DayStarter

Market snapshot

Equities and sectors

Indian equities moved up on 2 July. The Nifty 50 opened with a 56-point gap up at 24,062, helped by a recovery in IT stocks. The index touched a day’s high near 24,190 shortly before 3 PM and closed above 24,150. The Nifty 50 ended at 24,175.70, up 0.71%. The Sensex closed at 77,502.12, up 0.75%.

Sectoral indices

IT was the strongest sector. Nifty IT closed at 26,965.05, up 4.64%. Nifty Bank was almost unchanged at 58,031.65, with a 0.00% day change. Nifty Energy and Nifty PSU Bank were the only two sectoral indices that ended lower, down 0.15% and 0.43% respectively.

F&O stock movers

Among F&O stocks, Exide Industries and Sona BLW Precision Forgings were the top gainers. Bank of Baroda was the weakest stock.

Commodities and currency

MCX commodity futures were mostly lower. Crude oil futures closed at 6,479.00, down 0.70%. Gold and silver also closed lower, down 0.11% and 0.36% respectively.

Rupee readings varied by source. Zerodha put USD/INR at 95.54, up 0.14%, while Mint quoted the rupee close at 95.35, down 19 paise. The US 10-year bond yield was 4.47, up 1.36%, and the India 10-year bond yield was 6.72, down 0.58%.

Institutional flows

Over the latest five reported sessions, FIIs were net sellers of ₹4,976.0 crore, while DIIs were net buyers of ₹20,334.0 crore. On 2 July, FIIs sold a net ₹312.0 crore and DIIs bought a net ₹1,784.0 crore.

Macro view

Fiscal and monetary indicators

Fiscal deficit: India’s gross fiscal deficit was ₹1.6 trillion during April-May. This was 9.6% of the FY27 budget estimate, compared with 0.9% of the FY26 provisional deficit a year earlier. The widening came from an 18% year-on-year rise in total expenditure and a fall in net tax receipts. Excise duty receipts fell 20% after duty cuts on petrol and diesel.

Industrial production: The Index of Industrial Production grew 5.1% year-on-year in May, compared with 4.9% in April. This was the highest reading since December 2025. Electricity and gas supply grew 9.9%, manufacturing grew 5.5%, and mining contracted 1.6%.

Manufacturing PMI: The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index was 54.2 in June. This was the second-lowest reading in four years.

Rural wages: The minimum daily wage under the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 was set at ₹327.4 from 1 July 2026. This is 10% higher than the earlier ₹298.8 per day under MGNREGS.

Mint; CMIE

Monsoon

India received 99.5 mm of rainfall in June 2026. This made it the fifth-driest June since records began in 1901 and the weakest June in the last 12 years. The IMD has also forecast below-normal rainfall for July.

Mint; IMD

Trade and fuel

Japanese investment: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India aims to attract ¥10 trillion in Japanese investment over the next decade and double the number of Japanese firms in the country. Bilateral trade reached $27.5 billion in FY26. Japanese investment in India was $3.2 billion between April and December 2025.

Fuel prices: Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri said state-run OMCs could review petrol and diesel prices in the next two to three months if global crude prices stay subdued. Brent crude touched a four-year low of around $70.37 a barrel on Thursday, compared with a four-year high of $126.41 on 30 April.

Exports: Commerce minister Piyush Goyal said India’s exports could grow about 15% year-on-year in the April-June quarter. Exports rose consistently over 12 years and nearly doubled to a record $863 billion in FY26.

Coal and freight: Coal India supplies to the power sector rose 5.9% to 51.44 million tonnes in June. Indian Railways freight loading increased 4% to 142.21 million tonnes in June.

Mint; government data

Sector and policy indicators

Housing sales: Housing sales across India’s top seven cities fell 5.8% year-on-year in April-June 2026 to about 90,700 units. Hyderabad, Kolkata and Bengaluru were the only cities that recorded growth.

Afghanistan trade: India’s exports to Afghanistan are increasingly being routed through Dubai after Pakistan closed the Wagah-Attari transit route. Commerce ministry data show exports fell to ₹2,239.11 crore in FY26 from ₹4,129.04 crore in FY22.

Risk surveys: In the RBI’s June 2026 Financial Stability Report, 95% of surveyed banks and large NBFCs identified AI-enabled cyber threats as one of their top three risks over the next 12 months. Separately, a Deloitte survey cited by Mint found that 65% of C-suite respondents saw the tax administration’s pro-revenue approach as the biggest GST-related challenge.

Anarock Group; RBI; Deloitte; Mint

Corporate action and earnings

Domestic corporate developments

• Bank of Baroda: Shares fell about 4% and closed over 4.3% lower on the NSE at ₹259.85. The move followed a $600 million settlement, around ₹5,700 crore, by its Abu Dhabi arm to resolve a legal dispute with NMC Health. The settlement resolves all claims without any admission of liability or wrongdoing.
• Adani Enterprises: The company signed a joint venture with Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Co. to develop an $11.5 billion, 2 mtpa integrated aluminium plant in Odisha. Separately, Adani Enterprises launched a QIP to raise at least ₹10,000 crore, or $1.05 billion, with shares to be issued at ₹2,883.
• CG Semi: PM Modi will formally inaugurate commercial production at CG Semi’s semiconductor packaging facility in Sanand on 4 July. The company has begun exporting assembled chips to Malaysia.
• Balaji Amines: Shares rose nearly 6% on the prospect of anti-dumping duties on ethylene diamine imports from China, the EU, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan.
• Inox Clean Energy: Adar Poonawalla Family Office, through Rising Sun Holdings, invested ₹700 crore in Inox Clean Energy for a 1% stake. The investment values Inox Clean Energy at ₹70,000 crore.
• Tata Steel: The company pushed its UK unit’s net-profit-positive target from FY26 to FY29. The new target lines up with the completion of its electric arc furnace project at Port Talbot.
• Vedanta Iron & Steel: The company is aiming to double steelmaking capacity at its Bokaro plant to 3 mtpa by the end of 2026.
• SBI Funds Management: The firm is set to launch its IPO in the week starting 13 July. The issue could raise up to $1.2 billion. Temasek is likely to sell a 2.6% stake in PB Fintech through a ₹1,909 crore, or $200 million, block deal.
• Essel Infraprojects: The Supreme Court set aside insolvency orders against Essel Infraprojects after finding that the tribunal had relied on fake, non-existent AI-generated judicial precedents.
• Margin trading facility: India’s margin trading facility, or MTF, book rose 11% in May to a record ₹1.27 trillion. It was up 65% year-on-year, while F&O activity stayed flat.

Zerodha; Mint; Bloomberg; CareEdge Ratings

Upcoming events

Economic calendar

Earnings calendar

Global pulse

Global indices

Global indices were mixed. The Hang Seng and FTSE 100 closed higher, while the S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq 100, Nikkei 225 and Shanghai Composite closed lower.

International headlines

• Crude oil: The Zerodha AfterMarket Report said crude oil prices fell around 2% to nearly $67 per barrel, a third straight session of losses to pre-conflict levels, as UAE restored exports to over 3.9 million barrels per day. Mint reported that Brent crude touched a four-year low of around $70.37 a barrel on Thursday.
• US June jobs: The Zerodha AfterMarket Report said the US economy added 57,000 jobs in June, below the revised 129,000 in May and forecasts of 110,000. Mint’s News Wrap cited the ADP National Employment Report, which showed 98,000 private-sector jobs added in June, below economists’ expectations of 118,000.
• OpenAI: OpenAI is reportedly discussing a proposal to give the US government a 5% stake.
• South Korea: South Korea’s KOSPI fell 7.9% to its lowest level in more than three weeks, as a global selloff in AI-linked semiconductor stocks weighed on sentiment.
• Tesla: Tesla’s China-made EV sales rose for the eighth straight month in June. Model 3 and Model Y deliveries from its Shanghai plant rose 24.4% year-on-year to 89,091 units.
• Google: Google lost its appeal against a €4.1 billion, or $4.7 billion, EU antitrust fine over Android. The European Court of Justice ruled that the earlier penalty should stand.
• Russia-Ukraine: Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at Kyiv, killing at least 21 people.

Zerodha AfterMarket Report; Mint; Financial Times; Bloomberg; Reuters

Management chatter

Three management comments stood out.

Zerodha AfterMarket Report

Feature: Growth vs value investing

This feature explains two investing styles, growth and value, and lists Indian fund managers and AMCs associated with each. The feature is educational and is not investment advice.

Indian equity mutual funds are broadly built around two investment styles: growth and value. SelectMF (Choice) says most fund managers follow one of these two styles when constructing a portfolio. Both styles aim to generate returns, but they use different strategies and investment philosophies.

Growth investing

Growth investing focuses on companies expected to grow faster than the market average. These companies usually reinvest profits to expand operations, launch new products or enter new markets. Because they reinvest, they may not pay high dividends, but they can offer opportunities for capital appreciation.

Growth companies can offer higher upside potential, but they are also inherently riskier. There is no guarantee that spending on growth will lead to profit. Their share prices are often high compared with sales or profits, which means they usually trade at high price-to-earnings and price-to-sales ratios. AMFI notes that growth funds identify momentum stocks expected to perform better than the market. HDFC Mutual Fund cites technology, renewable energy, fintech and consumer services as sectors that often fall under the growth category.

Value investing

Value investing involves finding stocks that appear undervalued compared with their intrinsic value. These companies may not show rapid growth, but they usually have strong fundamentals and stable earnings.

Value investors look for businesses trading at a share price that looks like a bargain. The expectation is that the market will eventually recognise the company’s value. Fidelity says value stocks have more limited upside potential and can therefore be safer than growth stocks. Value funds may also benefit from dividend payments even if the stock price does not rise. AMFI notes that value funds identify stocks that are currently undervalued but expected to perform well over time as value is unlocked.

SelectMF (Choice) says value strategies tend to underperform in the short term, and that an extended period of underperformance is part of the style. Value tends to work when markets are volatile and the economy is struggling. Growth tends to work when the economy does well and markets are stable.

Blended funds and GARP

Fidelity also notes the presence of blended funds. These managers may follow Growth At a Reasonable Price, or GARP. This means they look for growth companies while still paying attention to traditional value indicators.

Growth vs value: At a glance

SEBI category rules

Under SEBI’s scheme categorisation, a Value Fund follows a value investment strategy and a Contra Fund follows a contrarian strategy. SEBI’s circular dated 26 February 2026 raised the minimum equity allocation for Value and Contra funds from 65% to 80% of total assets. The circular also permits a fund house to offer both a Value Fund and a Contra Fund if the portfolio overlap between the two schemes is not more than 50%. Earlier, an AMC could offer only one of the two.

Indian fund managers and AMCs: Value and contrarian

• Sankaran Naren, CIO at ICICI Prudential AMC, is described as a contrarian investing figure known for buying undervalued stocks during downturns. Morningstar, as reported by ISFM, characterises his style on the ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund as ‘value-focused with a growth overlay.’
• Rajeev Thakkar at PPFAS is associated with a global value-concentration approach. The approach has roughly 25-30 positions, an international equity overlay and sub-20% annual turnover. The Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund is cited as the first actively managed equity scheme in India to cross ₹1 lakh crore.
• Nippon India, ICICI Prudential and others run funds in SEBI’s dedicated Value/Contra categories. AMFI’s category framework defines these value- and contrarian-strategy schemes.

Indian fund managers and AMCs: Growth and quality

• Jinesh Gopani, Head of Equity at Axis Mutual Fund, said in a Value Research interview that the house is ‘known to invest in quality and growth stocks.’ The style helped build a long-term track record on offerings such as Axis Long Term Equity Fund and Axis Focused 25 Fund. The Eighty Twenty Investor describes Axis’s style as concentrated, low-churn, high-growth and high-quality.
• Neelesh Surana, CIO-Equity at Mirae Asset, is associated with a GARP approach. This involves bottom-up stock picking with valuation discipline, selecting scalable businesses with strong return ratios while avoiding overvalued or momentum stocks.
• Shreyash Devalkar of Axis AMC is also grouped under the growth-at-reasonable-price style of buying earnings visibility at moderate valuations.

Published guidance on combining styles

Multiple published sources say a mix of growth and value styles can suit investors. Fidelity says a mix of growth and value funds may be best and that many managers blend the two through GARP. SelectMF (Choice) recommends holding funds across different investment styles rather than relying on a single strategy. HDFC Mutual Fund says a blend can be ideal, with growth potentially offering relatively better returns and value offering more consistent performance. This feature reports these published positions and is not investment advice.

HDFC Mutual Fund; Fidelity; AMFI; SEBI; Value Research; The Eighty Twenty Investor; Business Today; Jainam; ISFM

Day at a glance

Closing

Primary sources: Zerodha AfterMarket Report, 2 July 2026 close; Mint, Mumbai edition, 3 July 2026. Feature sources: HDFC Mutual Fund, Fidelity, AMFI, SEBI (26 Feb 2026 circular), Value Research, The Eighty Twenty Investor, Business Today, Jainam and ISFM. This briefing is a compilation of publicly reported information for educational purposes. It is not investment advice. Where sources report the same figure differently (USD/INR, crude oil, US June jobs), both values are stated with attribution. Not investment advice.