Tale of the Tape 

Hola Amigos!

Nifty and Sensex cooled off from the day’s high to end with minor gains. Midcaps and Smallcaps saw deeper cuts, down -0.5% each. The advance-decline ratio was in favour of the bears (3:2).

Most sectors ended in the green. IT (+1.3%) and Pharma (+0.5%) topped the charts for a second day running. PSU Banks (-0.9%) continued to see profit-booking.

Liquor stocks took a beating after the Maharashtra govt sprang a bad surprise. More details below.

Will Rapido and BigBasket eat Swiggy and Zomato’s lunch? Read our top story for how things might shake out.

OMC stocks shined today! Check out their charts below to find out why.

IEX (-8%) was the top NSE 500 loser ahead of a power ministry meeting on market coupling of electricity exchanges.

BSE fell -4% after it was put under the additional surveillance measure framework.

Tata Communications (-1%) was down after deferring its revenue growth guidance for FY27 by one year.

Aditya Birla Capital (+1%) hit its highest level since 2017 after 2.34 crore shares (0.9% equity) changed hands in a block deal; PE firm Advent International was the likely seller.

Bansal Wire (+2%) was in focus after DAM Capital initiated coverage; the brokerage sees a nearly +25% upside from current levels.

Talbros Automotive rallied +8% intraday after bagging new orders worth Rs 580 cr.

Stock
Getting Tipsy Just Got Expensive

Liquor stocks got KO-ed after the Maharashtra govt sharply hiked excise duties on ‘Indian-made foreign liquor’ (IMFL). Radico Khaitan, Allied Blenders and United Spirits fell between -4% and -7%. This is a HUGE negative trigger, so let’s take a look.

Lowdown: Maharashtra says taxes on declared manufacturing cost will jump from 3x to 4.5x. This is the STEEPEST rise in excise duty since 2011. It means the cost of entry-level whiskies like McDowells or Imperial Blue could rise by up to +30%. 

• This is the worst possible state it could happen in, because Maharashtra accounts for 10%-13% of the country’s overall liquor sales.

• Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest companies like United Spirits could see a ~5% hit to their FY26 & FY27 profitability.

The other side: Not everyone is hurt though. Beer and wine are exempted from these new tax rules, which is why Sula Vineyards (+8%) and GM Breweries (+15%) soared. But before you get too excited, it’s not like whisky and vodka drinkers are magically gonna switch over to beer and wine overnight. So any potential gains may be limited. 

Zooming out: Maharashtra has given liquor-makers a possible way out. They’ve introduced a new category called ‘Maharashtra-made liquor’ which offers lower excise duties for local manufacturers. But reports say this is not for ‘national brands’ so we’ll have to see if companies can take advantage of this. 

Either way, this has come at an awful time for Indian liquor companies. The GOI is reducing tariffs on foreign bourbon whiskeys which means fiercer competition while increasing taxes on domestic players. As for Indian customers, they always get screwed over. The GOI promises to give relief on the one hand with income tax cuts. But at the same time, state governments find a way to make sure they get paid.

Specials
Best Stocks To Buy Now

Markets are less than 5% away from new all-time highs! Experts say this may be one of the best times to build your portfolio. Here are 5 midcap & smallcap stocks that you must absolutely not miss!