Adani group rout: Stocks continue to bleed; exchanges put 3 company stocks on ASM; all you need to know

Even as embattled billionaire Gautam Adani said the abrupt move to withdraw a fully-subscribed share sale at his flagship firm was due to market volatility, the group continued to take a beating at the bourses - losing about 8.76 lakh crore of combined market capitalisation in six consecutive trading days.

Hyderabad:Adani group accused of fraudulent transactions and price manipulation by the US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research continued to bleed in the stock exchanges for the sixth consecutive day. On Thursday, the group's combined market capitalisation slumped by Rs 1.76 lakh crore. Amid noisy scenes, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned as opposition members sought a discussion and a joint parliamentary committee probe into the Adani group company stocks rout.

Opposition- Opposition parties have resolved to jointly raise the issue of allegations of fraud against the Adani group in Parliament. There is no consensus yet on the mode of inquiry into the Gautam Adani-led group. On Thursday, like-minded political parties led by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge agreed in general on raising the Adani issue vigorously in both the Houses and force the government to take up the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address from Monday.

Losses mount- Shares of Adani Enterprises tumbled over 26 per cent on Thursday, a day after the firm said it decided not to withdraw its Rs 20,000-crore Follow-on Public Offer (FPO). 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 past six days.

ASM for 3 stocks- Three Adani group companies - Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone and Ambuja Cements, have been placed under short-term additional surveillance measure (ASM) framework of the BSE and NSE, according to the latest data available with the exchanges on Thursday, PTI reported.

What is ASM- High-low variation, client concentration, number of price band hits, close-to-close price variation and price-earning ratio are among the parameter checks involved in shortlisting securities under ASM. 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 per cent or existing margin whichever is higher, subject to maximum rate of margin capped at 100 per cent, with effect from February 6, 2023 on all open positions as on February 3, 2023 and new positions created from February 6, 2023". The exchanges also noted that the shortlisting of securities under ASM is purely on account of market surveillance, and it should not be construed as an adverse action against the concerned company or entity.

Rumours on pledging Ambuja Cement, ACC stocks- We would like to clarify that none of the shares of Ambuja or ACC has been pledged by Promoters. The Promoters have only provided a non-disposal undertaking and accordingly, there is no requirement of providing any top-up of shares of Ambuja and ACC or cash top-up under the acquisition financing raised last year, Ambuja Cement Ltd and ACC Ltd said in a statement to stock exchanges.

It termed as "misleading" reports of pledging of shares by the promoters as part of financing their acquisition. "Consequently, there are market rumours that amid market volatility, there is a requirement to meet the top-up triggers where in there is selling pressure," the statement added.

More on this topic: Jo Johnson, brother of UK ex-PM, resigns as director of Adani linked firm