Adani Ports shares tank 6% on report of US regulatory scrutiny; here's what tech analysts say

Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd fell sharply in Friday's trade after a news report by Bloomberg suggested that US authorities were looking into representations that Adani Group made to American investors following short seller Hindenburg Research's scathing report. The US Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, New York, has sent inquiries in recent months to investors with large holdings in Adani Group, focused on what the Indian ports-to-power giant told them, the report stated. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also has a similar probe underway, it further mentioned. An Adani spokesperson, in response, said: "We are not aware of any such subpoena to investors."

Adani Ports' stock today cracked 5.72 per cent to hit a day low of Rs 702.85 over its previous close of Rs 745.50. It was last seen trading 4.56 per cent lower at Rs 711.50. In addition, the Gautam Adani-led Indian conglomerate's other listed stocks also felt the pain after the report of US regulatory scrutiny. Group's flagship firm, Adani Enterprises came under intense selling pressure today, diving up to 9.73 per cent.

Adani stocks have witnessed major ups and downs after the Hindenburg setback. In January this year, US-based Hindenburg Research released a report alleging stock manipulation and accounting fraud by the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate. Adani, however, denied all the claims.

Indian market regulator Sebi in May had "drawn a blank" in investigations into suspected violations in overseas investments in the Adani group and a Supreme Court-appointed panel said its ongoing pursuit of the case could be a "journey without a destination".

On technical setup, support for Adani Ports' counter could be seen at Rs 700, followed by Rs 655 levels.

AR Ramachandran from Tips2trades said, "Adani Ports looks slightly bearish on the daily charts with strong resistance at Rs 740. A daily close below support of Rs 700 could lead to target of Rs 669 in the near term."

Vaibhav Kaushik, Research Analyst at GCL Broking, said, "The stock is down due to a reported enquiry setup in the US against Adani Group. Adani Port has strong support near Rs 655. So, buy on dips is advisable near 680 with a stop loss of Rs 649."

VLA Ambala, Research Analyst at Stock Market Today, said, "Biparjoy cyclone is directly impacting Adani Ports' business. Those who are already invested in this stock should place a strict stop loss at Rs 647. Expected targets in the future could be between Rs 780 and Rs 900."

Around 3.90 lakh shares changed hands today on BSE, which was higher than the two-week average volume of 2.10 lakh shares. Turnover on the counter stood at Rs 28.05 crore, commanding a market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 1,54,363.53 crore.

Meanwhile, Indian equity benchmarks traded lower in late deals today. The domestic indices were dragged by weakness across all sectors due to profit-booking. The benchmark BSE Sensex hit new record highs in each of the previous two sessions, while the broader NSE Nifty came within one point of its all-time high on Thursday before witnessing selling pressure at near-record levels.

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