Cipla, Adani Enterprises drag Nifty by 100 pts; Sensex closes 300 pts lower

Indian shares struggled for direction on Monday and ended in the red with Adani stocks remaining under pressure and investors continued to worry that the U.S. Federal Reserve would keep interest rates higher for longer.

Sensex gave up on the 61,000 mark and closed at 60,691, a drop of 311 points. Nifty 50 also went below 17,850 and closed at 17,844, a drop of 100 points.

Adani stocks continued to shed in today's session with Adani Enterprises leading the laggards by dropping 6.3%. Cipla also shed 6.1%. Divi's Lab gained more than 2% in today's session and Ultratech was another stock with a decent climb.

Among sectoral indices, Bank and Energy dragged the most and lost more than a per cent each. Pharma and Metal also shed in today's session. Auto and IT were the only sectors to have ended in the green with marginal gains.

Japanese shares posted small gains on Monday as cautious traders awaited a week of important U.S. and global economic data as well as testimony by the incoming Bank of Japan (BOJ) leadership team. The Nikkei edged up 0.07% staying near the middle of its range since Jan. 24. The broader Topix gained 0.39%.

China stocks saw their best day since end-November on Monday as risk appetite improved on hopes of the economy gradually shifting from reopening to recovery, outweighing the pressure from U.S.-China tensions.

China's blue-chip CSI300 Index closed up 2.5% and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.0%. Both indexes logged their biggest daily jump since Nov. 29. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng benchmark finished up 0.8%, and the China Enterprises Index added 1%.

European shares opened higher boosted by miners on bets of demand recovery in China and a jump in car parts maker Faurecia after an upbeat forecast. The pan-European STOXX 600 index edged higher. Prices of industrial metals rose on hopes of a recovery in demand from top consumer China and amid support from global mining supply disruptions.

UK's exporter-heavy FTSE 100 gained on Monday as mining stocks rose on a bet on demand recovery in top consumer China, and retailer Frasers Group jumped after announcing a share buyback. The blue-chip FTSE 100 gained in the morning session trading above the 8,000-point mark after breaching a record high last week.

Automobile giant Tata Motors on Monday said it will supply 25,000 XPRES–T electric vehicle units to Uber in one of the largest deals in the green mobility space till date.

As per a memorandum of understanding inked between the two entities, Uber will utilise the electric sedans in its premium category service, the companies said in a joint statement.

Crayons Advertising Limited, India's leading ad agency, stated today that it has filed it's Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with NSE Emerge for its initial public offering (IPO). The first major advertising agency in India to go public, Crayons Advertising, has announced that it aims to invest in cutting-edge technology to offer comprehensive ad-tech solutions.

Through the book-building process, the company aims to issue 64.30 lakh equity shares with a face value of Rs. 10 apiece. The issue's book-running primary manager is Corporate Capital Ventures. While Skyline Financial Services serves as the issue's Registrar. (Read More)

China stocks saw their best day since end-November on Monday as risk appetite improved on hopes of the economy gradually shifting from reopening to recovery, outweighing the pressure from U.S.-China tensions.

** China's blue-chip CSI300 Index closed up 2.5% and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.0%. Both indexes logged their biggest daily jump since Nov. 29.

** Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng benchmark finished up 0.8%, and the China Enterprises Index added 1%.

** "High-frequency data shows traffic congestion and subway crowds in big cities have rebounded to a near-normal level. In Tier-1 cities, secondary property transactions have been returning strongly," said Hao Hong, chief economist at Grow Investment Group.

** Goldman Sachs still expected a roughly 20% price return from Chinese stocks over the next 12 months, after the MSCI China corrected 9% downwards in the past month. (Reuters)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong will witness the launch and linkage of cross-border connectivity between the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India and PayNow of Singapore on Tuesday.

The linkage of these two payment systems of both countries would enable residents of both countries to the faster and more cost-efficient transfer of cross-border remittances.

The launch is scheduled at 11 am on Tuesday and is to be held via video conferencing.

Shaktikanta Das, Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and Ravi Menon, Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will preside over the launch event.

India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing ecosystems for fintech innovation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has been instrumental in driving the globalisation of India's digital payment infrastructure. (ANI)

Twitter, a microblogging site has laid off more employees in a fresh round of layoff, reported a news website The Information. To recall, the company has shut down two of its offices in India out of three and told employees to work from home.

This time Elon Musk-owned Twitter has fired employees from the sales team suggested a report. However, the number of people fired remains unclear. The microblogging site removed 800 sales and marketing employees as of last month. (Read More)

Billionaire Gautam Adani-led Adani Group's market capitalisation (mcap) has slipped below $100 billion on Monday, tumbling over $135 billion since the explosive Hindenburg Research report released in late January.

The conglomerate has seen an overall mcap erosion of around $200 billion from the peak of $290 billion seen in September last year. The sell-off in most group stocks continued today, with the group's flagship company Adani Enterprises the worst performer with as much as a 9.4% drop. (Read More)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists expect the selloff in Chinese stocks since late January to reverse as the nation’s economic reopening delivers windfall profits for businesses.

The US investment bank sees potential for the MSCI China Index to reach 85 points by the end of 2023, an increase of about 24% over its close last week, according to a note from strategists including Kinger Lau. The gauge climbed as much as 1.6% in Monday’s session amid a broad China rebound.

The bullish Goldman forecast comes as investors have been debating whether the reopening-fueled China stock rally that began in November has run its course. Escalating geopolitical tensions and an uncertain outlook for the economic recovery have sparked losses in February after a three-month surge, though China bulls say a key political meeting due next month as well as upcoming earnings will bring fresh impetus.

“The principal theme in the stock market will gradually shift from reopening to recovery, with the driver of the potential gains likely rotating from multiple expansion to earnings growth/delivery,” the strategists wrote. “The growth impulse should be heavily tilted towards the consumer economy, where services sector is still operating significantly below the 2019 pre-pandemic levels,” they added. (Bloomberg)

Shares of Samvardhana Motherson Automotive rallied more than 2% to ₹84 apiece on the BSE in Monday's opening deals after the company during the weekend informed that it has inked a pact to acquire Germany-based SAS Autosystemtechnik GmbH at an enterprise value of 540 million euros (around ₹4,789 crore).

“Transaction valuation appear reasonable: The transaction EV of EUR540mn implies 5.3x CY22 EV/EBITDA. This is a tad higher than the current trading multiples of European auto component companies such as Faurecia and Plastic Omnium that are at 4.0x-4.7x CY22 EV/ EBITDA and 3.6-4.4x CY23E EV/EBITDA on consensus estimates; however, the deal valuation still appears reasonable taking into account some control premium. SAMIL intends to fund the transaction through a mix of debt and internal accruals, and expects the deal to be EPS accretive," said global brokerage Jefferies which has a Hold rating on Samvardhana Motherson shares with a target price of ₹70 apiece.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will take necessary steps to manage inflation within "expected limits,' Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a post budget industry event in Jaipur on Monday.

"In emerging markets, the situation is unique to each of the countries. In that I think, RBI is watching the Indian economy and taking a call as and when it is required," Sitharaman said. (Read More)

India’s government, which holds about 30% in Hindustan Zinc Ltd., has threatened legal action to stop the miner from buying some of Vedanta’s assets, potentially complicating billionaire Anil Agarwal’s plans to trim debt.

Government representatives on the board of Hindustan Zinc have already dissented the plan and “will explore all legal avenues available” if the company decides to proceed, the Indian government wrote to the company on Friday, a copy of which was posted on stock exchanges today.

Hindustan Zinc last month agreed to buy assets of THL Zinc Ltd. Mauritius from its parent for $2.98 billion in a phased manner over 18 months. The acquisition of THL Zinc Ltd. by Hindustan Zinc is a related-party transaction and the government reiterates its dissent on the matter, it added.

The rare move by the government throws spanner on Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources Ltd. plans from using proceeds from the sale to trim its debt and address the liquidity pressure. Vedanta Resources has bonds worth $4.7 billion maturing in the next three-and-a-half years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)

Oil prices rose on Monday amid optimism over China's demand recovery, concerns that underinvestment will crimp future oil supply and as major producers keep output limits in place.

Brent crude rose 70 cents, or 0.8%, to $83.70 a barrel by 0720 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for March, which expires on Tuesday, was at $76.89 a barrel, up 55 cents or 0.7%. The more active April contract was up 0.8% at $77.14.

The benchmarks settled down $2 a barrel on Friday, and closed lower by about 4% last week after the United States reported higher crude and gasoline inventories.

"Brent and WTI prices are up slightly this morning after selling off on recent hawkish Fed commentary, following stronger than expected CPI and PPI data released in the U.S.," said Baden Moore, head of commodities research at National Australia Bank.

While last week's announcement that the U.S. will sell 26 million barrels of crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserves adds some downward pressure to the market, global supply looks to be "flat to down" versus the previous corresponding period after factoring in production cuts by Russia and OPEC+, added Moore. (Reuters)

Noted Iranian-American economist Nouriel Roubini expects foreign direct investment (FDI) flowing out of China and coming to India. Roubini also said that friendshoring is a huge opportunity for the country as it emerges as a replacement for global capital flowing out of China.

Roubini, professor emeritus at Stern School of Business, New York, spoke to ETNOW on the country's growth potential and opportunities due to capital moving out of China. (Read More)

Speaking on the reason for fall in Cipla share price today, Ravi Singhal, CEO at GCL Broking said, "Cipla share prices are falling because the pharma company has informed Indian bourses that USFDA has conducted cGMP inspection at its Pithampur manufacturing facility. They stock has come below ₹1,000 apice levels and it is expected to remain under pressure till the outcome of the USFDA inspection comes out." (Read More)

Bharat Dynamics shares have been in uptrend for some time as the defense company has struck 10 MoU (memoranda of Understanding ) with Indian and overseas companies during the recently concluded Aero India 2023. The company has informed Indian bourses about the deal and in its latest exchange communication the defence company has received export order worth $255 million, which is subject to Government of India (GoI) clearance.

The stock is trading ex-dividend today as well. As per the in formation available on BSE website, the board of directors of Bharat Dynamics Ltd has approved an interim dividend of ₹8.15 per share for the financial year 2022-23. The company board also fixed 20th February 2023 as record date to finalise eligible shareholders for the payment of interim dividend.

The initial public offering (IPO) of Patron Exim Limited will open for public subscription on Tuesday, February 21, 2023 and the three-day initial share sale is scheduled to conclude on Friday, February 24, 2023. The shares of the company are expected to list on BSE SME on Monday, March 6, 2023.

Patron Exim IPO is priced at ₹27 per share based on a Face Value (FV) of ₹10 and a NAV of ₹17, with an issue size of ₹16.69 crore. The proceeds from the public offering will be used for operating capital, general company objectives, and public issue costs. The SME platform of the exchanges is intended for small and medium sized companies. (Read More)

ASTRAL Ltd (ASTRA IN): Result Report Q3 FY23 Recommendation: REDUCE

CMP: ₹1,912

Target Price: ₹1,752

Potential Return: -8%

Expensive valuations, assign REDUCE!

We expect ASTRAL will continue to report strong growth in Pipes & adhesive’s segments owing to healthy industry tailwinds & company’s dominant share in pluming sector. Hence in pipe segment, ASTRAL will register a volume/revenue growth of 15%/14% CAGR over FY22-FY24E respectively. Going ahead, owing to positive demand traction, we expect adhesive biz to report a revenue growth of 20%CAGR over FY22-F24E & margins are likely to remain steady at 13%. With company’s foray into Paints, Sanitaryware & Faucets, we believe ASTRAL is on path to become one of India’s leading BUILDING MATERIALS companies. Though we remain positive on growth, Astral continues to trade at expensive valuation of 60x on FY24E EPS of Rs31.9. Hence, we have assigned a REDUCE rating on the stock.

Schaeffler India Ltd

(SCHFL IN)

Q4 CY22 Result and Call KTAs: 

Result inline v/s street; product mix to be the key for sustenance of margins | Not Rated

Result highlight

§ 4QCY22 result came in-line to street estimates with revenues grew 18% YoY (2.2% QoQ) at Rs17.9b (street Rs17.8b). Gross margins expanded 200bp QoQ (flat YoY) at 39%. EBITDA expanded 20% YoY (+8% QoQ) at Rs3.5b (street Rs3.3b) led to margins at 19.2% (+40bp YoY/ +100bp QoQ, street 19.2%).

India's federal government has opposed Hindustan Zinc's proposed $2.98 billion acquisition of zinc assets from Vedanta Ltd, a letter from the government to the company showed on Monday. The deal was announced on January 19, according to the news agency Reuters.

It showed that the directors nominated by the government at Hindustan Zinc had dissented from the proposed deal announced. The government holds around 30% stake in Hindustan Zinc, while Vedanta is the company's largest shareholder. (Read More)

Adani Group stocks have seen more than $132 billion of market value wiped out since the explosive Hindenburg Research report, but none is hit as bad as Adani Total Gas Ltd.

Its shares have lost more three-quarters of their value since the short seller report was published on Jan. 24. It was the group’s most richly valued stock before that and also has relatively less liquidity. Hindenburg had calculated that, on average, seven of the conglomerate’s shares were overvalued by 85%.

Adani Total was down by its limit in early trading on Monday. It has done so each day since Jan. 27, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Indian exchanges tweaked the daily limit for the stock to 5% from 20% as the selloff worsened. (Read More)

Gold rate today opened lower on rising US dollar price and US Fed rate hike worries. Gold future contract on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) for April 2023 opened at ₹56,209 per 10 gm levels, ₹19 lower from its Friday close of ₹56,228 levels. However, gold price went further down at ₹56,201 levels within few minutes of commodity market opening. In international market, the yellow metal opened flat at $1,842 per ounce and went on to hit intraday low of $1,837.47 per ounce in early morning deals.

According to commodity market experts, gold prices are under pressure due to soaring US dollar rates and renewed worries of US Fed rate hike. They said that after the strong US economic date announced last week, speculation are high about rise in US inflation that may prompt US Fed to go for the interest rate hike. They said that gold prices may continue to remain volatile till US Fed's FOMC minutes are not over and advised gold investors to know their levels before taking any investment decision. (Read More)

Shares of NMDC Steel got listed on the stock exchanges BSE and NSE on Monday after the demerger of NMDC's steel business. The stock got listed at a discount at ₹37.75 per share. The government last month had received in-principle approval from the BSE for listing of NMDC Steel Ltd (NSL).

Currently, the government holds a 60.79% stake in NSL, which is the steel manufacturing facility of India's largest iron ore producer NMDC located in Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh. (Read More)

Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services: There is a growing concern that the equity markets are ignoring the risk of high inflation which is declining only very slowly. Comments from some Fed officials that they might have to remain hawkish for an extended period of time and might support even a 50 bp rate hike in the March Fed meet are negative for equity markets. US bond yields and the dollar index have inched up from their recent lows in response to this concern. In India, it appears that the period of sustained selling by FIIs is over and they have started buying on some days. The negative sentimental impact of the Adani issue appears to be behind us. The likely hawkish stance from the Fed will restrain the rally in the US market and this will also keep the Indian market in a range, attracting selling at higher levels and buying at lower levels. Valuations of the leading banking names, large-cap IT and capital goods companies are reasonable now and may be accumulated on declines.

The Indian rupee is expected to open higher against the U.S. dollar on Monday, helped by a decline in oil prices, which also lifted its Asian peers.

The non-deliverable forwards indicate that the rupee

The rupee is likely to see a quiet week with a range of 82.40-82.90 playing out, a trader at a Mumbai-based bank said.

The Fed minutes is likely the most important data point this week alongside the moves in the U.S. yields, he said.

The minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting will be released during U.S. trading hours on Thursday. Since the last meeting when the Fed opted for a smaller 25 basis points rate hike, expectations of the terminal rate have been priced higher.

A series of data points, including the U.S. monthly jobs report, consumer and wholesale inflation and retail sales, have prompted investors to price in a peak rate of 5.30% in the cycle, about 35 to 40 bps higher than two weeks ago. (Reuters)

One of India’s biggest state-backed lenders is willing to consider lending additional money to the beleaguered Adani Group including for a project to remodel a slum that is among the world’s largest.

Bank of Baroda will extend loans to the conglomerate if it meets the lender’s underwriting standards, said Sanjiv Chadha, chief executive officer and managing director, adding that he’s not concerned about the market volatility around Adani stocks.

The comments offer a degree of support for embattled billionaire Gautam Adani after some banks balked at refinancing a $500 million bridge loan due next month. That came after a report in January from short seller Hindenburg Research sent the group’s assets tumbling. More recently, investor sentiment got a boost when the conglomerate said it will address upcoming maturities.

“You have underwriting standards and you stick to them in good times as well as bad times,” Chadha said in an interview. He declined to elaborate on the bank’s overall exposure to the tycoon’s business empire. (Bloomberg)

The initial public offering (IPO) of Macfos Ltd, which opened for public subscription on Friday, February 17, 2023, has been oversubscribed over 8 times on day 1, led by demand from retail investors. The three-day initial share sale, with the price band of the offer at ₹96 to ₹102 per share, will conclude on Tuesday, February 21, 2023.

The public issue has been subscribed 18.52 times in the retail category, 0.02 times in the QIB category, whereas NIIs are yet to bid as of day 1, as per BSE data. As per market observers, Macfos shares are commanding a premium (GMP) of ₹82 in the grey market today. (Read More)

After recovering pieces of glass in some of the bottles, Pepsico Inc recalled more than 25,000 cases of Starbucks chilled coffee, said the US Food and Drug administration in a notice.

The company has recalled more than 3,00,000 bottles of the Starbucks frappuccino vanilla chilled coffee drink, in an action that was initiated on January 28. The action taken by Pepsico was identified as a Class 2 recall by the FDA. This category of recall attributes that the product if retained in the market' would have caused temporary or permanent health issues among consumers. (Read More)

STOCK IN FOCUS: 

Larsen & Toubro (CMP 2,226) - Considering the healthy guidance, strong order book coupled with healthy order prospects and healthy execution, we have our BUY rating on L&T, with a SOTP-based Target Price of Rs2,465.

Intraday Picks

BAJFINANCE (PREVIOUS CLOSE: RS6,417) SELL

For today’s trade, short position can be initiated in the range of Rs6,427-

6,450 for the target of Rs6,280 with a strict stop loss of Rs6,510.

UPL (PREVIOUS CLOSE: RS770) SELL

For today’s trade, short position can be initiated in the range of Rs772-

778 for the target of Rs746 with a strict stop loss of Rs787.

HDFCLIFE (PREVIOUS CLOSE: RS504) SELL

For today’s trade, short position can be initiated in the range of Rs506-

509 for the target of Rs487 with a strict stop loss of Rs517.

The Adani group’s decision to club non-current investments and security money put up against bank guarantees as part of cash equivalents has raised concerns among analysts about whether the new classification portrays an accurate picture of the group’s ability to meet financial obligations.

In a 14 February filing to the exchange, the Adani group said it had ₹31,646 crore ($3.9 billion) in cash and cash equivalents as of 31 December 2022. However, a footnote in the filing said that the cash balances included “cash & cash equivalents, bank balances, current investments, the market value of marketable securities (non-current investments), the balance held as margin money and deposit for more than 12 months". (Read More)

India's foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 8.319 billion to USD 566.948 billion in the week ending on February 10, according to the Reserve Bank of India's latest data.

This is reported to be the sharpest slump in the overall forex reserves in over 11 months.

During the week that ended on February 3, the reserves declined by USD 1.494 billion to USD 575.267.

According to RBI's latest data, India's foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves, declined USD 7.108 billion to USD 500.587 billion.

Gold reserves declined by USD 919 million to USD 42.862 billion.

At the start of last year 2022, the overall forex reserves were at about USD 633 billion. Much of the decline can be attributed to RBI's intervention and a rise in the cost of imported goods in recent times. (ANI)

Parsvnath Developers will be among the stocks in focus as it will declare its December quarter earnings today. (Read More)

India's domestic air travel has improved and reached the pre-Covid levels, according to the latest data by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The country's domestic air travel touched 85.7% of pre-Covid 2019 levels in 2022, the IATA added.

As per the global aviation regulatory body, Indian airlines saw a significant improvement in domestic air travel as well as revenue. India's domestic RPKs (revenue passenger kilometres) rose 48.8% last year compared with 2021, IATA said. (Read More)

A total of two stocks have been put under the ban for trade on Monday, February 20, 2023, under the futures and options (F&O) segment by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The securities have been put on ban under the F&O segment as they have crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit (MWPL), as per the NSE.

Ambuja Cements and Indiabulls Housing Finance stocks continue to be part of the F&O ban list whereas Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) have been removed from the ban by the stock exchange for today. The NSE updates the list of securities in F&O ban for trade every day. (Read More)

Biotechnology major Biocon is recalling 3,665 bottles of antifungal medication in the US market for “failed degradation specifications”, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).

In its latest Enforcement Report, the US health regulator said that the Bengaluru-based firm is recalling 3,665 bottles of Posaconazole Delayed-Release Tablets (100 mg, 60-count bottle), used to treat serious fungal infections like invasive aspergillosis.

USFDA noted that the New Jersey-based Biocon Pharma Inc is recalling the affected lot due to “Failed Impurities/Degradation Specifications: High Out Of Specification degradation results.”

The lot has been manufactured by Biocon Pharma and distributed in the US by Iselin-based Biocon Pharma Inc, it added.

Biocon initiated the Class II nationwide (US) recall on January 31, this year. (PTI)

Vaishali Parekh of Prabhudas Lilladher has recommended three stocks to buy today, here we list out full details in regard to those three intraday stocks:

1] LT: Buy at ₹2226, target ₹2300, stop loss ₹2200;

2] Godrej Consumer Products: Buy at ₹942, target ₹985, stop loss ₹925; and

3] Pidilite Industries: Buy at ₹2333, target ₹2400, stop loss ₹2300. (Read More)

IndiGo has partnered with Turkish airlines to expand its reach to Europe and has ordered nearly 500 more aircraft as part of its expansion plan, said Vinay Malhotra, Head of International Sales on Friday, adding that it will help improve passenger services from India to Istanbul and to Europe.

As per the airline officials, IndiGo has ordered flights from European giant Airbus and US Boeing both.

Speaking to ANI, Malhotra said the airline is currently flying 1,800 flights a day and 10 per cent of them on international routes.

"IndiGo has ordered 500 more aircraft for the expansion plan. Currently flying 1,800 flights a day and 10 per cent of them on international routes. Our current international flights are concentrated around the Indian sub-continent and some other countries around. The farthest we travel is to Turkey and Istanbul. We have been very keen to fly further and that's why a partnership with Turkish airlines. This is a codeship partnership which allows us to penetrate Europe like never before," he said. (ANI)

Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd (SAMIL) subsidiary on Sunday announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire a 100% stake in SAS Autosystemtechnik GmbH, (Germany) having an enterprise value of 540 million euros.

Samvardhana Motherson Automotive Systems Group BV (SMRPBV) is the subsidiary of SAMIL, which has entered into the agreement with the SAS company from Faurecia, a company of the FORVIA Group. (Read More)

Bitcoin finished the work week on an even keel, recouping earlier steep losses to finish unchanged as bullish sentiment offset concern over a widening US crypto enforcement effort and the backdrop of rising interest rates.

The largest digital token rose as much as 2% on Friday afternoon in New York before ending little changed at about $24,490 as of 5 p.m. Bitcoin erased declines that had sent it slumping more than 4% earlier in the session and appeared ready to once again breach the $25,000 mark. It pierced that level for the first time since August on Thursday. Smaller tokens such as Ether, Avalanche and Binance Coin also bounced back, as did an index of the 100 biggest coins. (Read More)

An Indian investigating agency has accused French spirits group Pernod Ricard in court documents of illegally making profits in India of $23 million by giving false price information and conspiring in an email campaign to sway New Delhi city's liquor policy.

The latest accusations against Pernod by India's financial crime agency, the Enforcement Directorate, detailed in the agency's 14,000-page filing of Jan. 6 in a New Delhi court, formally name the French group's local unit as an accused. (Read More)