Rudra Murthy BV, MD at Vachana Investments, on Monday recommended a 'Buy' call on Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) Ltd shares based on technical parameters. "The stock has made a strong bottom around the Rs 180-185 zone and currently showing strength. Market participants can 'Buy' IEX's stock for targets of Rs 235-250. Keep stop loss placed at Rs 185 for this trade," he told Business Today TV. IEX shares were last seen trading 1.32 per cent higher at Rs 195.20 today.
The other stock which the market veteran preferred at current levels was Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Ltd. "ONGC looks strong on daily charts. Investors can 'Buy' this counter for an upside target of Rs 350 with a stop loss of Rs 325," Murthy stated. ONGC was down 0.17 per cent at Rs 332.05. Separately, he advised investors to "wait and watch" and "not react" to US-based short seller Hindenburg Research's fresh report. The market expert suggested that any deeper cuts on Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd and Adani Enterprises Ltd shares could be considered as a buying opportunity.
Hindenburg has now alleged links of Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch with an offshore fund tied to the Adani group.
The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) secretary Ajay Seth said that the government has nothing to add at this point in regards to Hindenburg's report on Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) chief Buch.
This comment comes after Madhabi Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, issued a point-by-point rebuttal of Hindenburg's report. The Buchs said that the investment in the fund that Hindenburg is referring to is from 2015, when both were private citizens, and almost 2 years prior to Madhabi's appointment even as a whole-time director of Sebi.
They said that they had invested in the fund because the CIO Anil Ahuja was a childhood friend, and once he left the fund in 2018, they redeemed their investment. The fund in question did not at any point invest in any bond, equity or derivative of the Adani group, the Buchs added.
They also clarified that the two companies set up by Madhabi Buch in India and Singapore became "immediately dormant" upon her appointment in Sebi. Dhaval Buch who had retired from his private job in 2019 started his consultancy services with these two companies. The shareholding of these two companies was moved to Dhaval Buch, and was appropriately informed to Sebi, the Singaporean authorities and the Indian tax authorities.
In response, Hindenburg said that their statement admits many of Hindenburg's concerns and questions. It said: "Per its latest shareholding list as of March 31, 2024, Agora Advisory Limited (India), is still 99 per cent owned by Madhabi Buch, not her husband. This entity is currently active and generating consulting revenue. Furthermore, Buch remained a 100 per cent shareholder of Agora Partners Singapore until March 16, 2022, per Singaporean records, owning it during her entire time as a Sebi Whole Time Member. She only transferred her shares into her husband's name 2 weeks after her appointment as Sebi chairperson."
Buchs, on their part, dismissed the allegations as 'baseless' and an attempt at "character assassination." In a joint statement, the couple expressed their willingness to disclose all financial records.