September 18, 2025

TOP NEWS

Cochin Shipyard: The company has signed a contract with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for dry dock/major lay-up repairs of one of its jack-up rigs. The estimated contract value is around Rs 200 crore, and the estimated duration for the project is around 12 months. Positive

Dixon Technologies: Company has announced plans to acquire a 51% stake in Kunshan Q Tech Microelectronics (India) Pvt Ltd, a manufacturer of camera and fingerprint modules for mobile handsets, IoT devices, and automotive applications. The deal, valued at ₹552.99 crore, will be executed through a mix of share purchase and subscription agreements. The acquisition is aimed at strengthening Dixon’s manufacturing capabilities in the mobile and IoT sectors, enhancing its backward integration, and unlocking synergies through technology transfer and faster go-to-market solutions. Positive

MOIL: MOIL marked a significant milestone in manganese ore exports from India with the dispatch of its first shipment of 54,600 tonnes of manganese ore fines from Visakhapatnam to Indonesia as a State Trading Enterprise(STE).

Allied Blenders & Distillers (ABDL): The Supreme Court of India has disposed of Special Leave Petitions filed by ABDL in its ongoing legal dispute over the Mansion House trademark, directing the trial court to conclude the suit and counter-claim within six months. The court upheld the High Court's order restraining ABDL from launching products under the Mansion House brand, reinforcing Tilaknagar Industries’ exclusive rights. Negative

Biocon : The company's subsidiary received US FDA approval for its denosumab biosimilars, along with being granted provisional interchangeability designation for the said biosimilars. Positive

MACRO WRAP

·         FOMC Review: The Fed delivered the widely expected 25bp rate cut in the Fed funds rate to 4.00-4.25% yesterday however Fed Chair Jerome Powell struck a hawkish tone during the press conference signaling less support for deeper easing.  He highlighted the risk of persistent inflation needing to be managed and described the decision as a “risk management cut”. The Fed signaled two interest rate cuts will be implemented during the remainder of the year. However, it is projecting only one rate cut in 2026, less than expected. Mixed for global markets.

• Fed’s latest Summary of Economic Projection (SEP)
• US GDP Growth: Upgraded forecasts (+1.6% in 2025, +1.8% in 2026, +1.9% in 2027, +1.8% in 2028) reflect optimism from tariff-driven front-loading (Q2 2025 GDP: 3.3%) and expected recovery in investment/consumption, despite Q3 slowdown (1.5–1.9%).
• Inflation: Headline and core PCE inflation remain elevated in 2025 (+3.0% and +3.1%) due to tariffs (20–60%), but are seen as transitory, converging to 2% by 2028, aligning with the Fed’s target.
• Unemployment: Steady at 4.5% in 2025 (near August’s 4.3%) but lowered for 2026 (4.4%) and 2027 (4.3%), reaching 4.2% in 2028, signalling labour market resilience despite current weakness (29,000 jobs/month, June–August). 
• The DJIA rose 0.6% while the S&P500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.1% and 0.3% respectively. The Eurostoxx 50 dipped 0.1%. The Dollar Index gained nearly 0.3% to 96.87 and EUR-USD fell 50 pips to 1.1810.
• The US 2Y yield rose 5bp to 3.55% and the 10Y yield gained nearly 6bp to 4.09%. The US 20Y rose 5bp to 4.66% and the 30Y yield rose 4bp to 4.69%. The German 10Y yield fell 2bp to 2.68% and the UK 10Y yield dipped 1bp to 4.63%. Brent crude oil prices fell 0.8% to just under USD68 and gold fell 0.8% to USD3,660.
• US August housing starts fell 8.5% mom (Bloomberg consensus: -4.4%) to 1.307mn and July was revised down to 3.4% from 5.2% initially; and 2) August building permits fell 3.7% mom (Bloomberg consensus: 0.6%) to 1.312mn vs -2.2% previously. Negative for USD.

INVESTMENT CALL

Stock Update – Abbott India : Steady business, outpacing Pharma peers

View – Positive       CMP – Rs. 30,948      Upside Potential – 11.4%

·         Abott India, one of India’s top pharma MNCs, leads across therapies and has over 20 brands with a revenue of Rs 100 crore and above.

·         Marketing & distribution of Novo Nordisk’s GLP – 1 in India is a near-term growth trigger. 

·         Legacy portfolio with strong brand recall helps maintain revenue growth while healthy product mix and lower input cost helped margins rise.

·         Given the company’s strong parentage, robust financials and strong track record, we value the stock at a five-year average one-year fwd P/E of 40.9x on FY27E EPS of Rs. 843 to arrive at a PT of Rs. 34,470.

OTHER NEWS

JSW Steel: The company in a definitive document to acquire additional economic Interest in M Res NSW for $60 million, raising Illawara coal stake to 30%.

Gujarat Fluorochemicals: Promoter Devansh Trademart sells up to 13 lakh shares at an offer price of Rs 3,500 apiece, 5.3% discount to the current market price as per the sources.