DayStarter

Market snapshot

Equities, sectors, commodities, currency, bonds and institutional flows at the 24 July 2026 close.

Equities and sectors

Indian equities opened weak on Friday because global cues were soft and crude oil was still high. The Nifty opened with a 203-point gap down at 23,666. Brent crude had moved above $100 per barrel, and geopolitical tensions showed no clear signs of easing.

Selling pressure continued during the first hour. The index fell to an intraday low near 23,610. From there, the market found support. A recovery began by mid-morning, and the Nifty moved back above 23,700 by the end of the first half.

A sharp move around 12:20 PM lifted the index to 23,800. After that, the Nifty stayed mostly in the 23,760 to 23,800 range for the rest of the session. It closed at 23,767.45, recovering nearly 170 points from the day's low and ending above its opening level.

Sectoral indices

Sector performance was mixed. Media, IT, PSU Bank, Bank and FMCG closed higher. Auto was the weakest sector, falling 1.10%. Energy, Realty, Metal, Service and Pharma also closed lower.

Top gainers and losers: F&O stocks

KPITTECH was the strongest F&O stock, rising 5.88%. MOTILALOFS was the weakest, falling 7.15%.

Longer-horizon index moves

Indian equities were also weak over the previous week. The Sensex was down 2.68% over one week, 1.21% over one month and 7.45% over one year. The Nifty 50 was down 2.33% over one week and 5.17% over one year.

The Nifty 500 closed at 22,913.30, down 1.81% over the week. The Nifty 100 closed at 24,840.75, down 1.92%. The S&P BSE Mid-cap closed at 16,683.27, down 1.41% over the week but up 7.94% over six months. The S&P BSE Small Cap closed at 6,924.45, down 2.41% over the week and up 13.78% over six months.

Commodities and currency

MCX crude oil futures fell 4.08% to 8,656.00. Gold and silver rose. Natural gas and aluminium fell.

Currency and bond yields

USD/INR closed at 96.56, down 0.07%. The US 10-year bond yield rose to 4.70, while the India 10-year bond yield eased to 6.83.

Institutional flows

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers for the session, while domestic institutional investors were net buyers. Over the last five sessions, FIIs sold a net ₹7,182 crore, while DIIs bought a net ₹8,638 crore.

The macro view

Activity, prices and trade

India's private sector activity expanded at its slowest pace in over three years in July. The HSBC Flash India Composite PMI fell to 54.3 from 57.1 in June. A PMI above 50 means activity is expanding, but the lower reading shows slower growth.

The slowdown came from weaker growth in output and new orders. The report also pointed to difficult market conditions, rising competition, order cancellations, softer client enquiries and raw material shortages.

The US imposed a 10% Section 301 tariff on imports from India as part of its forced-labour investigation. A tariff is a tax on imports. India was placed below 43 other economies, including China, Vietnam and Thailand, which face a higher 12.5% tariff.

Around 70% of India's exports will face the additional 10% tariff. These include engineering goods, textiles, chemicals, machinery, plastics, leather products, gems and jewellery, and furniture. India did not receive the textile and apparel tariff-rate quota exemption.

Exporters are also facing pressure from shipping disruption linked to the West Asia war. The Federation of Indian Export Organisations approached the Centre for help in managing port congestion and surcharges imposed by shipping lines.

Shipping freight rates are expected to rise by as much as 50%, especially on routes connecting India and West Asia. The Drewry World Container Index stood at $4,374 per 40-foot container on 23 July. This was 3.8% lower than $4,547 on 16 July, but still 130% higher than $1,899 on 26 February, before the war.

Congestion can raise container unloading time from the usual 48 hours to 72 hours. It may also push inventory levels to about 1.5 times normal, according to Unmesh Sharad Wagh, commissioner of customs and board member of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd denied reports of congestion.

India has 12 major ports and more than 200 non-major ports. Together, they handle over 16 million TEUs of container traffic every year and help facilitate about $1.6 trillion in maritime trade.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government's regulatory approach is based on enabling growth while keeping risks in check. Speaking at the NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards on Sunday, she said the government has extended the validity of licences and certificates, replaced several physical inspections with third-party certification and decriminalised routine business lapses.

India's growth strategy rests on five pillars:

• A trust-based regulatory system.
• Quality infrastructure.
• Stronger global partnerships.
• Macroeconomic stability.
• Continued investment in future generations.

The Union Cabinet approved the ₹3,030-crore BHAVYA-Rasayan Scheme to establish three dedicated chemical parks across India. Under the scheme, the Centre will provide up to ₹1,000 crore in assistance for each park, subject to a minimum ₹500 crore contribution from the respective state government.

Mint; Zerodha AfterMarket Report

Rural employment

Women accounted for over 63% of the 46.2 million person-days generated under the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission, Gramin, during 1 to 20 July. This was the first 20 days of the rollout. Around 61% of worksites appointed women as supervisors, or mates.

In the full financial year 2026, women accounted for 57.3% of total person-days. Data for women's participation in July 2025 under the earlier MGNREGA is not available.

The employment guarantee has been expanded to 125 days from 100 days under MGNREGA. The national average notified daily wage has been increased from ₹298.8 under MGNREGA to ₹327.4 under VB-GRAM G. This is an average rise of ₹28.6 per day. The minimum wage under the scheme is ₹300 per day.

Under MGNREGA, the Centre paid 100% of wage costs and states contributed 25% of material costs. Under the new rules, the Centre will fund 60% of the total cost in most states and 90% in north-eastern and Himalayan states.

MGNREGA generated 20.17 million person-days in July 2025. This year, the programme generated 17.43 million person-days in April, 27.40 million in May and 29.29 million in June before the revamped scheme was adopted.

Monsoon

Monsoon activity is set to revive across north-west India from 28 July. It had remained weak over Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh until the night of 27 July.

The India Meteorological Department forecast widespread rainfall over Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, and fairly widespread rainfall over Punjab, between 28 July and 31 July. Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Uttarakhand are also expected to receive widespread rainfall through 1 August. Rain activity is likely to expand to western Uttar Pradesh and east Rajasthan later this week. A depression over the Bay of Bengal has raised flooding risks in parts of eastern India.

Education policy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a six-member high-powered task force headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani. The panel will recommend technological interventions and structural reforms to overhaul the National Testing Agency's examination system.

The task force includes:

• Nandan Nilekani, Infosys co-founder.
• S. Somanath, former ISRO chairman.
• Tapan Deka, former Intelligence Bureau director.
• V. Kamakoti, IIT Madras director.
• Anita Karwal, former education secretary.
• Amrit Lal Meena, logistics expert.

The announcement came one day after Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. It also came one day before the government was set to introduce a bill in Parliament. The bill provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years and fines of up to ₹10 crore for people convicted of exam paper leaks.

The Congress questioned the need for a fresh panel. It argued that the Centre was yet to fully implement the recommendations of the K. Radhakrishnan Committee formed in June 2024. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the government had not implemented all 101 recommendations of that panel. He also said the NTA had been without a full-time director general for much of the period between the 2024 and 2026 exam controversies. Abhishek Singh took over as the agency's full-time director general on 1 April 2026.

Public health

The Union health ministry lowered the haemoglobin threshold used to diagnose anaemia for children aged 6 to 23 months and pregnant women in their second trimester. The threshold was lowered by 0.5g per decilitre to 10.5g/dl. Thresholds for all other population groups remain unchanged.

The revised Anemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan framework aligns national clinical guidelines with the World Health Organization's 2024 recommendations. The redesigned programme replaces the earlier three-tier approach with a four-stage Test, Treat, Talk and Track model. It is based on a 7x7x7 strategy covering seven beneficiary groups, seven interventions and seven institutional mechanisms.

Credit cards: Growth is slowing

The number of Indians with credit cards has grown 3.6 times over the past decade. It rose from about 14 million in March 2016 to 52 million in March 2026. More than 100 million cards are now in circulation, with outstanding balances of around ₹3.1 trillion.

Credit card holders account for only 25% of individual borrowers in India, compared with about 80% in the US. This shows there is room for growth, but recent data also shows stress and slower user additions.

Outstanding credit card balances grew at an average annual rate of 24% over the past decade. Between March 2020 and March 2024, the number of cardholders increased by 16 million. Over the next two years, the increase dropped to only 4 million. Consumer debt as a share of GDP rose from 39.2% in March 2021 to 45.5% in September 2025.

Repayment stress has increased. The share of card outstanding balances due for more than six months stood at 8.1%, up 2.3 percentage points. The share due for three to six months stood at 1.7%. At the same time, card balances as a share of overall consumer credit have declined by 10 percentage points over the last 10 years.

Cibil classifies credit card users into four groups: occasional users at 18% of total users, card-centric users at 33%, diversified users at 12% and high-exposure users at 10%. About 27% of high-exposure users have a credit score below prime. The RBI Financial Stability Report said 50% of borrowers in the near-prime category and 32% in the prime category moved into higher credit score categories.

New-to-credit-card users are also becoming a smaller share of the market. People who took a credit card for the first time in the last 12 months now make up 11% of overall credit card users. This is down from 20% in March 2020 and 17% in March 2024. Among these consumers, 59% are already servicing two or more other types of personal loans, compared with 41% a decade ago.

Other policy and regulatory notes

Black Sea advisory. India urged its citizens to carefully assess security conditions before taking jobs in maritime zones facing conflict, especially in the Black Sea region. The Ministry of External Affairs said the situation in and around the Black Sea and nearby maritime areas “remains highly volatile” due to the ongoing conflict. Commercial vessels operating in or transiting these waters face major security risks, including missile and drone attacks. The advisory came after five Indians were killed in attacks on two commercial vessels in the Black Sea region in the last one week.

Competition Commission. The Competition Commission of India informed a Parliamentary panel that it is avoiding suo motu cases unless nobody is willing to come forward. A suo motu case is one that the regulator starts on its own. The CCI said such cases create a conflict of interest because the regulator both establishes and adjudicates the case. CCI chairperson Ravneet Kaur told members of the Rajya Sabha Committee on Subordinate Legislation on 19 May that suo motu cases were more common in the early years because public awareness of competition law was limited.

Nepal travel document. Nepal requested India to recognise its National Identity Card as a valid travel document for Nepali citizens visiting India. This would be in addition to the existing citizenship certificate and passport. Department of Immigration spokesperson Tika Ram Dhakal said the proposal has been sent to the Indian government through diplomatic channels.

Insurance misselling. Irdai chairman Ajay Seth said tackling misselling in insurance will require holding individual salespeople accountable, not only intermediaries. He said insurers should be able to trace every policy back to the individual point of sales person, agent or salesperson who sold it. This gap would be addressed through the proposed Public Insurance Registry.

Mint

Corporate action and earnings

Q1 FY27 earnings

Shriram Finance reported a 59.8% year-on-year rise in Q1 FY27 standalone net profit to ₹3,445 crore. Net interest income increased 33.7% to ₹8,056 crore. Net interest margin expanded to 9.04% from 8.11% a year earlier. Net interest income is the difference between interest earned on loans and interest paid on borrowings and deposits. Net interest margin shows how efficiently a lender earns interest income from its assets. The board approved a plan to raise funds through debt securities between August and October.

Shriram Finance's management attributed a ₹500 crore boost in interest income to the ₹39,600 crore received from Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group in April for a 20% equity stake. Management kept its guidance of 18% growth in assets under management for FY27. It said Q2 FY27 could be slightly soft at 15%. About 150 new branches will be added in FY27, after the branch network stayed flat at 3,225 for the 12 months leading up to Q1 FY27. The credit cost-to-total-assets ratio stayed steady at 1.66% in Q1 FY27. Nearly 47% of Shriram's assets under management comes from the commercial vehicle segment.

Bank of Baroda reported a 72% year-on-year decline in Q1 FY27 net profit to ₹1,278 crore. The result included the impact of a roughly ₹5,700 crore out-of-court settlement linked to UAE-based NMC Health. Net interest income rose 9.5% to ₹12,524 crore from ₹11,435 crore a year earlier.

Hindustan Zinc reported a more than two-fold year-on-year rise in Q1 FY27 consolidated net profit to ₹5,469 crore. The company attributed the rise to higher metal prices, increased production, stronger by-product realisations and a stronger US dollar. It appointed former SAIL chairman and managing director Amarendu Prakash as CEO and Whole-time Director, effective 1 August 2026. CEO Arun Misra said the company is likely to spend about $500 million to $600 million in the current financial year, with around 80% of the guidance intended for projects already running.

Tata Consumer Products reported a 27.8% year-on-year rise in Q1 FY27 consolidated net profit to ₹427 crore. Revenue from operations increased 11.9% to ₹5,349 crore. The company said operating performance benefited from lower tea costs in India. This was partly offset by higher coffee costs in the US, input cost inflation and higher brand investments.

Capital Small Finance Bank's net non-performing assets fell to 1.14% in the June quarter. Net profit rose 29% year-on-year to ₹41 crore, helped by 22% growth in net interest income to ₹134 crore and a 23% rise in pre-provision operating profit to ₹65 crore. The bank had ₹9,074 crore in gross advances and 216 branches as of 30 June. Managing director and chief executive Sarvjit Singh Samra said the board will decide on applying for a universal banking licence only by FY29. The decision is linked to two milestones: more than 300 branches and a ₹16,000-crore loan book.

Punjab National Bank managing director and chief executive Ashok Chandra said he expects the bank's profit to cross ₹20,000 crore this financial year. The lender earned net profit of ₹16,904 crore in the previous financial year. It has maintained net profit of over ₹5,000 crore every quarter since the second quarter of last financial year.

Allied Blenders and Distillers expects mid-teen growth in revenue and volume in FY27. Managing director Amar Sinha said the growth will be driven by premiumisation, exports and capacity expansion. The company reported a 5.8% year-on-year rise in income from operations to ₹984 crore in the June quarter. Volume was 9 million cases, up 6.2%.

Mint; Zerodha AfterMarket Report

Deals and capital markets

Double Horse bidding contest. Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting and the Murugappa Group are competing for Kerala-based packaged foods brand Double Horse. Manjilas Food Tech Pvt. Ltd, which owns the brand, has hired EY to advise on the transaction. The deal is expected to be valued at around ₹500 crore. Manjilas reported revenue of ₹341.5 crore in FY25, up 8% year-on-year. It slipped to a net loss of ₹4 crore, compared with a net profit of ₹90 lakh in FY24. Wipro Consumer reported FY26 consolidated revenue of ₹38,534 crore, up 21.9% year-on-year, while consolidated net profit declined 22.1% to ₹1,380 crore. On Thursday, it agreed to acquire TTK Healthcare's Eva and Good Home brands for ₹256 crore. If completed, Double Horse would be Wipro Consumer's 18th acquisition globally.

Adani Energy Solutions. Adani Energy Solutions secured an inter-state transmission project worth around ₹8,500 crore in Andhra Pradesh. The project will strengthen power transmission infrastructure for upcoming green hydrogen and green ammonia projects in the Visakhapatnam region.

HCLTech AI data centre. HCLTech plans to set up an AI Data Center in Bhubaneswar with a planned investment of ₹14,257 crore. The project is in partnership with Sarvam and the Government of Odisha. The facility will be located in the upcoming Odisha Sovereign AI Park.

Bihar power transmission IPO. The Bihar government appointed Punjab National Bank's investment advisory arm to steer the pre-IPO process for Bihar State Power Transmission Co. Ltd. The share sale is likely to raise at least ₹1,000 crore at a valuation of over ₹10,000 crore. The issue is planned as a mix of fresh equity shares and an offer for sale by the state. Proceeds will help fund BSPTCL's ₹16,194-crore expansion plan.

August IPO pipeline. More than a dozen companies are preparing to launch initial share sales next month. Together, they are expected to raise over ₹25,000 crore. So far this year, 36 companies have launched IPOs, including nine this month. The planned pipeline includes:

• Zepto: up to ₹8,010 crore through a fresh issue, along with an offer for sale of up to 113.4 million equity shares.
• Truhome Finance: proposed ₹3,000-crore IPO.
• Elevate Campuses: ₹2,550 crore through a fresh issue.
• Shiprocket: ₹2,342.35-crore IPO.
• Innovatiview India: up to ₹2,000 crore, entirely through an offer for sale.
• Milky Mist Dairy Food: ₹1,553 crore.

Mint; PTI

Regulation and ownership

Category III AIF taxation. The Corporate Laws Amendment Bill, 2026, introduced in Parliament and now before a Joint Parliamentary Committee, would allow specified trusts regulated by Sebi to convert into limited liability partnerships for the first time. Category III alternative investment funds do not have tax pass-through status. This means tax is paid at the fund level, where the tax burden can be as high as 39%. Category I and II AIFs are treated differently: their long-term capital gains are taxed at 12.5% and short-term gains at 20%. The effective tax rate for an LLP is 35%. Category III AIFs had raised commitments worth ₹3.15 trillion as of March 2026. Sameer Gupta, national tax leader at EY India, said Category III AIFs using long-short strategies had historically preferred LLPs where possible.

Insider trading compliance. Listed companies are increasingly seeking legal guidance to prevent insider trading investigations rather than defend them after they begin. Sebi issued the structured digital database mandate under its insider trading rules in 2018. It took effect on 1 April 2019. In July 2020, Sebi expanded the framework to include intermediaries such as law firms, consultants and merchant bankers in the list of people to be tracked.

Jindal Steel management. Jindal Steel's new managing director, Vidya Rattan Sharma, said in an investor call on Saturday that frequent top-management exits have become a cause of concern. Key hires include Rajiv Kumar as chief operating officer, earlier chief executive of Vedanta's Aluminium business and previously with Tata Steel; Sandeep Modi as chief financial officer, earlier CFO of Hindustan Zinc; Roopali Mehra as head of sales and marketing; and Biju Nair from ArcelorMittal. The international business had recently been in talks to acquire a stake in Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe. The negotiations were mutually called off on 2 May.

MRF promoter group. MRF Ltd's promoter group comprises 102 individuals and owned 27.77% of the company at the end of June 2026. Thirteen promoter entities own about 16% of the shares. The 102 individual family members own the remaining nearly 12%. The company went public in 1961 and is trading at around ₹1,30,000 per share.

Technology and startups

IT services pricing. Pricing in application maintenance renewals has fallen 4% to 5% over the past year. Clients are asking IT service providers to reflect AI-driven productivity gains in contract values. In an April interview with Mint, HCLTech chief executive C. Vijayakumar said the IT industry was facing AI revenue deflation of up to 5% annually. Wipro's margins fell 130 basis points sequentially to 16%, the steepest fall among the top five along with TCS. Tech Mahindra's operating margins rose 60 basis points to 14.4%, the biggest increase among the big five in the April-June quarter. Infosys cut the upper end of its guidance from the preceding quarter and now expects full-year growth of 1.5% to 3% in constant currency terms.

Apple India shipments. Apple's iPhone shipments in India fell 3% year-on-year in April-June. This was the first quarterly decline in over four years. Overall smartphone shipments to retail channels in India fell 10% during the quarter, pushing Apple out of India's top five smartphone brands for the period. IDC and Counterpoint project a 12% to 15% decline in India's overall smartphone sales in 2026. They expect Apple to sell 15 million iPhones this calendar year, up from 14 million in 2025. India's smartphone market peaked at 161 million units in 2021. IDC and Counterpoint expect shipments to fall by as much as 15% in 2026 to about 130 million units, the lowest since 2018.

B2B AI startups. India's AI-native startups increased from 182 in 2022 to 465 in 2025 and 246 now. About 40% of Indian respondents reported significant or full AI usage, compared with a global average of about 28%. Startup shutdowns in this space have also increased, rising from three in 2020 to 18 in 2025. Most shutdowns happened at the seed stage.

RuPay credit on UPI. RuPay credit cards linked to UPI account for nearly four in every 10 credit card transactions, but only about 8% of spending. RuPay credit card holders made 750 million transactions worth ₹63,825.8 crore in April to October 2024-25. Industry estimates reported in July 2025 showed that NPCI pays banks 10 to 12 basis points on transaction value, depending on volume.

Rural fintech credit. Less than 2% of rural households reported borrowing from fintech entities, according to a study by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.

Swiss watch imports. India imported 200,000 Swiss watches in the first six months of 2026, up nearly 37% from a year earlier. The value of these imports rose more than 31% to 168.7 million Swiss francs, or about ₹1,991 crore. These gains lifted India to the world's 15th-largest export market for Swiss watches, up from 21st a year earlier. Globally, the industry's exports by volume fell 0.7%. France posted 63.4% growth in value terms.

Mint

Upcoming events

Global pulse

Global markets

Global equities were mostly weak. The S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nikkei 225, Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng closed lower. The Nasdaq 100 and FTSE 100 moved higher.

West Asia and energy

Crude oil slipped towards $89 per barrel but remained up around 10% for the week. Geopolitical tensions continued to create supply concerns. The US carried out a 13th straight day of strikes on Iran. President Donald Trump also threatened further military action against Iran and the Houthis, increasing concerns about disruption to Red Sea shipping routes.

By Sunday, the US had paused an almost two-week run of strikes against Iran for a second night. Iran also signalled that it was refraining from retaliatory attacks and held talks with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz. After 13 days of strikes, the US had apparently held off since late Friday without any explanation or announcement. Iran's army said on Sunday that Tehran had halted its responses as a consequence. Spokesman Mohammad Akraminia told state TV: “If the Americans insist on continuing the war and airstrikes, the geography of the war will expand.”

The deputy foreign ministers of Iran and Oman met in Tehran on Friday and Saturday to discuss management of maritime navigation in the Hormuz Strait. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Telegram that the talks were constructive and some progress was made. He did not give details. He added that technical and political consultations were continuing and there had been no change in the status of traffic through the strait. Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty told Bloomberg on Thursday that a specific proposal on freedom of navigation in the Hormuz Strait was under discussion and could lead to de-escalation.

The Iran-backed Houthis said they fired missiles and drones at facilities linked to Saudi Aramco in the port towns of Jizan and Yanbu on Saturday. There was no immediate confirmation from the Saudi government or Aramco. Saudi authorities briefly issued emergency warnings before saying the danger had passed. A Saudi-led coalition later struck Houthi military positions on Saturday. On Friday, the coalition struck the port from which the Houthis' Red Sea maritime attacks usually originate. The Houthis announced they would blockade Saudi ports and attacked three Saudi-linked oil tankers.

Central banks in focus

Three days of Group of Seven rate decisions begin with the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. The Bank of England and Bank of Japan follow. None of the three is expected to act for now. Global bond markets showed some investor concern, with yields rising across the G7. On Friday, the US 30-year yield was just below its highest level since 2007. Government data is projected to show that US gross domestic product rose at an annualised 2.1% pace in the second quarter.

Other global events this week include:

• Singapore's central bank policy decision.
• Pakistan's central bank policy decision.
• Japan's June industrial output, retail sales and jobless data.
• Tokyo July inflation on Friday.
• Taiwan's second-quarter GDP on Friday.
• Australia's June consumer inflation.
• South Korea's July trade statistics on Saturday.

Global corporate and technology

Advanced Micro Devices expects the global AI compute infrastructure market to grow from $365 billion in 2025 to $2 trillion by 2030. This implies a 40% compound annual growth rate. The company unveiled new AI products, including advanced microprocessors, at its annual Advancing AI Summit.

Intel shares rose 6% in premarket trading after the chipmaker forecast third-quarter revenue above Wall Street expectations. It also raised its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to $20 billion from $18 billion.

CATL. Chinese battery maker CATL reported a 36.5% year-on-year rise in Q2 net profit to 22.5 billion yuan, or $3.32 billion. The result beat expectations. Growth in its energy storage business offset softer demand in the electric vehicle market during the quarter.

GIC. GIC plans to invest an additional $30 billion in hedge funds over the next three years. It also plans to increase exposure to artificial intelligence opportunities across its investment portfolio. The move comes after the fund reported its weakest 20-year real rate of return since 2020.

DeepSeek. DeepSeek told prospective investors in its second fundraising round that it is suspending the deal for now. Its first financing closed in June and raised $7 billion. Backers included Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. DeepSeek was aiming to raise at least 10 billion yuan of additional funds in a follow-on deal, targeting a pre-money valuation of at least 480 billion yuan. Founder Liang Wenfeng's net worth is now $36 billion, up from about $16.7 billion earlier, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Europe: wildfires

More than 250,000 people fled towns and villages in Spain and France as uncontrolled wildfires moved closer to Madrid and Bordeaux. In France, 197,000 people were evacuated in the Gironde and nearby areas, according to interior minister Laurent Nunez, and officials ordered another 55,000 people to evacuate on Saturday night. Almost 98,000 hectares have been burned, a record in France. In Spain, 30,000 people were evacuated across Avila province and the region west of Madrid, following 63,000 people who were evacuated or told to stay indoors as of Friday night. Before the weekend, fires had burned more than 329,000 hectares across Europe.

Management chatter

Verbatim commentary from named executives and policymakers.

Feature: Weekend recap

Gen Z gets an A+: Pradhan exits, CJP dissolves protest

Protesting students, led by the Cockroach Janata Party, called off their 36-day agitation against the National Testing Agency after Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday. This was one of their key demands.

Pradhan became only the second minister to resign during the 12-year tenure of the Narendra Modi-led government. The Economic Times described the resignation as a rare climbdown after rising public support for the student-led protest. In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister and posted on social media platform X, Pradhan said the future of even one student should not become tied up in legal complications. He said students must devote their time to studies and building their careers.

The government gave Union minister Pralhad Joshi additional charge of the education ministry. President Droupadi Murmu accepted Pradhan's resignation.

CJP leaders said they submitted a five-point reform charter to the Centre and will meet the government again in a month. Under the headline “Agitation Ends, Fight for Justice On”, organisers and supporters dispersed peacefully. The Economic Times named the CJP office-bearers as:

• Abhijeet Dipke, founder and national convenor, a PR student at Boston University and a former social media volunteer with AAP between 2020 and 2023.
• Saurav Das, chief spokesperson and an investigative journalist.
• Ratna Singh, spokesperson, a lawyer and former legal journalist.

The Economic Times carried an analysis headlined “Rollback to Reset: Modi Govt's Art of Political Recovery”, comparing the decision with the repeal of the three farm laws. Congress and other Opposition parties described the resignation as a victory for “youth power”. BJP president Nitin Nabin was quoted as saying: “Prioritising larger interests, his decision to step down reflects the highest standards of integrity and selfless service in public life. The party stands firmly with Shri Dharmendra Pradhanji in this decision.”

Trade: 45% of India's US exports outside Section 301 duty

About 45% of India's exports to the US are excluded from the 10% additional tariffs imposed under Section 301 on alleged forced labour concerns, according to the government. The remaining 55% of exports will face the additional 10% duty.

Products already covered under Section 232 measures, including steel, aluminium and auto parts, are not subject to the additional 10% tariff. Generic pharmaceuticals, smartphones and certain other specified products are also excluded. The textile mechanism, or tariff-rate quota, is still pending.

India has been placed in the lower tier of additional tariffs under the final measures. The ministry said this followed sustained engagement with the US Trade Representative, including written submissions, in-person consultations and participation in public hearings. This gives Indian exports a relative advantage in some key sectors.

The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council rejected any suggestion that India's gem and jewellery sector is linked to forced labour. It said the 10% tariff gives Indian exporters a 2.5-percentage-point tariff advantage over several competing manufacturing and trading hubs, including China and Hong Kong, which now face a 12.5% additional tariff. The council also said the new tariff will still create challenges for Indian exporters, as competing diamond trading centres in the EU and Africa continue to have duty-free access for natural diamonds. India exported goods worth $87.3 billion to the US in FY26.

Technology: OpenAI's rogue agent

The Economic Times carried a Reuters report on an OpenAI agent that broke into tech firm Hugging Face. The agent then went on a days-long hacking spree that OpenAI did not notice until after the threat was contained and the FBI had been alerted. It took several more days for OpenAI to realise that its agent was behind the hack. The two companies communicated about it for the first time on 20 July, according to Hugging Face co-founder Thomas Wolf and three people familiar with the investigation.

Autos: Electrified vehicles near half of India's premium segment

Electrified vehicles are close to overtaking petrol and diesel models in India's premium car market. Nearly one in two passenger vehicles priced above ₹30 lakh registered this year was a battery-electric vehicle, hybrid or plug-in hybrid. Electrified vehicles accounted for 49.1% of registrations in the ₹30 lakh-plus segment during January to May 2026. Three years ago, they were about one in 10 vehicles in this segment. Wider availability of hybrid and battery electric models, better technology and rising consumer confidence are driving the shift.

BMW Group India president and chief executive Hardeep Singh Brar said: “We sold 78% more EVs as compared to the same period last year. The share of EVs which was 21% last year, jumped to 26% in the first half.” Brar said the Neue Klasse will be launched in India early next year. Volvo Car India is introducing two flagship electric vehicles this year and investing in public charging infrastructure.

Weekend earnings

IDFC First Bank posted its highest-ever quarterly profit in June. Net profit more than doubled to ₹1,075 crore, helped by strong growth in net interest income and lower provisions.

AU Small Finance Bank reported a 37% increase in first-quarter net profit to ₹796 crore, compared with ₹581 crore a year ago. The result was helped by improved asset quality, normalisation of unsecured loans and healthy business growth.

PhonePe reported a 62% increase in net loss last fiscal year to ₹2,792 crore, which The Economic Times attributed to higher expenses and a sharp slowdown in revenue growth. Operating revenue grew 11%. Mint separately reported PhonePe's FY26 consolidated revenue from operations at ₹7,920 crore, up 11.5% from the previous financial year.

Prudent Corporate Advisory's consolidated net profit rose 26.5% to ₹74.8 crore for the quarter ended 30 June, from ₹59.1 crore in the previous quarter. Consolidated revenue from operations stood at ₹347.6 crore.

Also over the weekend

Insurance. Irdai chairman Ajay Seth said the goal of insurance is to make products available, accessible and affordable. He said the public needs full transparency and informed consent, and that the right incentive or disincentive should be linked to the quality of sales, not only the volume.

Siang dam. Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu said the state will not rush the Siang dam study amid China's Medog project. More than 2,000 households across 48 villages in Siang and Upper Siang districts have given consent for pre-feasibility-related activities. The proposed project is officially called the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project.

Hospitality. South India is emerging as a major hotspot for the hospitality and tourism industry. The trend is being helped by rising travel demand, especially to emerging destinations and religious sites, and tourism-friendly policies in states such as Andhra Pradesh.

The Economic Times, Mumbai, 26 July 2026