Iran's impact weakens in Asia, but volatility in the Indian stock market remains high

Maas shares once fell by 10.7%, hitting a five-month low. Firmus withdrew its listing application, citing market volatility as the reason. Maas holds a 3.2% stake in Firmus and supports its artificial intelligence factory project. The subsidiary holds 1.1 billions AUD in Firmus orders through fiscal year 2027. Following analysts’ comments, Kumar Tanishk and Rajasik Mukherjee of Reuters reported on October 9 that on Friday, shares of Maas Group subsidiary MGH.AX closed down more than 6%. This followed Firmus, which is backed by Nvidia, cancelling its 5 billions AUD IPO, sparking market concerns about the value of Maas's stake in the data center operator and potential contract risk. The cancellation not only stripped Maas of a potential valuation benchmark and liquidity channel for its 3.2% equity in Firmus on the public markets, but also turned investors' attention to JLE Group—the electrical infrastructure business unit of the Australian construction services provider. “The real risk is correlation. If Firmus faces financing hurdles, both MGH’s investment and JLE’s order book could come under pressure,” said Hersh Oberoi, Global Head of Research at Balfour Capital Group. After trading was halted pending an update on Firmus’s IPO and related contracts, Maas shares resumed trading and fell by as much as 10.7%, touching a five-month low. Oberoi commented that the share price repricing was generally reasonable, as investors lost anticipated valuation gains rather than facing immediate cash losses; he added that the value of the stake should be referenced to its last private funding round, with adjustments for lack of liquidity. Firmus withdrew its listing application on Friday, stating that market volatility and current market conditions did not fairly reflect its business strength and long-term growth prospects. JLE is fulfilling orders totaling about 1.1 billions AUD (768.13 million USD), delivering modular “Power Cubes” and related electrical engineering in fiscal years 2026 and 2027. Maas said it has already received 373 million AUD in payments and expects the works to be completed by the end of 2027. The IPO withdrawal triggered Maas’s repricing. On Thursday, after reports that Firmus was reconsidering its offer, Maas shares plunged 22.4%. Over the past week, the stock has dropped by 32%, erasing nearly 788 million AUD in market capitalization. https://www.reuters.com/graphics/MAAS-SHARES/akvelnoxgpr/chart.png Firmus previously planned to price shares at 11 AUD, implying a company equity valuation of about 30.6 billions AUD—almost triple its 10.5 billions AUD valuation in its August funding round. The withdrawn IPO would have been Australia’s second largest ever, highlighting investors’ caution around highly valued, aggressive expansion, and capital-intensive AI infrastructure companies. (1 USD = 1.4320 AUD) (For convenience of non-English speakers, Reuters provides automated translations of its reports into several other languages. As automated translation may contain errors or lack necessary context, Reuters does not guarantee the accuracy of translated texts and provides them solely for readers’ convenience. Reuters is not liable for any loss or damage resulting from the use of automated translation.)

October 9 - RBC expects the performance of most European building material products to gradually improve quarter-on-quarter in Q3, but notes that geopolitical uncertainties in the US will continue to drive up cost inflation and increase market volatility. RBC anticipates that sales in Europe will remain sluggish due to heatwaves and rising mortgage rates, while a weak US housing market and the lack of a significant hurricane season will prompt roofing material companies to enter a destocking cycle. The firm is more optimistic about Germany’s Heidelberg Group (HEIG.DE), upgrading its rating to “outperform,” and points out that the company has handled the challenging quarter caused by extreme weather far better than its peers. Due to severe cost headwinds such as rising diesel and natural gas prices, RBC downgraded the ratings of US and French construction companies Knife River (KNF.N) and Saint-Gobain (SGOB.PA) from “outperform” to “market perform.” (For the convenience of non-English speakers, Reuters automatically translates its reports into several other languages. Since automated translations may contain errors or lack necessary context, Reuters does not guarantee their accuracy and provides them solely for the ease of the reader. Reuters assumes no liability for any damages or losses that may arise from the use of automated translation functions.)

Amaero (AMRO.US) on Thursday resumed its initial public offering (IPO) plans in the United States and filed new documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), revealing a reduced number of shares to be issued.

Early-stage biotechnology company TRex Bio has priced its IPO at the lower end of the range at $14 per share, raising $116.7 million and achieving a market capitalization of $384 million. The company will be listed on Nasdaq on Friday, with Eli Lilly expressing interest in increasing its stake.