3 Adani stocks under additional surveillance

The Indian stock market regulator has put three Adani group companies, including Adani Enterprises, under short-term additional surveillance measure framework (ASM), according to the latest data available with the exchanges on Thursday.

Apart from Adani Enterprises, the other two firms listed by the two stock exchanges are Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone and Ambuja Cements acquired by the Adani group. They will be put under the ASM of the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange.  

The parameters for shortlisting securities under ASM include high-low variation, client concentration, number of price band hits, close-to-close price variation and price-earning ratio.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE said these companies have satisfied the criteria for inclusion in short-term additional surveillance measure or ASM.

Under the short-term ASM, the exchanges said, "applicable rate of margin shall be 50 percent or existing margin whichever is higher, subject to maximum rate of margin capped at 100 percent, with effect from February 6, 2023 on all open positions as on February 3, 2023 and new positions created from February 6, 2023".

Market experts believe that putting in this framework means intra-day trading would require 100 per cent upfront margin.

The shares of Adani Enterprises fell by more than 26 per cent on Thursday, a day after the port-to-power conglomerate announced it has decided not to go ahead with its Rs 20,000-crore Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) and will return the proceeds to investors. The shares had plunged more than 28 per cent on Wednesday.

Most of the other group firms also declined for the sixth day in a row on Thursday and 10 listed Adani Group firms have faced a combined erosion of over Rs 8.76 lakh crore in the past six days since US-based Hindenburg Research accused the Indian firm of fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation. The Adani Group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.

Alleging the "patronage" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi behind the growth of the Adani Group, the CPI(M) demanded on Thursday that regulatory bodies and law-enforcement agencies probe the charges levelled by Hindenburg Research against the Gujarat-based conglomerate under the Supreme Court's supervision.