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BENGALURU, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Indian shares reversed earlier gains to close lower on Wednesday, led by a fall in insurance companies after the country's Union budget proposed to limit tax exemptions for insurance proceeds, while Adani Group shares tumbled. This was the worst budget day performance by Nifty 50 (.NSEI) in three years, since the 2.51% fall in 2020. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsMeanwhile, Indian bond yields dropped after the government announced gross borrowing at 15.43 trillion rupees ($188.75 billion) for the next financial year. A Reuters poll had pegged gross borrowing at 16 trillion rupees. Indian insurance companies were top losers post budget, with HDFC Life (HDFL.NS), SBI Life Insurance (SBIL.NS), ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co (ICIR.NS), Life Insurance of India (LIFI.NS), General Insurance Corp (GENA.NS) and Max Financial (MAXI.NS) tumbling between 8.5% to 12.5%.

☆ Gautam Adani's statement on withdrawing $2.5 bln share sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Here is what billionaire chairman Gautam Adani said:"The Board takes this opportunity to thank all the investors for your support and commitment to our FPO. The subscription for the FPO closed successfully yesterday. "However, today the market has been unprecedented, and our stock price has fluctuated over the course of the day. Given these extraordinary circumstances, the Company’s board felt that going ahead with the issue will not be morally correct." "We will continue to focus on long term value creation and growth will be managed by internal accruals.

On Tuesday, the Adani group appeared to have fought back the attack by the New York-based short-seller Hindenburg and rallied investors behind the $2.5 billion share issue of flagship firm Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS). It was a rare defeat for a man who has seemed unstoppable in recent years. In recent years, the $220 billion Adani Group empire has attracted foreign investment - France's TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), for example, partnered with Adani last year to develop the world's biggest green hydrogen ecosystem. On Wednesday, Adani said his company felt it wasn't "morally correct" to proceed with the share sale following the volatility in the market. But he said in a statement to the exchange the company was financial stable and that the withdrawal of the share issue will not impact its future plans.

☆ Australian securities regulator reviewing short-seller report on India's Adani
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Australia's corporate regulator is reviewing a short-seller report that accused India's Adani Group of improper use of offshore tax havens to determine whether regulatory action is required, according to a spokesperson. "ASIC will review the allegations against Adani and determine whether further inquiries are warranted," a spokesperson for the regulator told Reuters on Wednesday. The Adani Group said in a statement that the Hindenburg report "presents transactions related to Adani’s Australian businesses in a misleading way to purposefully undermine the reputation of the Adani Group, in order to pursue their own profit by short-selling shares in Adani Group companies." "All our businesses are Australian companies that comply with Australian corporations and securities legislation," the statement said. On Tuesday, a crucial $2.5 billion share sale for the Adani Group was fully subscribed with foreign institutional investors and corporate funds taking part, although participation by retail investors was low.

☆ Asia's richest no more? Gautam Adani's wealth crashes as $90 billion wiped off business
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The conglomerate, which has seven listed companies, has lost more than $90 billion in market value in the week since Hindenburg published its report. That stock market rout has wiped nearly $40 billion off Adani’s personal fortune. Ambani’s net worth stands at $83 billion, making him the world’s ninth-richest person, while Adani’s wealth is estimated at about $75 billion, according to Forbes. The turmoil comes despite a brief respite Tuesday for Adani when his flagship firm, Adani Enterprises, managed to issue new shares worth $2.5 billion. At the peak of his wealth last year, Adani was the world’s second-richest person, ahead of Jeff Bezos.

☆ Mutual funds have low exposure to Adani companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 1 (Reuters) - Mutual funds have low exposure to listed Adani Group companies, whose shares have dropped since publication of a report into the group by Hindenburg Research on Jan. 24. Mutual funds from India and elsewhere hold just 3.4% of Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), 2.8% of Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS) and 3.6% of Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS). Adani Enterprises and Adani Port (APSE.NS) are constituents of the Nifty 50, so they are automatically in portfolios of some exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and index funds. But active funds have very little exposure to Adani stocks and are largely unscathed by their fall. Among active funds, the Kotak Balanced Advantage fund , which has positions in Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, has shed just 0.5%.

☆ Adani vs. Hindenburg: How Asia’s richest man lost his crown in just a few days
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Gautam Adani, billionaire and chairman of Adani Group, during an event at the Port of Haifa in Haifa, Israel, on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. According to Forbes, Gautam Adani, the founder and chairman of the group, has lost his status as Asia's richest man to Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries. Hindenburg, which said it has taken a short position in Adani Group, stands to benefit from the declining value of those stocks. Adani's battle with the short-seller firm has put the group's exposure to Wall Street — amounting to nearly $9 billion, according to JPMorgan — under the spotlight. In just one week, Indian billionaire Gautam Adani saw more than $34 billion wiped off his net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

☆ Dollar bonds of India's Adani Group resume fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MUMBAI, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The dollar bonds issued by entities of India's Adani Group resumed their falling trend on Wednesday after a brief rise in the previous session. The bonds had sold off following a scathing report by U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research last Wednesday that triggered a rout in the stocks of the conglomerate's companies. The U.S. dollar-denominated bonds of Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) , Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS) and Adani Electricity Mumbai were trading lower. Bonds of Adani Ports maturing in February 2031 led the losses, falling 3.59 cents to 67.58 cents on Wednesday. Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Adani scraps $2.5 billion share sale as value of his empire collapses
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Mark Thompson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The share sale — the largest offering by a company already listed on India’s stock market — had closed successfully just 24 hours earlier. But a brutal day of trading Wednesday wiped billions more off the value of his companies, including Adani Enterprises. The conglomerate has seen its value plunge by about $90 billion since the Hindenburg report was published. “Today the market has been unprecedented, and our stock price has fluctuated over the course of the day,” Adani said in a statement. Then the Hindenburg report landed.

☆ There's a massive disconnect between markets and the Fed - and Jerome Powell's messaging could fall upon deaf ears
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Let's break down what to know ahead of the Federal Reserve's widely expected interest rate hike today. Today's rate hike decision probably won't surprise anyone, as markets have long priced in a 25-basis-point move for the February and March meetings. Goldman said he'll be watching for three things in Powell's speech:Powell will talk tough: "He's going to push back on financial markets. In any case, according to Reinking, unless Powell musters up some serious aggression, any messaging will ultimately fall upon deaf ears. What will your investment strategy look like following another interest rate hike from the Fed?

☆ Morning Bid: A quart and two halves
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan. February kicked off on Wednesday without too much trepidation about how all that will pan out. Before the Fed announcement, ADP releases its January private sector employment readout for last month and markets will also scan the December JOLTS job openings report. While markets await the 'Triple-A' of Big Tech releases on Thursday, Meta (META.O) is due to report later today and the dour news from elsewhere in the tech sector kept coming. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Exclusive: Indian market regulator examining Adani share rout, source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jayshree Pyasi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Indian billionaire Gautam Adani speaks during an inauguration ceremony after the Adani Group completed the purchase of Haifa Port earlier in January 2023, in Haifa port, Israel January 31, 2023. Spokespeople for Adani Group and SEBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The share plunge was sparked by a report by Hindenburg Research last week which alleged improper use by the Adani Group of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation. The source told Reuters the Indian market regulator is also looking into any possible price manipulation of Adani group stocks, as well as examining possible irregularities in the $2.5 billion share sale of the flagship firm Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), which concluded on Tuesday. On Wednesday, a day after the share sale closed, Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) plunged 28%, bringing its losses since the Hindenburg report to more than $18 billion.

☆ Gautam Adani’s next hurdles may be harder to clear
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HONG KONG, Feb 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - It helps to have friendly investors and rich families on hand when finalising a tricky share sale. The feat will be hard to repeat though, while the Indian tycoon’s next hurdles might be harder to clear. Investor interest in Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) was underwhelming. Shares in $32 billion Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS) have nearly halved since Hindenburg published its critical report. loadingCONTEXT NEWSThe $2.4 billion share sale by Adani Enterprises was fully subscribed on Jan. 31, data released by the Indian stock exchange showed.

☆ Adani abandons $2.5 billion share sale in big blow to Indian tycoon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Aditya Kalra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Today the market has been unprecedented, and our stock price has fluctuated over the course of the day. A report by Hindenburg Research last week alleged improper use by the of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation by the Adani Group. The Jan. 24 report has since triggered a $86 billion erosion in market capitalisation of seven listed Adani Group companies. REFUNDSAdani Group was working with its bankers to refund the proceeds received by in the secondary share sale of Adani Enterprises. The share sale had succeeded on Tuesday even when the Adani Enterprises stock price in Mumbai markets traded below the offer price of the share sale.

☆ Markets 'overpricing' Indian banks' risk from Adani exposure - Societe Generale
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Anshuman Daga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Markets are "overpricing" the risk to Indian lenders from their exposure to Adani Group, which was targeted last week in a report by short-seller Hindenburg Research, Societe Generale said, adding that a sell-off in banking shares seems overdone. The allegations in the report, which the ports-to-energy conglomerate has denied, triggered a $65 billion rout in the Indian billionaire's stocks. "We think the market is overpricing the related risks, as we calculate the sector's direct exposure to the Adani group at just 0.6%," they added. Assuming no significant change in the debt structure over the past year, SocGen estimated that Indian banks' loan exposure to Adani was close to $10 billion, just 0.6% of total banking sector loans at nearly $1.5 trillion. It said Indian banks were among the "best positioned" to gain from a rebound in capital expenditure and said it expected more "favourable" valuations post the correction.

☆ Adani Draws Enough Investor Bids to Pull Off $2.5 Billion Stock Sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Dave Sebastian | Weilun Soon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The flagship company of India’s Adani Group collected enough investor bids Tuesday to pull off a large stock sale, advancing its fundraising plans in the face of fraud allegations from a U.S. short seller. By Tuesday afternoon in India, a public share offering by Adani Enterprises Ltd. was slightly oversubscribed—indicating that the Mumbai-listed company would be able to complete the deal, which aimed to raise up to $2.5 billion.

India's largest ever secondary share sale attracted participation from anchor investors including Maybank Securities and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, as well as India's HDFC Life Insurance and state-backed Life Insurance Corporation (LIFI.NS). By Tuesday the overall share sale was fully subscribed as foreign institutional investors and corporate funds flooded in, although participation by retail investors and Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) employees remained low. Support for Adani's share sale came even as the flagship's shares closed at 2,973.9 rupees, up nearly 3% but below the lower end of the sale price band of 3,112 rupees. So, what happens to one particular corporate group, is a matter between the market and the corporate group." Reuters GraphicsHindenburg said in its report it had shorted U.S.-bonds and non-India traded derivatives of the Adani Group.

The secondary share sale of flagship Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) was subscribed 93% on Tuesday, including the anchor investor portion, Indian stock exchange data showed. The share sale needed at least 90% subscription to go through. By Monday, the book building process of the country's largest share sale had received only 3% in bids, amid swirling concerns that the share sale could struggle due to a market rout in Adani's stocks in recent days. That has since sparked $65 billion in cumulative losses for stocks of the Adani group, which called the report baseless. The support for Adani's share sale came even as the flagship's shares were trading at 2,967 rupees, up nearly 2.5% but below the lower end of the share sale price band of 3,112 rupees.

☆ Explainer: Adani vs Hindenburg: What you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Founded in 2017 by Nathan Anderson, Hindenburg Research is a forensic financial research firm which analyses equity, credit and derivatives. Hindenburg disclosed that it holds short positions in Adani companies through U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments. Reuters reported the regulator will continue this scrutiny and draw on any fresh information in the Hindenburg report. The Adani group said that several of the CFOs that the Hindenburg report points to have remained within the group and moved on to new roles. The report says key listed Adani companies have substantial debt and are over-leveraged.

Adani Enterprises, the flagship firm, was trading 4% higher at 3,000 rupees, still below the lower end of the share sale's price band of 3,112 rupees. But other group stocks, including Adani Power (ADAN.NS), Adani Green (ADNA.NS) and Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS), were down 5%-10%, extending their falls after Adani's 413-page response to Hindenburg's allegations failed to boost investor confidence. An unsuccessful share sale would be a stunning setback for Adani whose group has in recent days repeatedly said investors were standing by its side and the share offering will go through. The share sale needs at least 90% subscription to go through. Hindenburg said in its report it has shorted U.S.-bonds and non-India traded derivatives of the Adani Group.

☆ India's Adani Enterprises enters final day of crucial $2.5 billion share sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A successful completion of the share sale will show investors still believe in the group's prospects and that it can weather the unprecedented short-seller challenge and its aftermath. Adani Enterprises stock opened at 2,932 rupees, still below the lower end of the share sale's price band of 3,112 rupees. The share sale needs at least 90% subscription to go through. Some other group stocks, including Adani Power (ADAN.NS), Adani Green (ADNA.NS) and Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS), were down 5%-10%. Adani Wilmar (ADAW.NS) was down 5%, but Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) rose 0.5% at open.

Gautam Adani has accumulated wealth through companies that own coal mines, ports, cement producers and other assets. A giant Indian conglomerate couldn’t stop the freefall in its shares and bonds set off by an American short seller in what has grown into a bitter fight over the empire created by one of India’s richest and most politically connected businesspeople. Adani Group, an energy and infrastructure company, released its 413-page rebuttal to the short seller’s claims just as the trading week began in Asia. Investors weren’t convinced and dumped shares of the company on Monday, bringing the total value lost to $64 billion since last week.

☆ Instant View: Adani's $2.5 billion offer rides out share storm with investor backing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

COMMENTARYAMBAREESH BALIGA, INDEPENDENT MARKET ANALYST, MUMBAI"The FPO did get subscribed, thanks to a few institutional as well as large family offices. DEEPAK JASANI, HEAD OF RETAIL RESEARCH, HDFC SECURITIES, MUMBAI"For Indian markets, one of the concern areas is out of the way for the time being as this was weighing on investor sentiment. Since the current market price is below the offer price, the retail subscription was low as investors can rather buy it from the market." That was their focus area considering the fact that there was a difference between the market price and the floor price of the FPO. It seems that retail investors did not consider the fact that there is more to rates than just the price."

☆ Adani’s battle with Hindenburg leaves investors sizing up exposure to the global banking sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Seema Mody | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Indeed, Indian banks make up 0.6% of the group's sector loans, according to JPMorgan. This may seem low but the total exposure to the Adani Group is still around $9 billion, wrote Saurabh Kumar, an analyst at JPMorgan. Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group. Jefferies analyst Prakhar Sharma writes that, for now, the risk to Indian banks is low, saying, "we don't see material risk to the Indian banking sector." Of the seven companies operated by the Adani Group: Adani Green Energy, Adani Power and Adani Ports are sitting on the most net debt, according to analysts.

☆ Adani vs Hindenburg: India’s top businessman faces biggest test
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

So, how did a relatively young and small New York financial research firm manage to bring the Adani juggernaut to a juddering halt? Much of his fortune is tied up in the sprawling Adani Group, which he founded over 30 years ago. This is not the first time analysts have expressed fear that the rapid expansion of Adani businesses comes with huge risk. In its response, Adani Group said that the “leverage ratios” of its companies “continue to be healthy and are in line with the industry benchmarks in the respective sectors. Adani Group “is not going anywhere,” said Rajat Sharma, founder of financial advisory firm Sana Securities.

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