Sensex, Nifty Trade Flat Amid Volatility; Hindalco, Power Grid Gain While ONGC, ITC Drag | CNBC TV18

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:03]Stocks trade in a narrow band as uncertainty over the US Iran deal continues. Utilities and metals are big gainers while health care and energy drag.

[00:00:14]The government is offering up to 2% equity in Coal India with an offer for sale with a floor price of 412 per share. The timely move can mop up over 5,000 crore rupees for the government to cope up to cope with the West Asia pressures.

[00:00:32]Aluminum prices gain as China enforces production caps uh to control emission and LME inventory shrink amid West Asia supply disruption. Stocks of Hindalco and Nalco perk up.

[00:00:47]ONGC declines after reporting a dip in oil output in quarter four. Margins to come under pressure as operating expenses climb. Well write-offs also weigh down on performance.

[00:01:04]Hello and welcome to Halftime Report live from the CNBC-TV18 Motilal Oswal studio. I'm Sonam Bhutra. With me is always Vinnie Motivala. Vinnie, good afternoon. Well, we have BSC monthly expiry today as well. Yesterday's it was Nifty, so that way it's a fresh new series that we are talking about. It's been quite volatile from the word go.

[00:01:21]Yesterday, 23,900 after a lot of volatility, we could close above that level. We continue to be above that level even now. So, 23,933 on the Nifty as we speak. Bank Nifty continues to be an underperformer. We are seeing some selling come by from the highs of the day, so we'll keep tracking that. For now, the midcaps doing well, 2/10 of a percent higher on that one.

[00:01:44]Metals are rallying. We'll of course discuss that in greater detail.

[00:01:48]Autos, consumption, all these names are doing well in trade today. While we do have some pressure coming in majorly from banking index, oil and gas also not doing so well. Uh but very close to the end of earning season and also it's a holiday tomorrow. Absolutely close to the end of earning season. It's a holiday tomorrow, a truncated week. But uh yes, a lot of movers that are coming in on the broader end of the market as well, right? Look at Siemens Energy, that's up again in trade. We have Adani Total Gas, that's buzzing away. Uh Jaiprakash Power, we have AIA Engineering, uh Zen Technologies, uh Zee Entertainment, some of these movers on the broader end of the market. But let's talk about what's on the show for y'all today. We have a very exciting lineup.

[00:02:28]First up, we'll have a management uh of all the Q4 numbers. That's going to be Transportation Corporation of India to discuss the outlook of the company going forward as well. Moving on, we'll also uh bring on board the Movers and Shakers segment and we'll put the spotlight on ONGC, Hindalco, Coal India, and uh more big movers in trade. As well as in our crypto corner segment today, we'll uh focus on the latest development in the crypto space as well. But uh let's start on time for our Movers and Shakers segment where we focus on those individual stock names. And first up, uh we'll go across to Nigel who's here to tell us everything about Coal India.

[00:03:05]Nigel, afternoon.

[00:03:07]Well, afternoon. Yeah, you know, that's right. Uh Coal India is the company in focus. You know, the few reasons uh that we're looking at it is because they're going to be doing an OFS. And remember, this was our news break in the first week of May itself that they likely to do an OFS. What are the details? The government is likely to sell close to around 1% stake in Coal India by the OFS route. That equates to about 6.16 crore shares. And uh they have an option to sell another 1% stake off. So, in total, they have an option to do close to around 2%. The government holds around 63% stake in Coal India as of the last reported number. The floor price that they had fixed was around 412 rupees uh per share. And uh you know, if they just go ahead with the 1% stake, they'll raise close to around 2,500 crore. If they go the entire haul, then it'll be close to around 5,000 crore odd. In terms of dates, today is the date for the non-retail holders Uh to go ahead and apply. While on Friday, since tomorrow is a holiday, that's where the retail audience gets gets their opportunity. Remember, today's a cutoff price will be tracked. That will come post market hours, and on that base, there'll be demand for the retail audience as well. I think it's an opportune time for the government to go ahead and do this OFS. Let me give you four four broad reasons. One is that the European natural gas prices have surged up. That's why globally people are searching for alternates to gas, and that's why coal prices have spiked. In fact, the international thermal coal prices have moved up from around $95 to around $115 per ton over the last 1 year or so. It spiked up a close to around 18% since the start of this war. The third factor is Coal India volume should pick up.

[00:04:33]Remember, the last few years have been absolutely dismal. Between FY1 and FY24, the volume growth on a compounded basis was 10%. FY25 was only 1%, and last year there was a degrowth. So, on that low base, the street is factoring in mid single-digit growth, and it's a dividend machine. Last year as well, it gave close to around 26,000 26 rupees 50 paise per share, which is very, very good. Jefferies says valuations are attractive at around nine times on a PE basis and 6% dividend yield. So, OFS in the works. There appears to be rather strong demand, and the government has picked a perfect time to go ahead with this OFS. Okay, I take that point. Thank you so much, Nigel, for bringing us all these details. The stock that I'm tracking today is ONGC. The company reported numbers last evening, and it was a weak set. Now, remember, Oil India, which is the immediate peer, did do well in the quarter gone by, but ONGC did not. So, that has come in as a surprise. Their overall revenues were up 13.9% but EBITDA was down 17% this time.

[00:05:29]Margins declined by almost 1,300 basis points, and profits declined 20.6% for the company as well. Their crude production 6% on a YOY basis, 3% on a sequential basis. Even the gas production was lowered 3% on a YOY basis, 4% on a sequential basis.

[00:05:46]It was a soft quarter which was led by uh higher OPEX. There was dry well right ups as well and that is what Jefferies says in their note as well that it was a soft quarter versus what they had anticipated. They have a buy call with a target price of 360 rupees a share. The company just uh did a conference call and they indicated that they have produced as much as they sold. So, basically the production was not less than the demand that they saw. Uh however, going forward they will look at better production, more drilling, and more uh uh gas uh wells as well. So, we'll keep tracking that for you but the stock hasn't recovered from that commentary. The stock is still lower 4% in trade today. Um, and this is coming at a time when oil prices are higher.

[00:06:25]So, they expect it to continue but ONGC lower in trade. Uh but uh we do have Hindalco in focus. Nigel is back with us. Nigel, tell us. Well, that's right.

[00:06:33]Aluminum stocks, they are in focus today as the LME prices have hit the highest levels we've seen in the past 4 years.

[00:06:39]Let's run you through the key reasons that is driving these aluminum stocks higher. First, the fears around Guinea.

[00:06:44]Ministers in Guinea, well, they have indicated a desire to curb the bauxite exports to support prices. Remember, Guinea is the largest bauxite producer with an output of around 183 million tons in 2025 and exports is a large proportion of this production. Remember, most of the exports go to China. So, if China doesn't get its desired quantity of bauxite, then it could possibly disrupt the aluminum production.

[00:07:07]What's the concern though of Guinea authorities? Well, the problem is that bauxite prices have nearly halved in the past year from around 120 dollars per ton and it's come down to around 60 dollars on a per ton basis. For Indian companies, Hindalco as well as Nalco, well, they're largely backward integrated on the bauxite aspect. While Vedanta, they're partially integrated with regard to bauxite. The second factor is the concerns of output cuts in China have suddenly come back on the table. China's daily aluminum output recently touched the highest levels we have seen in the past month itself. But with the country's annual production, it's already capped at around 45 million tons. The utilization levels are in excess of around 97-98% or thereabouts.

[00:07:47]So, that raises fear of a possible supply-side restriction in addition to the production cuts that we've already seen in Middle East, which has got impacted. Remember GCC nations plus Iran put it together, they account for around 7 million tons of oil. That's roughly 9 to 10% of the global aluminum output.

[00:08:04]So, continuing disruptions in the region are also adding to the supply concerns.

[00:08:09]Finally, there are structural demand drivers when you talk about AI, data centers, electrification, as well as global energy transition. Well, that's what could supply a support aluminum demand, in turn is supporting aluminum prices. And there is this fear if bauxite supplies out of Guinea, well, they are restricted, then that will put aluminum production in a further crunch.

[00:08:29]So, put all this together, aluminum LME prices are up and stocks participating as well. NALCO and Hindalco in focus.

[00:08:35]Absolutely. NALCO and Hindalco both buzzing away in trade. Thanks so much for that, Nigel. It's over back to you, Equitas. That's the one a very recent listing reported its numbers. Nothing great coming in there. Uh nothing great, and that's why that big fall in the stock price is what we are seeing today.

[00:08:49]Uh the company is a vertically integrated precision manufacturer, which basically serves the aerospace and consumer segments. If we talk about the numbers, uh it was an improvement in terms of revenue 47% on a YOY basis, but EBITDA was a decline, a sharp one at that 23% uh is what the company reported. EBITDA margins declined 795 basis points. And this time around, there was a big loss. 54 crore of loss versus a profit last year. That's at around 9 crore rupees. Uh it said it is because of commencement of commercial operations in consumer electronics in quarter three, uh because of which the costs were higher for the company this time around. FY26 versus FY25, yes, the numbers look better overall, and the net loss, however, has expanded to 103 13 crore versus 102 crore rupees. In terms of the aerospace order book, that stands at 889 million or 89 crore rupees in quarter four versus quarter three. So, there is an improvement. The aerospace business has actually done well. 27% revenue growth. They've seen a 76% EBITDA growth as well.

[00:09:49]But, the consumer business is where they are seeing some pressure.

[00:09:53]84% revenue growth, but an EBITDA loss of 78 crore rupees. The company did indicate in a conversation with us today that it will turn back positive next year, but their working capital days have increased as well. So, the balance sheet looks stretched, and that is the other reason why the street is not so happy with the commentary on our profitability. So, 151 days. So, balance sheet and P&L weak this time around, and that's why that big fall in the stock price. Absolutely. A big fall down almost more than 8.5% as of now as well.

[00:10:20]But, let's move on and talk about some of these other movers in trade as well.

[00:10:24]And to take us through all those stocks, we have Hormuz at the wall to take us through all of that. Good afternoon. Uh good afternoon, and a plenty of movers in the broader markets in today's session. And the metals index itself, you just heard Nigel as to why these stocks are doing very well. The metals index is at a record high today. Nalco is the top gainer in today's trade, 4 and 1/2% higher on the stock. And a similar move seen in Vedanta as well.

[00:10:46]It's not just today's session, but the entire month of May the stock has done very well. The first full month after the stock has traded adjusted for its demerger, 30% higher this month now for Vedanta. Another 3% added in today's session. But, some of the earnings reactions are the sell-off is continuing in names like Poly Medicure. It's down another 5% in today's session. So, that makes it a 15% drop that the stock has seen ever since it reported its its results earlier in the week. The other mover today is Zee Entertainment, and an announcement came in last week last night that the company is in talks with FIFA to stream the World Cup Football World Cup matches later this year. 8 and 1/2% higher on that stock as well. The another positive earnings reaction is Procter & Gamble Health. Among the best earnings reactions that we have seen today on the positive side, 10 and 1/2 percent higher on the stock for this MNC company. On the flip side, the stock that has not seen a very good result reaction is BrainBees Solutions, the parent company of FirstCry, after its results. Another 5 and 1/2 percent gone in today's session, and the stock is now down over 50% from its issue price, which was at 465.

[00:11:51]Hitachi Energy, the stock didn't do very well today. Yesterday, it was very choppy, but today's session, 3 and 1/2 percent higher. Jefferies increased its target to 43,145, and that is the highest target on the street for the stock.

[00:12:05]Okay, thank you so much for that, Urmas.

[00:12:07]But, on that note, you know, let's just give it a very short break. We'll come back after the break. Connect with the management of Transport Corp to discuss their Q4 FY26 numbers and the way forward. Stay tuned.

[00:12:48]Welcome back to Halftime Report on CNBC-TV18. Nifty still holding to on to 23,900 levels. But, let's put the spotlight on the first management for today. We have Transport Corporation, who reported their numbers. A decent set of numbers that came in in Q4 FY26. When you look at it for the quarter, they managed to see a 12.3% growth. Business has seen a bit of a pickup coming in in Q4.

[00:13:08]Although, FY26, they're giving a guidance of 10 to 12% for revenue growth. Slight miss there, right? FY26 numbers have come in at 9.5% in terms of revenue growth. Uh Seaway margins, that has done well for the company. But, to talk to us about the outlook of the company going forward, let's bring on board Vineet Agarwal, managing director at Transport Corporation of India, to discuss that. Uh Vineet, good afternoon.

[00:13:29]Thank you so much for joining us on the show. I want to start by talking about that FY26 guidance. You spoke about a 10 to 12% range where you would come in.

[00:13:38]Just a slight miss there, but I want to know for FY27, given what we are seeing in terms of the current geopolitical tensions, the current scenario, what is the FY26 outlook that you have?

[00:13:51]So, FY27, you're right, and it's a pleasure to be there uh we are with you guys.

[00:13:57]See, we the the unexpected part was the Gulf War. So, that happened, I think, on February 28th. So, March is typically the best month for us in the year. And there the amount the the business that could have happened that month did not happen. So, we missed it by a bit and we were quite confident to get there.

[00:14:20]Uh notwithstanding, I think the divisions have all done relatively well and we started to see some pick up there.

[00:14:27]Uh all our businesses performed very well.

[00:14:30]Now, on the margin side also, we saw good growth and the guidance for that was about also about 10 12% and we happened to achieve that. Now, going forward for the FY27, the most obvious thing is, you know, there is a going to be an inflationary impact because of fuel pricing increases and just general cost increases across the system. So, which essentially means that could add to some revenue increase.

[00:14:54]We would have some volume increase, but we're also anticipating some demand pull back towards the end of the year or rather the second half of the year. So, which would mean that net net looking at about again the same 10 12% kind of top line increase. Okay, 10 to 12% top line increase. Vineet, as you said, there are a lot of things happening, right?

[00:15:14]So, while 10 to 12% is what would happen on the revenues, what's happening with costs right now? Because fuel prices have increased on the commercial side, it is higher. We're seeing retail price hikes as well. Commodity costs in general have increased. Is that impacting some sort of demand? Is that impacting some sort of some sort of the functioning of the business overall?

[00:15:34]Well, not directly for in impact because, you know, we have contracts where we pass on all these cost increases, whether it is fuel price hikes. You know, we on diesel side we've had a seven seven and a half rupee kind of increase. Which we have contracts for back to back and pass on.

[00:15:51]Also in terms of you've also seen that manpower costs have gone up in some places where minimum wages some states have increased that. So, that has an impact on our warehousing business and we again pass them on to our customers.

[00:16:03]So, from our side we are well protected.

[00:16:07]But, what really happens is that this kind of inflation impact is going to possibly eat up some demand in going forward. Already in the south we're we're hearing about some slowdown in terms of consumer durable consumer durable off take. Because price hikes have happened on either due to raw material or just general inflation. So, some if there is some demand erosion that happens that can start affecting the overall economy. But, for us we are relatively well protected with these pass throughs.

[00:16:37]Mhm.

[00:16:38]Okay. Uh You know, Vinit, I want to talk about two specific segments as well. One is the freight segment and the CV segment.

[00:16:45]Now, when you look at the freight segment EBIT margins, they have come off slight bit, right? While in terms of the CV margins, they've managed to see an improvement. So, for FY27 or the outlook that you could give for the next couple of quarters if possible, what is it that you're keeping an eye out on in terms of margins over there? What should we watch out for?

[00:17:04]Well, on the freight side clearly there is some competitive pressure and other areas of impact and as I said, you know, sometimes the pass through doesn't happen all the time right away. There's a sometimes a lag. Notwithstanding, I think freight should go do relatively better this year. The focus towards LTL is increasing and that will continue. On the seaways side, the margin there we do not expect any margin expansion to happen because we have a fixed capacity there and our ships are depreciated and you know, although the bunker prices have gone up by 100%, we've been able to pass on a lot of that. What's going to happen towards the second half of the year that is on Q3 end of Q3 start of Q4 is addition of two new ships that are coming in. We've ordered these ships in China and they should start coming in and hence we would have some increase in revenue but also some cost will initially cost of startup etc. will go up.

[00:18:01]So I think for the full year we would have a possibly a moderated seaways margin but net impact is that it's still going to be positive.

[00:18:10]That means would it be in that seaway margin of 28 29% is what your target is?

[00:18:15]Would it be in that range or still plus 30 somewhere on that?

[00:18:19]I think that 25 to 30% is a reasonable aspect.

[00:18:24]See also typically when monsoon starts some seaways business tends to come off because ships don't operate that efficiently but because you operate only on the domestic sector so so so some of that might happen so moderate between 25 to 30%. Uh Vinit, you're saying that you are able to pass on the hikes that you're seeing to customers.

[00:18:44]Uh it is a pass-through model. Is there any case that you will not be able to do that because demand would get impacted and ultimately it would impact your margins? Is that a risk that your business is factoring in considering that there is still a lot of uncertainty and inflation continues to be a worry?

[00:18:58]Uh sometimes the there is a lag with this, you know, you know, the hikes have happened in the middle of the month and we have to pass on this. Usually they we'll pass it on towards the end of the month. So there is some uh, give and take in this. So not something to worry about. The trend that however that is very keenly observing we are observing is that because of these fuel price hikes on the road side, um, railways becomes an important element of actually switch over. So, we have a rail business and we're seeing very good growth there.

[00:19:31]So, a multimodal business and this shift that strategically that we've done in the last decade is really helping us.

[00:19:37]So, across the board there's some volume that comes up on the road side, we should be able to capture some of that on the on the rail side or even on the sea side.

[00:19:48]Think that point, Vinit. Thank you so much for joining us today and letting us know the kind of business that you saw in the quarter gone by and most importantly what the outlook could be like considering that we are seeing a lot of uncertainty because of West Asia war. That's the word coming in from Transport Corp. The stock absolutely flat with some positive bias. Time for a break now. Dharmesh Shah of ICICI Securities will join in with some trading strategies on the other side.

[00:20:10]Stay tuned.

[00:20:33]Welcome back. The Nifty well continues to be above the 23,900 mark though we have come up from the highs. But what's the F&O setup looking like at noon?

[00:20:43]Mangalam Maloo is joining us with that update. Mangala. Well, the market is, you know, fairly volatile. It's day one of June series. The Nifty off highs, off lows as well. But as we speak, it's marginally in the green. The Nifty Bank is the one which is slightly under a wee bit of pressure right now, but no real worries out there as well. The broader markets have a lot better stuff going on for them in terms of an outperformance.

[00:21:04]The important part however is the sector of the day is Nifty Metals. If there was a one playlist which was going around today, it would be heavy metals. But the important part is that the Nifty today's low coincides perfectly with the 20-day moving average. Today's low on the Nifty is 23,868. Guess where the 20-day moving average is? 23,867.

[00:21:22]Which will give bulls some happiness that the fact that we are seeing support at lower levels. And even the Nifty Bank, which is, you know, fairly above both the 20 and the 50-day moving averages, will continue to find support out there because this is a congestion zone that the Nifty Bank crossed after a fair amount of time. So, any sort of, you know, underperformance of the Nifty Bank, bulls will not very be very worried about that. Which is why exactly the market is poised between a narrow range. 23,900 put writers are fairly active telling you there is strong support around 23,750 23,800. And we've seen some call writing at 24,000 telling you still that above 24,100 24,200, these are options that expire next Tuesday, we'll continue to see some supply. So, the range of the market which before this up move was between 23,300 to 23,800 has now moved to 23,800 to 24,200. So, it's a 500-point up move that we've seen on the range itself.

[00:22:15]Amidst the stocks which are buzzing around, a lot of long positions are added on Exide, which is outperforming today. Shorts are caught on the wrong side on Swiggy, so we'll watch out for how, you know, Swiggy performs from here on because it's seeing an element of short covering. And ONGC, we've been speaking about the results of the company and the concall commentary.

[00:22:31]There are a lot of short positions added on ONGC, which is underperforming in today's trading session. But as we kickstart June series, the most important triggers to track throughout the month of June will be one, US-Iran developments' impact on commodities because eight out of last 11 June series have seen a positive up move. Let's see whether there is a surprise coming in out here as well or not. We have the RBI policy outcome on June 5. How they navigate through the current situation that we're in when it comes to macroeconomics is something that we'll be tracking. Demand impact of fuel inflation, we've heard corporates speak about early signs of that. Could that derail the course or not? And finally, it's June, so we keep an eye on the sky.

[00:23:07]Monsoon advancement is something that we will be tracking, too.

[00:23:10]Okay. Mangalam, we'll keep an eye out on those three important points for the month of June as well. And key levels also something that you all should watch out for. But on that note, also bring on board Dharmesh Shah, assistant vice president ICICI Securities, joining us to talk about his trading strategies.

[00:23:24]Dharmesh, good afternoon. Thank you so much for joining us on the show as always.

[00:23:28]Like you heard Mangalam as well, right?

[00:23:30]Important to note for the June series in terms of three triggers. But what are you keeping an eye out on in terms of levels? Nifty today obviously continues to be a bit more volatile, though it's still managing to hold on to 23,000 at 23,900 as of now.

[00:23:44]Yes, so good afternoon, Vinay. Yes, thank you for inviting me on the show.

[00:23:47]Absolutely, I think so. If you look at the market, I think so for last few trading sessions, we managed to surpass the major resistance of around 23,800 and post such additions getting reached on the higher side, we see a more for trading range happening for the market.

[00:24:01]Going forward, what we believe, I think so the way the structure seems to be building up on Nifty 50 constituents, it looks like the market seems to be finding the support at 70-day exponential moving average. If you look at the today's low of Nifty, it exactly coincided with the 20-day exponential moving average. So going forward, we expect Nifty to see a strong support in this range of 23,600 to 23,800. 23,800 was the previous breakout level, previous resistance level, also. So we expect this to hold in this current corrective phase. And eventually, I think so Nifty should be looking for a target of around 24,400 in the month of June. So buy the dip should be the strategy. And if dip towards 23,600-800 should be looked as a buying opportunity for a target of around 24,400.

[00:24:45]Okay, all right. Taking that point, Dharmesh, what about individual names?

[00:24:48]Anything that you have on your radar?

[00:24:50]Sonali, if you look at the market, I think so the way the things are panning out in terms of sectors, power as an index seems to be clearly outperforming even in this current corrective phase.

[00:24:58]So, power as a index to talk for I think so the 10 months of long consolidation breakout has been witnessed in the power index itself indicating I think so the expiration likely to continue on the higher side. So, we believe that inside the power space Tata Power remains to be a top top pick in the current market price. So, if you look at this chart from the Tata Power from the weekly perspective, the stock has witnessed a falling trend line breakout retesting the previous breakout level which was placed at 40 415. Post results, we expect Tata Power to see clearly outperformance going forward keeping a stock target target of 470 and a stop loss of around 392. So, Tata Power remains to be a top pick inside the power space. Apart from to Tata Power, Power Grid is something one. Post results, we have seen some bit of a profit booking happening for Power Grid, but strong support seems to be placed in the level of 285 to 289.

[00:25:49]And I think the same story of falling trend line breakout indicating the end of the corrective phase for Power Grid.

[00:25:54]Expecting the Power Grid to head towards 352 keeping a stop loss of 289. So, Tata Power and Power Grid remains to be a top pick at the current market price. Okay, take take that point. In fact, Dharmesh, we do have some queries that we would like to take up with you. Let's get to the first one. Tina Kapoor is writing to us from New Delhi. She holds 150 shares of Eternal at 230 rupees a share. She asks if she can book her profits right now.

[00:26:20]She bought it at a lower level 230 rupees. So, making some profit here.

[00:26:24]What do you suggest?

[00:26:25]I would suggest you to hold on to the stock. I think so the stock seems to be the verge of a breakout. I think so 250 354 is likely to see a breakout and should be looking for a target of around 265 to 268. So, Eternal I think so once you go and book around 265 to 268 is a good level to book profit.

[00:26:44]Okay.

[00:26:46]Dharmesh, one more query. This is actually on Ashok Leyland. Utkarsh is writing to us from Mumbai. He wants to know if Ashok Leyland is a good bet that comes in on the auto auto auto and side if he wants to play that side of the story, but for a short term, would that be advisable?

[00:27:03]Yeah, if you do I think so the whole of the auto space I think there's strong sets of numbers from the money perspective. But yeah, definitely crude oil is something one which was impacting some bit of a pressure on the auto space as a whole. But we believe I think so crude should see as cool off going forward. Looks for target of around 1992. So can be a positive for across auto space. Coming to Ashok Leyland again I would say that the stock has seen a good correction from 210 to almost 145. Strong support is placed at around 138-142.

[00:27:33]We expect Ashok Leyland to head towards 174 to 175 in the month of June. So buy the dip should be the strategy for Ashok Leyland. If one is holding I think so one should hold on for target of around 174.

[00:27:44]Take the point Dharmesh. Thank you so much for joining us with your thoughts on individual names. By the way the markets have come off sharply from the highs. We are in the red as we speak.

[00:27:54]The mid caps too have have taken a dip as we speak. We do have a lot of stocks at the day's low. HDFC Life, SBI Life, two of them there.

[00:28:03]There's also HUL, HDFC Bank, ITC, Tech Mahindra, some of these big names and big weights on the index which have come off from the highs of the day.

[00:28:13]Look at that. Some of these insurance insurers not doing so well. We do have ITC, HUL, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, all these stocks not doing so well. Reliance Industries has also come off from the highs. So continues to be a volatile day, but we have come off from the highs. So we'll keep tracking that for you, but it's time for a short break now. On the other side in our crypto corner segment, Manisha Gupta will focus on the latest developments in the space. Stay tuned for that.

[00:28:58]>> Finance.

[00:29:00]Welcome to Crypto Corner and let's start with the regulatory and legislative shifts that we have seen into the international markets and the top of the list clearly is Clarity Act where there is uncertainty on legislative passage odds have dropped to nearly 50% from 75% in the previous week and we've seen more and more concerns coming in for this one. The second important news over the week has been the European regulatory crackdown where we did see the Spain government block decentralized prediction markets including Polymarket and Kalshi as well. And this is being done to ensure to one to because it is illegal and the gambling especially within games is not allowed. But there's a positive within the news as well. This is about the global stable coin adoption where you have National Bank of Georgia now partnering with Tether to launch a CBDC initiative. When you look at the overall money rotation within the crypto markets, well we actually have seen outflows especially from the Bitcoin ETFs. But there also has been inflows especially when it comes to the technology. There the Bitmain emergent tech has accumulated 111,000 ether in the past one week. The Bitcoin spot ETFs have lost nearly 1 billion over the same time. This is as the capital seems to be now rotating towards the altcoins. Alternative assets like Hyperliquid, Solana, and XRP actually have seen more inflows and money coming in for them. Solana's ecosystem actually is slated to join Russell 3000 index and that's a big news for Solana keeping those markets and market cap on the higher side.

[00:30:32]And when you look at the overall banks and brokerages getting in on chain to crypto, that clearly is now started to include bigger names. For example, you have JP Morgan which is now operating through its blockchain division Can access digital assets and JP Morgan now has launched JPM on-chain liquidity token and money market fund and my on-chain net yield. So, we are we have seen JP Morgan it already had one existing it seems to have added one more.

[00:30:59]There is also an addition coming in from Goldman Sachs and BNY which are looking to launch an institutional tokenized money market fund solution. There is also UBS which is now operating UBS tokens on-chain repurchase transactions.

[00:31:13]There is DBS Bank and SBI coming together for a digital markets built on-chain legal framework for digital fixed rate notes and variable capital as well. So, big names now coming in on-chain for giving services to their participants, their clients and of course getting in more people as well.

[00:31:33]And I'll go continuing of course with the crypto as a market. We are now joined by Nischal Shetty he's founder at WazirX and joins us now.

[00:31:41]Nischal, hi. Thank you so much for joining and there's just so much happening in the international markets there in. What is your sense on clarity and the way we see markets moving with big bank names now coming in on-chain?

[00:31:53]Um thanks for having me here, Manisha.

[00:31:55]Um I think uh if you specifically look at the US uh there's definitely, you know, a lot of regulatory clarity emerging. I think in the past they came up with the the stablecoin related act and and that I think pushed the whole payments ecosystem around the US and globally towards a you know, I would say a really greater adoption cycle. Now, if you look at a lot of these traditional payment processors all around the the the US they're now supporting stablecoins.

[00:32:29]And it's becoming sort of like a a default method for almost every payment provider in the US where if they are accepting credit cards and debit cards and fiat they're also now accepting I think they're starting with stable coins so USDT but I think over time they'll start accepting other digital assets as well and depending on you know the the regulatory frameworks as it evolves. I think for stable coins at least that adoption has really skyrocketed in the US and what that's doing is it's allowing the the US stable USDT and USDC all these stable coins to um I would say merge into you know your your traditional commerce online and and now the next you know um act that they're trying to push for I think that will bring more clarity on you know the regulatory aspect of four exchanges and and any crypto related services in the US. So so at least from a US point of view I think the regulatory framework are are getting solidified.

[00:33:37]In Europe we've seen Mika and and that's you know Europe is sort of already established and US getting established I think two of the largest economies globally would have really built a proper framework for crypto and in Asia we we've seen multiple countries you know Hong Kong Singapore and quite a few other countries in Southeast Asia coming up with regulatory frameworks. Okay. India we have to see I think we are in that path like you know just a few few days back we had the standing committee you know meeting and asking questions to different crypto exchanges was it was one of them.

[00:34:17]So I think it we are still on that path probably might take a longer than some of the other geographies but India has its own unique challenges on you know what's the right way and right approach to regulate the sector.

[00:34:31]So we'll have to wait and watch. Let's see how that goes. Oh, yes. Yes.

[00:34:35]Mr. Also, WazirX is now launching WazirX zero and the futures as well. What is the plan on that one? But even before we get to that, how is it, you know, after that Lazarus 2024 incident, what is it that is happening with that?

[00:34:50]How have you updated your security and multi-party compatibility? And of course, what is the timeline and sense of restructuring strategy of making the affected users whole?

[00:35:02]I think for us, you know, the the cyber attack that happened, it was more on the infrastructure where our cold wallets were held. So, what we've done is we've gone with BitGo, which is one of the largest, you know, custody provider. So, majority of our assets are now with BitGo in their cold wallets and they're one of the largest in the world. They're also a company that has IPO'd in the US.

[00:35:27]So, so that's one of the stronger points. We've also gone with another infrastructure provider called Fireblocks, which is the second largest or or probably they're, you know, on par.

[00:35:37]But these are the two big names in the in the custody industry or the infrastructure for, you know, securing your digital assets, BitGo and Fireblocks. And we've made sure that we use them now.

[00:35:50]In terms of restructuring, you know, we were able to distribute 85% of the value. And now for the remaining 15%, we are we have like a 3-year road map, which all our, you know, creditors, they approved that. So, the idea is that in the the next 3 years, we build up our business, create revenues and distribute the profits so that we can make the users the 100% of the funds we can give back.

[00:36:20]So, that's this 3-year journey now.

[00:36:22]We're on that rebuilding phase. The question is how do you rebuild, you know, after this?

[00:36:27]I don't think any company's been able to come back from these kind of attacks.

[00:36:31]Usually it's you know you wrap up you go home, but we believe that we have a responsibility where we need to build this up again and be able to give back you know whatever we can make from this journey to our creators and that's what we are doing.

[00:36:48]In that we we've been trying to innovate. Now if you look at the the regulatory landscape you know with uh what trading and all with TDS and all it's it's much more harder, but in in the in the whole future space in crypto that's been taking off really well in the last two to three years.

[00:37:05]Mhm.

[00:37:06]And the reason there are multiple reasons for that you know we can discuss that, but futures is sort of I would say the top revenue generator for all of the exchanges in India, but even globally futures has really grown in size the last two three years.

[00:37:23]So it's not just the fact that you know TDS came into spot exchanges in India that you know everyone moved to futures.

[00:37:31]There's also this maturing you know audience in in in crypto like they all started with spot spot is a very simple to understand easy to use kind of sort of a financial instrument, but futures requires you to learn and get better at it and what's happening is you know it's a journey for everyone who entered crypto in 2017 2018. Mhm. Where they spent four five years understanding you know money markets or financial industries operate and now they're graduating towards becoming you know proficient in futures and that is not just in India but you're seeing that globally in the crypto ecosystem which is why all these futures ecosystems have grown you know now the the largest decentralized exchanges are also futures exchanges globally and if you look at the volumes for any of the centralized exchanges in in any part of the world. uh Futures plays a major role. So, so that was one of the reason why we are also getting into futures. We want to make sure that all of our customers can trade effectively on on our futures market.

[00:38:36]Mhm. But we are taking a cautious approach.

[00:38:39]For example, we want to make sure that people understand before they trade. So, we have sort of a question where you need to answer questions which you know helps you also understand that you know this market, you know what futures is, you know what leverage is, and you know the risks involved, and then you get it.

[00:38:55]And and I think it's going to be a journey, you know. You learn, you try, you and we have low leverage right now like on on crypto for example, on some of the larger tokens like Bitcoin, you usually see a leverage of 100x to 150x.

[00:39:08]Unheard of, but you know, in in traditional markets, but that's like a common thing. But we started with 10x because we want people to learn, and and gradually we'll increase the leverage.

[00:39:18]So, we're taking steps to like you know, go hand in hand with how our customers mature, we'll also mature the platform, and offer the right kind of you know, trading options for them. As you said, next few years are going to be important for you in terms of road map, and of course getting that participation, trust, and those volumes as well going.

[00:39:35]But thank you so much Nishchal for joining us today. Okay Nishchal and Manisha, thank you so much for taking us through that conversation. With that, we'll slip into a break. When we come back, we'll focus on Translay Translay Lighting in our Inside Out segment. Stay tuned for that.

[00:40:08]Welcome back. You're still tuned into Halftime Report. The markets have recovered yet again from the lows, so it continues to be a very volatile market.

[00:40:15]But if you talk about the broader markets which are outperforming, we do have some stocks which are not doing so well. Uh Techno Electric is one of them, which is down around 10% in trade. Uh we spoke about Equitas earlier. Uh that is lower in trade, but the other stocks include the likes of G Shipping, which is down around 6 and 1/2%. Uh there's also Spark, which is not doing so well.

[00:40:33]So, down 5% on that one. Carborundum India is the other one, which is sitting with cuts of around 5%. So, a lot of earnings reactions that we are tracking uh and news flow as well. Uh Kernex is the other one which is in focus. 5 and 1/2% higher right now. They have uh bagged Kavach order worth 475 crore rupees. Mishra is the other one which is not doing so well. So, a lot of stocks which are reacting to news updates and earnings as well. Well, it's time for our Inside Edge segment. We'll focus on Transrail Lighting. Reported a weak quarter four. Revenue margins were under pressure. Uh Vinnie, tell us more. We spoke to the management as well. Hi, absolutely. So, when you talk about Transrail Lighting, not a great set of numbers. During the all three first three quarters of FY '26, they managed to see very strong growth. Q4 FY '25 was also a high base.

[00:41:18]So, yes, because of that we've seen a a lower number coming in, but a decline was something that the street was not expecting. So, decline in revenue of 4%.

[00:41:25]Margins fell 90 basis points in Q4 as well. FY '26, they've given a guidance.

[00:41:31]Now, the company was in that range of guidance. Revenues actually better than the range they guided for of 26-27%.

[00:41:37]Margins also came in the range of what they had guided. But, what is the outlook of the company, right?

[00:41:42]Unexecuted order book stands at around 16,300 crores for the company. Uh most of it is obviously domestic order is around 60% uh 60 plus percent, and the remaining is international is 30 plus percent around that level. The management said that they're looking at a 20 to 22% growth in FY '27. Uh West Asia accounts to 1,000 crores of the 16,000 crore total order book which they have. And margins they see it at around 11% given the geopolitical uncertainties that are going on as well. 25% growth in terms of order book expectation and new orders are also expected during the year. So that could be in the range of around 10,000 to 11,000 crores. They also made some new capex plan announcement yesterday. So that would come in through internal accruals that will be funded through that as well. But let's on that note listen into what the management had to say. Our stock is still down 4.5% in the trading session.

[00:42:35]Now looking at 27, we're looking at a 20 to 22% growth on revenue, which is very important. We have a order book of 16,300 odd crores. So we are well placed. Our international book is around 40% and domestic is 60.

[00:42:52]Therefore, we are comfortable that we will meet our revenue and the guidance going forward for 27. The West Asia, we have two jobs.

[00:43:02]Uh not very big, 1,000 crores out of 16,000. And they're all in a startup phase. So there is no crisis for us in terms of these jobs. And we're hopeful that things will ease out in the next few months. Government is very bullish about the energy infrastructure.

[00:43:17]Internationally, we see 50 to 60,000 odd crores of orders. So our take would be a 25% growth on our last year's order book of 8 and 1/2 thousand. We are looking at 10 to 11,000 crores of new orders coming in this year.

[00:43:31]All right, that's the word coming in from Transly a rail lighting. With that, it's a wrap on this edition of Halftime Report. Do stay tuned. Business Lunch will take all the action ahead.