MARKETS | PAGE 6 NEWS POINT | PAGE 5 RBI guv continues to push rupee internationalisation INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 'Teamplayer’UnileverCFO aimstotransformcompany BENGALURU, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2025 Trump and Xi talk, make progress onTikTok, trade FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XXXVIII 133, 22 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E CBC 15502/13/0018/2526 SENSEX: 82,626.25 ▼ 389.71 NIFTY: 9,173.75 ▼ 96.55 NIKKEI 225: 45,045.81 ▼ 257.62 HANG SENG: 26,545.10 ▲ 0.25 `/$: 88.10 ▼ 0.03 `/€: 103.61 ▲ 0.73 BRENT: $67.15 ▼ $0.29 GOLD: `109,388 ▼ `308 Sebi still reviewing multiple charges against Adani MARKETS REGULATOR SEBI is still looking into more than a dozen allegations thatAdani Group and its offshore funds broke securities regulations, reports Reuters. ■ PAGE 5 Total monthly equity supply (incl. IPOs, QIPs and promoter/PE blocks) (in $ billion) 9.5 10.4 9.0 8.7 7.7 5.8 5.3 3.2 7.2 2.0 2.3 6.2 6.6 Jul Aug Jun Apr May Mar Jan Feb Dec 2024 2025 Source: NSE, BSE, Bloomberg, Jefferies richvaluations that stocks today command,manypromoters too arecashingout.BetweenJanuary and earlyJune,sales of stakes by promoters had amounted to `71,000 crore,data from Prime Databaseshowed.Thiscompares withtotalsalesof`2.45lakhcrore bypromotersin2024and`1.62 lakhcrorein2023. Among the large IPOs expected to hit the markets are ● Going bananas overApple SANKHADEEP BANERJEE Govt open to talks onAGRrelief forVi ● SC agrees to hear telco’s fresh plea URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, September 19 SOME RELIEF ON the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) front looked possible for Vodafone Idea on Friday,with the Supreme Court agreeing to hear its plea against a fresh demand of `9,450 crore from the department of telecommunications (DoT) on September 26 and the government not opposing SURVIVAL BATTLE 7.85 Sept 18 (close) 8.41 7.13% Sept 19 (close) Vodafone Idea the company’s petition. This marks a departure from earlier proceedings, when in May the apex court had dismissed pleas byVoda- AdaniGroup’sm-cap surgesover`65,000cr 3.0 0.9 Oct THE MASSIVE SUPPLYofpaper into the Indian stock market is expected to continuewith up to $70billionestimatedtocomein overthenext12months,according to Jefferies India. That’s a whopping`6.2lakhcroreatthe very least. The supply includes initialpublicofferings,qualified institutional placements, and promoter/privateequityblocks. The figure is the same as in the previous12months. “Clearly the attraction for corporatesaswellasforexisting private equity investors is that they can continue to raise capital at attractive valuations, strategists at the brokerage say. MSCI India,theypoint out,continues to trade at a price-earnings multiple of 22x forward earningsor25times,iffinancials areexcluded.Theonlycaveatisa marketcollapse,theynote. Approximately`72,000crore has been raisedvia IPOs in 2025 until August end.Interestingly, the offerforsale component has beensignificantlybiggerthanthe fresh capital component both in 2024 and 2025. Thanks to the Nov THE CENTRE WILL route the funds for all centrallysponsored schemes, with an annual budget outlay of `5 lakh crore, via the RBI platform from November instead of state treasuries, reports Prasanta Sahu. ■ PAGE 2 SUPPLY-SIDE STORY Sep Govt to channel CSS funds via RBI from November KISHOR KADAM Mumbai, September 19 Jul THE RESERVE BANK of India will conduct an overnight variable rate repo (VRR) auction on Monday, amounting `1 lakh crore, it said on Friday, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 6 Paperchase:$70bn innext12months Aug RBI to conduct `1-lakh-crore VRR on Monday TATACAPITAL,NSE,JIOTO LEAD ISSUANCES 1HCY IN THE NEWS Tata Capital, National Stock Exchange and Jio Platforms. WhileTataCapitalisexpectedto raisearound`16,000crore,the NSE offering could be as much as `25,000 crore.Jio Platforms is tipped to be India’s biggest IPO ever, with an offering of `30,000 crore, Motilal Oswal has estimated. THE SURGE IN most Adani Group stocks on Friday, following Sebi’s order on allegations by Hindenburg Research, led to an increase in its market capitalisation by over `65,000 crore. Adani Enterpriseswas top gainer (5%) among the Nifty packwhile Adani Power (12%)was the top gainer for the group. –ANANYA GROVER Continued on Page 7 Advancetax growthslows to3.9%inQ2 PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, September 19 Buyers stand in a queue outside the Apple store at BKC in Mumbai to buy the newly launched iPhone 17 on Friday. IPHONE 17 LAUNCH SPARKS RECORD DEMAND, PAGE 4 THEADVANCEDIRECTtaxcollections for the second quarter of 2025-26 from companies, LLPs and individuals rose by a modest3.9%onyearcompared with a 19% growth seen in the year-agoquarter,owingmainly tothepersonalincometaxrelief announced in the Budget. Advance tax receipts for Q1FY26hadgrownby3.6%on year, due to the impact of tax cutsandhigherrefunds.ForQ2, such receipts stood at `2.95 lakhcroreasofSeptember17of FY26 compared with `2.84 lakh crore in the year-ago period. Continued on Page 7 High-speed trading firmswooing talentwith monthly salaries ofup to `12.5 lakh Seven-figurepaydayforQuantinterns ALEX GABRIEL SIMON September 19 TRADERS CLUB HIGH-SPEED TRADING firms are rapidly increasing pay for entry-level jobs in India,brushing off a regulatory crackdown on the world’s biggest equity derivativesmarket. Amsterdam-based IMC TradingBVhasofferedinternsin India up to `12.5 lakh a month ($14,182) this year,a threefold jump from 2024, according to peoplefamiliarwiththematter. Quadeye, one of the biggest recruiters locally,paid newbies up to `7.5 lakh, up 50% from last year,the people said,asking nottobenamedduetocompany policy. Indian finance professionals earn an average annual base pay of about `7 lakh, accordingtoGlassdoor. The hiring push and lavish pay packages continue even as Notional value of equity derivatives trades ■ Quadeye, one of the biggest recruiters locally, paid newbies up to NSE turnover (20-day moving average) Sebi curbs take effect 6 `7.5 lakh, (in $ trillions) up 50% from last year 4 2 0 ■ Amsterdam-based 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Note: Data include index and stock futures, call and put options Source: Bloomberg increasedregulationtoprotect the interests of loss-making retailinvestorshashelpedcurb derivatives trading by more than40%fromapeaklastyear. That’s because of the sheer potential for gains the world’s IMC Trading offers interns in India up to `12.5 lakh a month, up 3x y-o-y top equity derivatives market byvolume has to offer: foreign funds and proprietary trading desks using algorithms made $7 billion (over `61,000 crore) in gross profits in the year to March 2024 alone. ■ Indian finance professionals earn an average annual base pay of about `7 lakh “The demand for profitable traders is as strong as ever,” said DanielVaz,co-headofquantand tradingtechnologyrecruitingat AquisSearch. Continued on Page 5 BENGALURU fone Idea and its peers seeking waiver of interest and penalties on AGR dues. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre before a bench led by Chief Justice B R Gavai, along with Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria, requested adjournment, stressing that discussions were underway to find a way forward given that the government now holds a near50% stake in Vodafone Idea. “Some solution may have to be found out, subject to your lordship’s approval. If it can be kept next week, we can think of some solution,” Mehta told the court. Continued on Page 7 Adani Group stock performance (On Sep 19, % change) 12.4 Adani Power 7.4 Adani Total Gas 5.3 5.0 5.0 4.7 Adani Green Energy Adani Enterprises NDTV Adani Energy Soultions ACC Adani Ports & SEZ Sanghi Industries Ambuja Cements 1.1 1.1 0.6 0.3
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