Adani Group stocks soar as U.S. agency calls Hindenburg report ‘irrelevant’

Four out of ten Adani Group stocks zoomed as much as 20% on Tuesday to hit the upper circuit on the BSE after the U.S. government's development finance institution, International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), reportedly termed Hindenburg's allegations against the Gautam Adani-led ports-to-energy conglomerate as 'irrelevant.' 

Shares of Adani Energy, Adani Green and Adani Total Gas hit the 20%  upper circuit to surge to ₹1,082.60, ₹1,348, and ₹878.55, respectively. Meanwhile, shares of Adani Wilmar Ltd surged 10%, also hitting an upper circuit, to ₹380.90.

Notably, Adani Enterprises shares surged as much as 17.61% to hit an intraday high of ₹2,995.80 apiece on the BSE. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) shares surged as much as 16.51% to hit a 52-week high of ₹1,054.50. Adani Power surged as much as 17.4% to hit a 52-week high of ₹545.85. Shares of ACC Ltd surged as much as 8.5% to ₹2,192. New Delhi Television Ltd surged as much as 19.5% to hit an intraday high of ₹269. This is in line with the broader BSE Sensex which closed 431 points or 0.61% higher at 69,296.14. 

Shares of Ambuja Cements rallied 8.02% to hit an intraday high of ₹513.40 apiece on the BSE, after the completion of its acquisition of Sanghi Industries Limited at a revised offer price of ₹121.90 per share. Meanwhile, the combined market capitalisation of the Adani Group companies has surpassed ₹14 lakh crore.

According to a Bloomberg report, the DFC investigated the Indian conglomerate as part of its due diligence mechanism after the US-based shortseller released its scathing report against the Gautam Adani-led company in January this year. The DFC has termed "allegations of corporate fraud" by the US-based short-seller against Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) as "irrelevant." In January this year, Hindenburg alleged the Adani Group of pulling the "largest con in the corporate history."

Backed by the US government, Adani Ports is constructing a deep-sea container terminal in Sri Lanka worth $700 million. In 2021, the domestic conglomerate signed a partnership with Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells for the construction of the container terminal known as Colombo West International Terminal. Adani Group has a 51% stake in the joint venture, whereas John Keells has a 34% stake in the project.

This is the first time that the U.S. government is funding an Adani project through its agencies. The move is being seen as part of the U.S. strategy to counter China's expansion in Sri Lanka as Beijing had made a huge investment of about $2.2 billion in the island nation, including Colombo and Hambantota ports.

Notably, soon after the release of the Hindenburg report, around $100 billion was wiped off from the cumulative market capitalisation of the Adani Group companies.