What happens now to the Rs 4,000 crore Carlyle deal

Hi there, good morning! Welcome to ETMarkets Morning, the show about money, business and markets. I am Sandeep Singh. Let's start with the headlines first.

Excitement builds up on RIL counter ahead of AGM
Metals rally may have run out of fuel
Saudi Aramco Chairman may join RIL board
PNB Housing likely to challenge Sebi order on Carlyle deal

Now let me give you a quick glance on the state of the markets.

Dalal Street looked headed for a big selloff today, as Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded some 193 points lower ahead of the opening of the Indian market. Stocks in other Asian markets slid in opening trades. Equity gauges in Japan, Australia and South Korea were all trading with cuts.

Elsewhere, the dollar gauge was steady. Crude oil climbed to about $72 a barrel as talks between world powers and Iran dragged on, potentially delaying the return of the latter’s energy exports. In the international markets, gold rose 0.5% to $1,772.18 an ounce on Monday morning.

That said, here’s what else is making news.

A lot of expectations seem to be building up from Reliance Industries' AGM this weekend. Traders have mounted bullish bets on the stock ahead of the Friday event, with expectations that India’s most valuable company would give more details of the plans for its retail and digital businesses — and an update on the Saudi Aramco deal. Open interest in Reliance Industries futures is at a five-month high and options data suggest that the stock can rise to Rs 2,300-2,350 levels in the coming days.

Saudi Aramco chairman and governor of the Kingdom’s wealth fund Public Investment Fund, YasirAl-Rumayyan, may be inducted on the board of Reliance Industries, a precursor to a $15 billion deal, some reports said. An announcement of Al-Rumayyan’s induction on the RIL board or the board of the newly carved oil-to-chemical unit may come as early as at RIL’s AGM on June 24. Both RIL and Saudi Aramco did not reply to emails sent for comments.

After Sebi threw its spanner in Carlyle's PNB Housing Finance deal, the Indian mortgage lender is said to be considering a legal challenge. That could put the Rs 4,000 crore deal in a regulatory fix. According to the Sebi order, the company is required to have conducted an independent valuation of the business before seeking shareholder approval for the transaction. Carlyle and Salisbury Investments, which are set to be the new promoters of the company, are expected to support the PNB Housing plans to challenge the regulatory order. Appealing to the Securities Appellate Tribunal against the Sebi order is an option before PNB Housing Finance now.

Lastly, the jury might still be out on whether the scorching metal rally underway from the low of last March is done, but chart patterns signal a breather for the Nifty Metal index over the short term at least. For the first time in over a year, the index recently made a lower high and lower low pattern on technical charts. While analysts differ on the implications of this, they believe that the rally might have lost steam for the short term. Nifty Metal Index, comprising 15 stocks led by the likes of Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Hindalco, Vedanta and SAIL, rose from a low of 1,480 on March 23, 2020, to hit a record high of 5,524 on May 11 this year.

Before I go, here is a look at some of the stocks buzzing this morning.

NTPC faces a Section 29A hurdle in its bid for Jhabua Power, a clause in IBC that keeps bidders out of the process if they or their associate firms are defaulters.

Godrej Properties has become the country's largest listed real estate developer in terms of sales bookings during the last fiscal year as it clocked a record pre-sales of Rs 6,725 crore despite the COVID pandemic.

Vedanta has emerged as successful bidder for a coal block in Odisha which was put for re-bid in the second attempt of auction of blocks for commercial mining.

Marico Industries is pushing to strengthen the positioning of its Saffola brand as a preventive, healthy lifestyle advocating food product, not just an edible oil, by introducing health and wellness products under the range, according to a senior company official.

Do also check out over two dozen stock recommendations for today's trade from top analysts on ETMarkets.com.

That’s it for now. Stay put with us for all the market news through the day. Happy investing!