Adani stocks make a comeback after SC panel's report

Shares of Adani Enterprises, the flagship company of the Adani Group, rose 17% on Monday after the Supreme Court-constituted committee concluded that there was no regulatory failure on the allegations of stock price manipulation.

Reacting to the SC-appointed panel's report, the Adani Enterprises stock jumped 17% in intraday trade to ₹2,303.50 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), taking the company's market capitalisation to ₹2.58 lakh crore.

According to the committee's report, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) found that six entities took short positions before the Hindenburg report was released and profited by squaring off their positions. SEBI examined whether there has been any unusual trading pattern proximate to the release of the Hindenburg report.

"The trading pattern here is suspicious because of the build up of short positions by these entities in the Adani scrips prior to the Hindenburg Report, and substantial profits earned by them by squaring off their short positions after publication of the Hindenburg report on January 24, 2023," the panel says.

Following the development, all listed companies of the ports-to-power conglomerate were trading in green. Shares of Adani Ports, India's largest private ports operator, gained 8% to ₹750 apiece on the NSE, taking the company's market cap to ₹1.59 lakh crore.

Shares of Adani Wilmar, a joint venture of the Gautam Adani-led diversified conglomerate and Singapore's Wilmar Group, climbed 10% to ₹444.30 apiece on the NSE. The edible oil maker's market cap stood at around ₹58,000 crore.

Shares of Adani Green and Adani Total Gas hit their 5% upper circuit level to ₹941 and ₹722 on the NSE. However, the green energy stock is still down 50% on a year-to-date basis while the city gas distribution company has tanked 80% in 2023.

Shares of Ambuja Cements and ACC, which the Adani group acquired from Swiss cement giant Holcim last year, rose as much as 7% to ₹432.35 and ₹1,837 on the NSE. Shares of Adani Power rose 5% to ₹248 apiece.

On March 2, the Supreme Court formed a panel headed by retired judge, Justice AM Sapre, to examine the alleged violation of market laws by Adani Group and its listed companies. The apex court's expert committee includes former SBI chairman OP Bhatt, Justice JP Devdatt, veteran banker KV Kamath, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani and advocate Somasekhar Sundaresan.

The Supreme Court last week granted SEBI an extension of three months till August 14, 2023, in relation to the market regulator's inquiry into the Adani Group-Hindenburg case. SEBI had sought additional six months' time to complete the probe in the Adani-Hindenburg case, saying this much time is required "to ensure that justice is carried out while keeping the interest of investors".