Tale of the Tape 

Good evening everyone. Happy Friday!

Nifty (-0.5%) and Sensex (-0.6%) closed in the red for a second straight week. Midcaps (-1.3%) and Smallcaps (-0.7%) were hit too. 360 stocks in the NSE 500 ended in the red! Check out the Stocktwits Sentiment Meter:

Except Metals (+1%), every other sector finished lower. Auto (-2.6%) was the top loser, followed by PSU Banks (-1.3%) and Real Estate (-1.3%).

Trump and Musk believe that America’s gold reserves may be missing! Read our top story for the lowdown.

Is it time to go discount shopping? Check out three ideas from SEBI RA Vikash Bagaria below. 

Mahindra & Mahindra (-6%) was the top Nifty loser after Tesla entry buzz grew stronger. PS - reports say the GOI will soon notify the long-awaited rules for EV import duty relief.

Brokerage reactions. L&T Technology (+4%) got a double upgrade from Macquarie; the brokerage sees a +28% upside from current levels. JSW Infra soared +7%; Motilal Oswal has a target of Rs 330 p/sh (+30% from Friday’s closing price). 

Religare Enterprises jumped +15% after the Burman Family acquired control over the company’s operations after an 18 month long legal battle. 

Ami Organics will consider the proposal of a stock split. 

Samvardhana Motherson dipped -3% after Mercedes Benz, which is a big customer for the firm, warned its margins could be hit.

Alkem Lab (-3%) was in focus after 6.41 lakh shares changed hands in a block deal; the buyers and sellers were not immediately known.

Here are the closing prints:

Gold
A “Golden” Mystery

Are America’s massive gold reserves missing? That’s what the two most powerful men in the world want to find out. For the unaware: Uncle Sam stores all of its yellow metal in Fort Knox. The only problem? Nobody is allowed there including US senators, with the last comprehensive audit done in the 1950s.

In a recent speech, Trump said he didn't want to open it and find that the “cupboards are bare”. Elon Musk has added to swirling speculation, saying: “Maybe it’s there, maybe it’s not. That gold is owned by the American public! We want to know if it’s still there.” 

Gold has soared in recent months; on course to breach the $3,000 per ounce mark as investors look to hedge against global uncertainty. This is because it’s viewed as a safe haven. But if even a portion of the USA's gold reserves are missing, all bets will be called off.

FYI - another recent question mark has been speculation that America plans to revalue its gold reserves. The US govt currently values it at a legacy price of $42 an ounce, making it worth around $11 billion. But if it was marked-to-market, it could create a $760 billion windfall that could help with the US govt’s debt ceiling problems! This would create havoc for the Fed Reserve’s balance sheet. 

But the real problem is if the US chooses to sell any part of its gold stash for dollars to either prop up other currencies or create a new sovereign wealth fund, this would be extremely BEARISH for global gold prices. Now, nobody knows if this will actually happen yet, but Trump’s economic adviser nominee has floated this idea in the past! So stay tuned.

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