SGX Nifty hinted at a flat to negative start for Indian benchmark indices BSE Sensex, NSE Nifty 50 on weekly F&O expiry day as Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange were trading 0.17% lower at 17,480 ahead of today’s session. “Markets have completely engulfed the recent decline with a decisive up move however sustainability would be critical for a further uptick. While the global cues are still mixed, domestic data like core sector and auto sales numbers will be on the radar for cues. We recommend maintaining a positive yet cautious stance and suggest preferring top-performing sectors like banking, financials, auto, FMCG and realty for long positions,” 

Stocks in focus on 1 September, Thursday

Reliance Industries: Days after announcing its ambitions to foray into the FMCG space, Reliance Industries has reportedly acquired homegrown soft drink brand Campa-Cola for Rs 22 crore from Delhi-based Pure Drinks Group. The Mukesh Ambani-led energy-to-telecom behemoth is planning to launch the soft drink in a new avatar in October this year. Reliance’s distribution might and its category killer pricing strategy, which was on full display when it entered the telecom arena with Jio, is expected to help in the revival of Campa Cola in India.

SpiceJet: SpiceJet on Wednesday saw widening of its losses on an on-year basis during the January-March quarter of FY22 as well the April-June quarter of the current fiscal. The airline reported a net loss of Rs 458 crore for the quarter ending March against Rs 235.3 crore in the same period a year ago. During the April-June quarter, net loss stood at Rs 789 crore against Rs 729 crore a year ago. Meanwhile, the airline’s CFO Sanjeev Taneja resigned on Wednesday. The board has identified a candidate for the CFO’s position and the vacancy shall be filled in September, the airline said.

Infosys: Infosys sells stake in Trifacta Inc. The Indian IT company has divested its entire holding in US-based Trifacta Inc for $12 million. The transaction was completed on August 29. Infosys had made a minority investment of $10 million during 2016-2019, in Trifacta Inc, a data engineering software company headquartered in San Francisco, USA.

Dish TV: Dish TV India’s chairman Jawahar Lal Goel will step down from his position at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) convened on September 26. At its extraordinary general meeting held earlier in June, shareholders of the direct-to-home satellite service provider had rejected Goel’s reappointment. Goel has been continuing as a non-executive director at the company. Dish TV is a part of Essel Group and is run by Goel, Zee group patriarch Subhash Chandra’s brother, with the promoters holding a 5.93% stake in the firm.

Tata Motors: Tata Motors acquired the entire shareholding of Marcopolo S A in the joint venture entity Tata Marcopolo Motors. With this, Tata Marcopolo Motors has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors.

Cipla: The pharma company and Kemwell India have entered into an “amendment cum assignment agreement”. As per the agreement, the joint venture entity will now be incorporated in the United States of America. There is no other material change in the agreement. The company’s subsidiary Cipla (EU) has agreed to acquire an additional 13.10% stake in Cipla (Jiangsu) Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Cipla EU in China.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises: The company has signed a strategic licensing agreement with Star India (Disney Star). With this agreement, Disney Star will lease the television broadcasting rights of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Men’s and Under 19 (U-19) global events for a period of four years, to the company.

ONGC: Rajesh Kumar Srivastava will take over as the new chairman at ONGC, the third interim chief to be appointed by the government in 17 months at the country’s largest oil and gas producer as a full-time head is yet to be finalised. The government also appointed M V Iyer as the interim chairman at GAIL following the retirement of the incumbent. ONGC has been without a full-time chief since Shashi Shanker retired as chairman and managing director (CMD) in March 2021.