Adani Group stocks surge, market value rises by $15 billion
Adani Group stocks saw a massive rally today (November 28), with the conglomerate's market value skyrocketing by over $15 billion. This came after the Supreme Court decided to reserve its order on investigating the companies based on allegations of accounting fraud and stock manipulation by US short-seller Hindenburg. All ten Adani Group-listed firms experienced a boost in shares after the court declared that Hindenburg and OCCRP reports could not be considered "credible."
Individual stock performance and market reaction
Leading the surge was Adani Total Gas with a 19.62% rally, followed by Adani Energy Solutions at 13%, Adani Green Energy at 8%, and Adani Power at 7%. Other listed firms, such as NDTV, Ambuja Cements, and ACC, also saw gains. Abhay Agarwal, a Fund Manager at Piper Serica Advisors, remarked on the situation, stating, "The mood among money managers has been to cut all shorts and go long, so I am not at all surprised by today's move."
Supreme Court's observations on Hindenburg allegations
The Supreme Court bench, including Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, expressed that they couldn't order an investigation based solely on certain reports without hearing from the entities affected by their orders. The court explained, "We don't have to treat the Hindenburg report as being a statement of truth. There is no means of testing the veracity of the Hindenburg report and hence asked SEBI to probe."
SC's stance on SIT
On November 24, the SC noted that it would be inappropriate to appoint a special investigation team (SIT) to examine alleged violations of minimum public shareholding (MPS) norms by Adani Group companies. This is because there is no evidence of lapses on SEBI's part, which is investigating the matter. The court emphasized that they could not expect a statutory regulator like SEBI to issue show-cause notices based on reports put out by Hindenburg or any news organization.
