 2024, and close on Thursday. The public issue will be available at a price band of Rs 36 - 38 per share and the lot size of 3,000 shares.

Apart from the new IPOs, the upcoming week will also witness the listing of Esprit Stones, S A Tech Software India, Trom Industries, Aprameya Engineering, Clinitech Laboratory, Manglam Infra and Engineering, Chetana Education, VVIP Infratech, V.L. Infraprojects, RNFI Services and SAR Televenture.

The Key Factor for Next Week

It appears that the stock market has put the disappointment of the Union budget behind it. After all, the impact of the capital gains tax and STT hikes had dealt a blow to the market sentiment on Budget day and two days following that.

But now, the benchmark indices have closed the week at record highs. The Nifty is within touching distance of 25,000.

Unless there is some unforeseen negative surprise over the weekend, the Indian markets should soar to new highs next week.

Investors should keep in mind that next week is the US Fed's meeting. The Fed could give an indication as to when the much-anticipated rate hike will happen.

Officials at the Federal Reserve are widely expected to hold key interest rate steady when they meet on Wednesday.

It will be very interesting to watch the capital flows. Stay tuned to this space.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Happy Investing!

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such. Learn more about our recommendation services here...