All the listed Adani group stocks ended in the red and its dollar bonds took a hit on Monday following reports that US authorities have widened their probe of bribery charges against the Indian conglomerate.
Investors also reacted negatively to the Supreme Court dismissing a plea of Adani Power Rajasthan Ltd seeking over Rs 1,300 crore as late payment surcharge from the Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd, a Rajasthan government-owned power distribution company.
The news also had its impact on some of the group’s overseas bonds.
A Bloomberg report said a debt paper of Adani Ports due in 2041 fell 2.4 cents, the most since August, to 79.1 cents.
Another bond from Adani Renewable Energy RJ Ltd due in 2039 fell 2.3 cents to 83 cents, reportedly its worst drop since February 2023.
The debt papers had recently hit their highest levels since 2022 as investors took comfort from the group recovering from the damaging Hindenburg report that was released last year.
According to the Bloomberg report, US investigators are looking into whether an Adani group firm, or people linked to the company including Gautam Adani, were involved in paying officials in India for favourable treatment on an energy project.
The probe is being handled by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Justice Department’s fraud unit in Washington, the report said.
However, the Adani group said in a statement that it was not aware of any investigation against its chairman.
Sensex up
Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher in highly volatile trade on Monday as investors turned cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve interest rate decision.
After gyrating between gains and losses, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled higher by 104.99 points or 0.14 per cent at 72748.42. As many as 14 Sensex shares closed in the green while 16 in the red. The index moved between a high of 72985.89 and a low of 72314.16.
The broader Nifty of the NSE rose by 32.35 points or 0.15 per cent to close at 22055.70 as 21 of its components advanced and 29 declined.
The gains were primarily led by metal, auto and commodity shares.
Reliance Industries which rebounded more than 1.5 per cent from the day’s low was the major contributor to Sensex and Nifty gains. RIL settled higher by 1.45 per cent.
Tata Steel rose the most by 5 per cent among Sensex shares. Mahindra & Mahindra, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Reliance, Maruti and Sun Pharma were the other big gainers.
IT shares on the other hand declined amid concerns over interest rates in the US market.
