Why election results scared investors

Top of the Morning

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Wednesday, May 15, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:

Indian stock markets trended upwards on Tuesday. Sensex and Nifty gained about half a percent each in yesterday's trading session.

That was welcome news for Indian equity investors, who suffered through a string of loss-making sessions last week. That's all due to Vix — no, not the cough drop. Vix is an indication of the fear in the market sentiment. If the markets are up, Vix is down, as there is less fear of volatility in the market. Last week, the markets took a turn for the worse as the results of the general elections stoked fear among investors. Vix has been at a 19-month high of late, and investors want to book their profits in case of an unexpected result on June 4. Ram Sahgal writes a detailed explainer on why the elections are causing such instability across Indian equities.

When the government launched the open network for digital commerce, or ONDC for short, it was supposed to be a game changer. A year and a half later, only one segment has actually seen some noted disruption: food delivery. Mobility, especially auto-rickshaw rides, are also doing well. But the rest of the apps haven't made ONDC their home just yet. As Sowmya Ramasubramanian writes, apparel, electronics, and other e-commerce ventures haven't fared well on ONDC. Even its success story, food delivery, did roughly 10 million orders, as opposed to 100 million between Zomato and Swiggy. ONDC was once heralded as the next possible success story after UPI. That comparison pales heavily today. Will ONDC be able to pick up some momentum soon?

If you had friends in the West, you probably would've gotten some spectacular pictures of the sky from them. Social media was full of colourful skies last week, delighting many. But they were the result of a solar flare on the surface of the sun. This phenomenon can hurt power infrastructure, communications, and disrupt navigation. The pretty aurora borealis can thus disrupt our lives as we know it. Shouvik Das explains this occurrence, their severity, and how we can defend ourselves from a solar flare's negative effects.

Godrej Properties is a landmark in India — both in terms of its name, and its real estate business. It has a market cap of 78,400 crore rupees, but its beginnings were quite humble. When it listed publicly in December 2009, it raised just 469 crore rupees — double of its revenue. But today, Godrej Properties rakes in more than 22,000 crore rupees as annual revenue. Its shares have increased by 239 percent in the last five years. There's one man from the Godrej family who can take credit for making its real estate arm as successful as it is today: Pirojsha Godrej. Godrej now competes with DLF, Prestige, and Macrotech in the real estate market. Madhurima Nandy tries to answer a burning question: what next for Godrej Properties?

We were supposed to get Teslas on the Indian roads — instead, we got Tesla in the Indian courts. Recently, Tesla filed its first lawsuit in India against a battery seller named Tesla Power India. The Elon Musk-headed Tesla made this aggressive move to protect its brand and name. Krishna Yadav explains the rationale behind this move, which is the latest in the series of international brands protecting their likeness in India. Interestingly, as Krishna notes, the court's decision could also set a precedent for future trademark-infringement cases in India's growing electric vehicles market.

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Show notes:

Mint Explainer: Why the national election is making the market swing wildly

ONDC's e-commerce puzzle: Food thrives but apparel and electronics lag

Solar storms: How deadly can they get?

How Pirojsha Godrej changed India’s real estate business

Mint Explainer: How Tesla’s first India lawsuit will affect EV trademark battles