Published: 5 December 2025
India’s markets stepped into Friday’s trade with a packed checklist:
- Hindustan Construction Company’s (HCC) ₹1,000 crore rights issue hits its record date and ex-rights status,
- The rupee is clawing back ground after breaching the psychologically crucial ₹90-per-dollar mark, and
- Micro-cap Universal Office Automation Ltd is trying to stabilise after a sharp slide, just as IPO activity remains red hot with names like Vidya Wires, Meesho, and Aequs in focus. [1]
At the macro level, all of this is unfolding under the shadow of the RBI’s December monetary policy decision, where the central bank has opted to keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.50%, extending its “stability first” approach amid strong growth and a volatile currency. [2]
1. HCC’s ₹1,000 Crore Rights Issue: Record Date and Ex-Rights Trade Today
Rights issue terms: steep discount, heavy dilution
Hindustan Construction Company Ltd (HCC) is in the spotlight today as its record date for a ₹999.99 crore rights issue falls on 5 December 2025. [3]
Key terms from the company’s regulatory filings: [4]
- Issue size: 7,99,99,1900 rights equity shares
- Issue price: ₹12.50 per share (face value ₹1, premium ₹11.50)
- Total fund raise: ~₹999.99 crore
- Rights ratio:277 rights shares for every 630 fully paid-up shares held on the record date
- Record date:Friday, 5 December 2025
- Rights issue period:
- Opens: 12 December 2025 (Friday)
- Last date for on-market renunciation: 17 December 2025
- Last date for off-market renunciation: 19 December 2025
- Closes: 22 December 2025 (Monday)
Post-issue, HCC’s outstanding equity shares are set to rise from about 181.9 crore to 261.9 crore, implying roughly a 44% increase in share count if the issue is fully subscribed. [5]
At a recent pre-announcement price around ₹27–28 on the NSE, the rights price of ₹12.50 represents a discount of a little over 50% to the market price, making it numerically attractive but also signalling substantial dilution. [6]
Share price action: from 14% rally to pre-record-date shake-out
The stock has been volatile in the run-up to today’s record date:
- On 2 December, after the board cleared the rights issue terms and fixed the record date, HCC shares jumped more than 14% intraday, hitting levels around ₹27.5 on the NSE. [7]
- The rally was followed by profit-taking: subsequent sessions saw the stock slip around 4–5% from the peak, with intraday lows near ₹25.3 ahead of the record date. [8]
Even after this pullback, HCC remains well off its 52‑week high near ₹48, with some commentary describing it as a high-beta counter that has delivered multi-year gains (over 300%+ in five years) but has also corrected sharply from earlier peaks. [9]
NDTV Profit’s pre-market note for 5 December lists HCC as “ex-rights (277:630)”, confirming that today the stock trades ex-rights—meaning fresh buyers on this date will not receive the rights entitlement. [10]
Why HCC is raising money
According to the outcome of its board meeting and subsequent disclosures, HCC plans to use the rights issue proceeds primarily to: [11]
- Reduce consolidated debt and finance costs,
- Strengthen working capital for large infrastructure and EPC projects, and
- Support general corporate purposes, including project execution and potential claim settlements.
For a company that has long struggled with a debt-heavy balance sheet and stretched working capital, the rights issue is partly a recapitalisation exercise and partly an attempt to position the business for the next leg of government-led infrastructure spending.
What the record date means for shareholders
Because India’s equity market largely runs on a T+1 settlement cycle (with optional T+0 only for a narrow basket of scrips), investors typically needed to own HCC shares by 4 December for them to show up in their demat accounts on the 5 December record date. [12]
A few practical implications:
- Existing shareholders on the record date will receive rights entitlements (REs) credited to their demat accounts ahead of the 12 December opening.
- Those REs can usually be traded on the exchanges during the rights trading window (up to 17 December on-market) if investors do not wish to subscribe but want to monetise the entitlement. [13]
- If shareholders do subscribe, they will be paying ₹12.50 per share, potentially lowering their average holding cost but also increasing their exposure to HCC and accepting the dilution.
From a purely arithmetic standpoint (not a recommendation), if one takes a cum-rights price near ₹27.5, the theoretical ex-rights price (TERP) after factoring in the 277:630 ratio and the ₹12.50 issue price works out to the low-₹23 zone, underlining how heavily the rights issue can drag on short-term pricing.
2. Rupee: From Record Lows Above ₹90 to a Tentative Bounce
How bad did it get?
This week, the Indian rupee finally lost the 90-per-dollar battle, sliding to fresh all-time lows before staging a modest comeback.
Key points from multiple forex and business reports:
- On Wednesday and Thursday, the rupee breached the ₹90 mark, hitting intraday lows around ₹90.42–90.43 per US dollar, and closing Wednesday at a record low near ₹90.15. [14]
- On Thursday (4 December), the currency briefly weakened further to ₹90.43, before recovering strongly to end at ₹89.96, up 19 paise on the day. [15]
ABP Live’s forex wrap attributes the intraday plunge and subsequent rebound to: [16]
- Heavy foreign portfolio outflows from equities,
- Elevated crude oil prices, which worsen India’s import bill,
- Ongoing uncertainty around the India–US trade deal and tariffs, and
- A brief phase of dollar strength, which later eased after weaker‑than‑expected US jobs data.
Earlier in the week, other reports noted that India’s merchandise trade deficit widened to over $41 billion in October, with exports slipping and imports—especially of gold and silver—rising sharply, adding to pressure on the currency. [17]
5 December: Rupee snaps losing streak
On Friday, 5 December 2025, the rupee managed to snap a six-day slide, closing just below the 90 mark again:
- NDTV Profit’s morning note reported that the rupee had closed 21 paise stronger at 89.98 per dollar, after hitting a fresh intraday low of about 90.42 on Thursday and finishing the previous session at 90.19. [18]
- A Times of India update similarly highlighted that the rupee ended at 89.98 on Friday, with traders citing dollar selling by foreign banks and expectations of fresh inflows as reasons for the mild bounce. [19]
In other words, the rupee is off its worst levels, but still trading uncomfortably close to its historic low zone.
RBI’s stance: Repo rate steady at 5.50%
The rupee’s slide has sharpened focus on the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), whose three-day meeting concluded today.
According to a live policy blog tracked by Moneycontrol and commentary from other market watchers, the RBI has once again kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.50%, maintaining a neutral policy stance. [20]
- The central bank has also sharply lowered its inflation forecast for FY26, citing record-low CPI prints, while keeping a watchful eye on external risks and currency volatility. [21]
- With GDP growth still robust—well above 8% in the latest quarter—economists say the RBI appears comfortable letting the rupee find its level, intervening mainly to curb disorderly moves rather than defend any specific number. [22]
For corporates and markets, a steady repo rate means borrowing costs remain predictable, even as the rupee stays weak. For import-heavy sectors such as oil marketing, electronics or autos, the currency path in coming weeks may matter more than the policy rate itself.
3. Universal Office Automation: Micro-Cap Tries to Stabilise
While the headlines are dominated by HCC and the rupee, Universal Office Automation Ltd (BSE: 523519, ticker UNIOFFICE) has been quietly drawing trader attention thanks to its high volatility and tiny free float.
Price action and returns
Real-time snapshots from exchange and data providers show: [23]
- Last traded price (5 December morning): around ₹6.52 per share, flat versus the previous close.
- 1-week return: roughly –12%,
- 1-month return: about –26%,
- 1-year return: around –29%,
- 3-year return: still positive, with gains of ~90%+ from a very low base.
With a reported market capitalisation in the high-single-digit crore range, Universal Office Automation is firmly in micro-cap territory, where even small orders can move the price significantly. [24]
The “breaks losing streak – is the trend reversing?” narrative that has circulated around the stock reflects this pattern: short bursts of gains amid a structurally weak, illiquid, and news-light counter.
Fundamentals: thin operations, patchy profitability
Recent quarter data compiled by financial portals show that Universal Office Automation’s underlying business remains extremely small: [25]
- Total revenue in recent quarters has been negligible, often close to zero.
- Net income has swung from small losses to a tiny profit (around ₹0.01 crore in the September 2025 quarter), mostly due to changes in other income and lower expenses rather than strong operating momentum.
- The company carries limited or no financial debt, but that’s largely because its scale of operations is tiny, not because it’s a cash-rich powerhouse.
Valuation metrics like price-to-book appear elevated for a business with such modest earnings visibility; some screens peg P/B above 5, while P/E is not particularly meaningful because earnings are inconsistent. [26]
Technical and risk view
Given the sharp drawdowns over the last month, Friday’s flat trade around ₹6.5 looks more like pause than a confirmed trend reversal:
- The stock has previously shown spiky rallies—for example, it hit the upper circuit in February 2025—only to give up gains as liquidity dried up. [27]
- With such a small free float, impact costs are high: entering or exiting even modest quantities can move the price materially.
For investors, Universal Office Automation remains a high-risk, speculative micro-cap where price action can be driven more by technicals and sentiment than by fundamentals. Any “trend reversal” thesis needs to be weighed against the company’s extremely modest operating numbers and the structural liquidity risk typical of such names.
4. Buzzing Stocks and IPO Action: Vidya Wires, Meesho, Aequs and More
Even as HCC dominates today’s corporate action, broader market commentary highlights several “buzzing” names linked to IPOs, block deals and corporate events.
IPO frenzy: Vidya Wires leads a busy pipeline
On the primary market side, Vidya Wires and Cables Ltd continues to enjoy strong demand:
- Equitymaster and several IPO trackers report that by Day 2, the Vidya Wires IPO had been subscribed over 7 times, with some data showing subscription levels above 8x by late Thursday. [28]
- NDTV Profit’s morning market brief pegs the overall subscription at 8.26 times on Day 2, with retail investors applying for over 11 times their allotted quota, and non‑institutional investors around 10x. [29]
- The IPO aims to raise a little over ₹300 crore, at a price band of ₹48–52 per share, combining fresh issue proceeds with a smaller offer-for-sale by promoters. [30]
Analysts across several brokerages have highlighted Vidya Wires’ positioning in the wires and cables space, relatively moderate valuations compared with certain peers, and strong subscription as reasons for robust grey market interest—though they also warn that listing-day performance will depend heavily on market mood when trading starts. [31]
Alongside Vidya Wires, NDTV’s pre-open note points to Meesho and Aequs as other heavily subscribed issues:
- Meesho: about 7.97x subscribed on Day 2
- Aequs: roughly 11.1x subscribed on Day 2, with particularly strong participation from non-institutional and retail categories. [32]
The message from the primary market is clear: risk appetite remains strong at the small- and mid-cap end, despite volatility in the rupee and global macro uncertainty.
Cash market: HCC, HUL, ITC Hotels among stocks in focus
In the secondary market, NDTV’s “Stock Market Today” checklist for 5 December flags a wide list of stocks expected to be active, including: [33]
- HCC – trading ex-rights today with the 277:630 rights ratio now baked into prices,
- HUL – adjusting for the demerger of its Kwality Wall’s ice-cream business,
- ITC Hotels – where British American Tobacco is looking to offload a sizeable stake via block deals,
- Brookfield India REIT – launching a large QIP to fund acquisitions and debt repayment,
- RailTel, Zen Technologies, Diamond Power, Nibe and others – on the back of fresh orders, capex announcements or fundraising.
As always, these “buzzing stocks” reflect a mix of event-driven interest (demergers, rights, block deals) and ongoing thematic plays (defence, infrastructure, energy transition).
5. How It All Ties Together for 5 December 2025
Pulling the threads together, here’s how today’s big stories intersect:
- HCC rights issue is the big corporate event of the day.
- The stock trades ex-rights as the company readies a near-₹1,000 crore capital raise.
- The steep discount on the issue price and sizeable dilution make HCC a high-conviction call either way, which is why volatility has spiked. [34]
- The rupee has stopped falling—for now.
- After breaching 90 per dollar and logging an all-time low around 90.43, the currency has bounced back just under 90, helped by softer US data, potential RBI intervention and dollar selling by foreign banks. [35]
- But persistent trade and capital account headwinds mean FX markets will stay sensitive to headlines around the India–US trade deal, crude prices and global risk appetite. [36]
- RBI is signalling continuity, not panic.
- By holding the repo rate at 5.50% and cutting its inflation forecast, the central bank is effectively saying that growth is strong, inflation is under control and the rupee’s weakness alone doesn’t justify aggressive tightening or a fresh easing cycle right away. [37]
- Speculative micro-caps like Universal Office Automation remain risky side-shows.
- The stock’s attempt to stabilise after a steep monthly fall comes against a backdrop of minuscule revenues and patchy profits, underscoring how liquidity and sentiment can swamp fundamentals at the smallest end of the market. [38]
- IPO enthusiasm continues to run hot.
- Heavy oversubscription in Vidya Wires, Meesho and Aequs shows that, despite rupee worries and global jitters, domestic investors remain willing to hunt for growth stories in the primary market. [39]
A quick word of caution
References
1. www.ndtvprofit.com, 2. www.moneycontrol.com, 3. www.business-standard.com, 4. nsearchives.nseindia.com, 5. www.business-standard.com, 6. upstox.com, 7. upstox.com, 8. www.ndtvprofit.com, 9. www.samco.in, 10. www.ndtvprofit.com, 11. www.business-standard.com, 12. www.nseclearing.in, 13. nsearchives.nseindia.com, 14. news.abplive.com, 15. news.abplive.com, 16. news.abplive.com, 17. upstox.com, 18. www.ndtvprofit.com, 19. timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 20. www.moneycontrol.com, 21. www.moneycontrol.com, 22. news.abplive.com, 23. economictimes.indiatimes.com, 24. www.business-standard.com, 25. www.livemint.com, 26. economictimes.indiatimes.com, 27. www.livemint.com, 28. www.equitymaster.com, 29. www.ndtvprofit.com, 30. www.livemint.com, 31. m.economictimes.com, 32. www.ndtvprofit.com, 33. www.ndtvprofit.com, 34. www.business-standard.com, 35. news.abplive.com, 36. upstox.com, 37. www.moneycontrol.com, 38. economictimes.indiatimes.com, 39. www.ndtvprofit.com
