India shares end higher led by Adani stocks

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By Bharath Rajeswaran and Hritam Mukherjee

-Indian shares ended higher on Wednesday, led by a rebound in Adani Group stocks after its subsidiary, Adani Green, clarified that key officials had not been charged with violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in last week’s indictment.

The NSE Nifty 50 rose 0.33% to 24,274.9 points, while the BSE Sensex gained 0.29% to 80,234.08.

Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports climbed 11.5% and 6.3%, respectively, to top the list of Nifty gainers.

The Adani Group has denied the allegations, terming them “baseless” and clarified early Wednesday that its key officials, including Chairman Gautam Adani, were not charged under U.S. FCPA.

The conglomerate’s market value, which tumbled about $34 billion in the previous four sessions after a U.S. indictment against key officials for alleged bribery and fraud, recouped about $14 billion on the day.

The energy index rose 1.45%, led by gains in Adani Energy and Adani Green, which rose 10% each.

Adani Total Gas surged 20%, posting its best session since June 2021, while Adani Power also climbed about 20% higher to log its best session in 2024.

The group’s stocks have been helped by emerging updates that the key management of the group now faces a narrower scope of allegations, said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Adani Group firm ACC rose 4.3% and was among the top gainers in the mid-cap index, which was up 0.6%. The more domestically-focused small-cap index gained 1.3%.

The interest in small- and mid-cap stocks is due to a positive earnings outlook in select pockets and easing valuations in others, like defence, after the recent drop, said two analysts.

Other Asian stocks were subdued on the day as investors fretted over which countries could be targeted for tariffs next by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. [MKTS/GLOB]

Among individual stocks, NTPC Green Energy, the renewable energy arm of power producer, closed its debut session 12.6% higher.

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy, sonia Cheema and Abinaya Vijayaraghavan)