DayStarter

Market snapshot

Equities, sectors, F&O movers, commodities, currency, bonds and institutional flows at the 28 July 2026 close.

Equities and sectors

Indian markets closed almost flat on Tuesday. The Nifty 50 ended 0.04% lower at 23,985.35, while the Sensex fell 0.09% to 76,765.92.

Broader markets were weaker. The Nifty Next 50 fell 0.70%, the Nifty Smallcap 250 declined 0.47%, and the Nifty Microcap 250 fell 1.27%. The Nifty Midcap 150 was nearly unchanged.

The Nifty opened 25 points lower at 23,971. Weak global markets, led by selling in chip stocks, affected sentiment. Lower crude oil prices provided some help.

The index briefly moved towards 23,970 before recovering above 24,030 during the first hour. It later returned to the 24,000 to 24,020 range.

Selling became stronger after 1 PM, taking the index below 23,980. The Nifty briefly tried to move back above 24,000 around 2 PM, but selling returned. It touched an intraday low near 23,955 during the final hour and closed at 23,985.35.

The exact intraday high was 24,041.15, while the low was 23,954.60. The index opened at 23,971.25.

Other broad market indices were also subdued. The Nifty 500 closed at 23,114.90, down 0.16%. The Nifty 100 fell 0.17% to 25,046.95. The BSE 150 MidCap rose 0.01% to 16,873.27, while the BSE 250 SmallCap fell 0.47% to 6,984.27.

Sector performance

Information technology and realty were the strongest sectors. Nifty IT rose 3.32%, while Nifty Realty gained 2.17%. Consumer Durables, Auto, Pharma, and Services also closed higher.

Energy was the weakest sector, falling 1.69%. FMCG declined 1.38%, while PSU Bank, Metal, and Bank also ended lower.

Top gainers and losers: F&O stocks

Coforge was the strongest F&O stock, rising 10.16%. Lodha gained 9.37%, while Kalyan Jewellers rose 7.72%.

Suzlon was the biggest loser, falling 9.73%. Godfrey Phillips, Varun Beverages, Hindustan Unilever, and Nuvama also recorded large declines.

Commodities and currency

Commodity prices fell across the board. Crude oil futures declined 2.32%, silver fell 2.04%, and gold fell 0.99%.

Natural gas, zinc, copper, and aluminium also closed lower.

The rupee strengthened slightly against the US dollar. USD/INR closed at 95.83, compared with 95.91 previously.

The US 10-year bond yield fell to 4.64%, while India's 10-year bond yield rose slightly to 6.78%.

Institutional flows

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers over the latest five reported sessions, while domestic institutional investors were net buyers.

FIIs sold shares worth a net ₹7,749 crore over the five sessions. DIIs bought shares worth a net ₹9,655 crore.

The published Zerodha report uses a five-day trailing format and does not include net FII and DII figures for the 28 July session. The 28 July figures can be checked on the NSE and BSE portals or the Tijori App.

Macro view

Industrial production

India's industrial production grew 7.3% year-on-year in June. This was above the market expectation of 6% and was the fastest growth in 23 months.

Manufacturing led the improvement. Manufacturing output rose 7.8%, while electricity and gas production increased 10.6%. Capital goods and infrastructure activity also contributed to the growth.

The June release was the third month under the new Index of Industrial Production series. The new series uses 2022-23 as its base year, replacing the earlier 2011-12 base.

It also uses the Output Producer Price Index instead of the Wholesale Price Index to adjust nominal output for price changes. This is intended to provide a more detailed measure of producer prices and improve the calculation of real industrial output.

The index stood at 123.1 in June 2026, compared with 114.7 a year earlier. The provisional data was released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Tuesday.

Manufacturing has a 76.06% weight in the IIP. Its growth rose to 7.8% in June from 5.2% in May and 2.4% in June 2025.

Overall industrial growth in June was also higher than the 1.5% recorded in June 2025 and the previous month's growth of 5.1%, which was revised to 5%.

“The stronger-than-expected reading indicates that industrial growth gained traction at the end of the quarter despite ongoing global uncertainties. … This methodological shift enhances the accuracy of real output measurement by providing a more granular representation of producer prices and aligns India's industrial statistics with global best practices.”

Shashwat Singh, fundamental analyst, Bajaj Broking, quoted in Mint, 29 July 2026.

Banking and credit

Public sector banks continued to report stronger balance sheets.

Their gross non-performing asset ratio fell to 1.9% at the end of FY26. It was 2.6% a year earlier and 7.3% in FY22. A lower NPA ratio means a smaller share of loans is not being repaid on schedule.

Combined net profit reached a record ₹1.98 trillion. The capital adequacy ratio increased to 16.6% from 16.1%, showing that banks held a larger capital buffer against potential losses.

The total business of public sector banks grew to ₹283.3 trillion as of 31 March 2026, from ₹251.7 trillion a year earlier. Deposits stood at ₹156.3 trillion, while gross loans and advances were ₹127 trillion.

Credit growth was broad-based during FY26:

• Retail loans grew 19.8% year-on-year.
• Lending to micro, small, and medium enterprises rose 19.6%.
• Farm credit increased 16.2%.
• Infrastructure loans grew 4.9%.

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the financial health of public sector banks had improved significantly. Regional rural banks also recorded their best-ever financial performance in FY26.

The government introduced the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme 5.0 in May. The scheme is intended to help businesses facing temporary liquidity pressure because of the West Asia conflict.

The government has also created the India Digital Payment Intelligence Corporation. The organisation will share real-time fraud intelligence and alerts with banks and financial institutions to help control cyber financial fraud.

Power and energy

Real-time electricity prices on the Indian Energy Exchange fell to nearly 10 paise per unit on Tuesday.

During the first quarter of FY27, prices fell below ₹0.05 per unit 31 times. This happened on eight days in April, 14 days in May, and nine days in June. In the same quarter a year earlier, prices fell below this level only six times. Prices touched zero on 1 May.

However, average monthly clearing prices remained higher than a year earlier.

Only around 13% of India's electricity is traded through exchanges. Most electricity is supplied under long-term power purchase agreements.

India's peak electricity demand reached a record 270.8 gigawatts on 21 May. It is expected to reach 272 gigawatts this year, while the power ministry expects peak demand to rise to 300 gigawatts in FY28.

Solar and wind power generation reached 90.09 gigawatts at around 1 PM. This met nearly 39% of the country's total electricity demand of 230.63 gigawatts.

The rapid increase in renewable power is also creating grid-management problems. India held back 8,133 gigawatt-hours of solar electricity during April to June because the grid could not absorb all the available power. Transmission bottlenecks and grid-security requirements contributed to the curtailment.

Solar curtailment was:

• 2,417 GWh in April.
• 3,235 GWh in May.
• 2,481 GWh in June.

India also plans to buy up to one-quarter of its liquefied petroleum gas imports from the United States in 2027. Three state-owned refiners are expected to issue supply tenders within one to two months.

In atomic power, Tata Power expects to build its first nuclear plant as early as 2032. India recently ended the state monopoly in atomic power. Chief executive Praveer Sinha said the company had shortlisted sites in at least three states.

Fuel policy: The E20 testing dispute

Fuel retailers are asking oil marketing companies to bear the cost of quality tests for petrol blended with 20% ethanol.

Oil marketing companies have asked petrol pumps to regularly test E20 fuel using a water-mixing method. Retailers say the method permanently changes the tested fuel and makes it unsuitable for sale.

Dealer associations have asked the petroleum ministry to:

• Issue a standard operating procedure for E20 testing.
• Approve testing equipment that does not damage the sample.
• Reimburse dealers for the cost of wasted fuel until another method is approved.

A petrol pump operating throughout the day may lose around nine litres of petrol daily under the new testing method. India has around 100,000 fuel retail outlets, of which 90,600 are supplied by state-owned oil marketing companies.

The prescribed test involves mixing 30 millilitres of water with a 100-millilitre sample of ethanol-blended petrol. When the fuel contains 20% ethanol, the lower liquid layer rises to around 50 millilitres.

This process causes phase separation and permanently changes the fuel's composition. The tested sample can no longer be sold.

The E20 policy is also facing a wider public and legal response. Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari moved the Bombay High Court on Monday seeking permission to sue technology companies over allegedly defamatory content that accused him and his family of profiting from the policy.

The Delhi Taxi and Tourist Transporters Association has announced a march to Parliament on 4 August. It is demanding an independent scientific review of the E20 rollout.

On 8 July, the petroleum ministry wrote to all state chief secretaries regarding fuel adulteration and illegal fuel sales.

Monty Sehgal, spokesperson for the Petrol Dealers Association, Punjab, said frequent testing could cause significant financial losses. He also said the additional testing requirement had been directed only towards pumps operated by government-owned companies.

Queries sent to the petroleum ministry, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation had not received responses.

Industrial and regulatory policy

Bulk drugs PLI scheme

The central government plans to revise the production-linked incentive scheme for bulk drugs.

The revised scheme will follow a more supportive approach towards research and development, infrastructure, and financing. It is expected to provide grants for technology development, support infrastructure creation, and offer incentives for India's bulk-drug and advanced-intermediates market.

The Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences estimates this market at $20 billion.

By March 2026, manufacturing capacity had been created for 29 key starting materials and active pharmaceutical ingredients.

This capacity generated cumulative sales of ₹3,270 crore, including exports of ₹521 crore. It also helped India avoid imports worth ₹2,749 crore.

India's pharmaceutical sector has grown to $60 billion. However, the country still depends on imports for several critical bulk drugs, including penicillin G, amoxicillin, azithromycin, rifampicin, atorvastatin, and metformin.

Sugar stock limits

The central government has imposed limits on the amount of sugar that dealers can hold between 1 August and 30 November.

The limits are intended to reduce hoarding, discourage speculative trading, and maintain adequate supply during the festival season.

The food ministry said ex-mill sugar prices had increased even though the rise was “not supported by the prevailing demand-supply fundamental”.

Odisha ore quality checks

Odisha is increasing quality-control checks after some miners were found misreporting ore grades to pay lower royalties.

The state's Directorate of Mines and Geology has asked local officials to explain failures in verifying ore grades after inspections found evidence of falsification.

SEBI's online dispute resolution revamp

SEBI wants to make the investor grievance process faster by changing how online conciliation and arbitration are managed.

Under the proposal, exchanges, depositories, and other market infrastructure institutions would take over administration from private online dispute resolution institutions.

These market bodies supervise most intermediaries and listed companies, which gives them greater authority to oversee the process and enforce outcomes.

The existing online dispute resolution framework was introduced in 2023. It applies when an investor complaint remains unresolved through SEBI's SCORES platform.

Under the proposed changes:

• Unresolved SCORES complaints would move directly to conciliation.
• Conciliation would remain free for investors.
• A party appealing an arbitration decision would need to deposit the award amount.
• An investor could receive up to ₹5 lakh or 50% of the award amount, whichever is lower, while the appeal is pending.
• Conciliators and arbitrators would need to be between 40 and 75 years old.
• They would also need at least 10 years of experience in finance, law, or a related field.

The proposal follows complaints about delays in appointing and paying conciliators and arbitrators, long proceedings, and weak enforcement of awards.

Private online dispute resolution institutions do not regulate market intermediaries. This limits their ability to enforce arbitration decisions effectively.

Corporate action and earnings

Q1 FY27 aggregate earnings: Analysis of 393 companies

An analysis of 393 companies that had announced standalone April to June results showed strong revenue growth but pressure on costs and profits.

Aggregate total income rose 18% year-on-year. This was the fastest growth in at least three years. However, expenditure increased 26.5%, leaving total profit broadly unchanged from a year earlier.

The pressure was concentrated in non-financial companies. The 310 companies outside banking, financial services, and insurance recorded 26% growth in total income, their strongest growth in nearly three years.

However, expenditure for these companies rose 35%. Net profit fell almost 20%, the weakest performance since the second quarter of FY25.

Financial companies performed better. The 83 BFSI companies recorded 6% growth in total income, while expenditure increased only 2%. Their combined net profit rose almost 25% year-on-year, the strongest growth in two years.

ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Axis Bank reported net-profit growth of 16% to 26%. HDFC Bank's profit increased by a more modest 5%.

The market currently expects Nifty 50 earnings to grow around 14% year-on-year in FY27.

Gautam Duggad, managing director and head of sales for institutional equities at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, warned that energy prices remaining high for a long period could further reduce company margins and lead to another round of earnings downgrades.

Domestic corporate developments

Hindustan Unilever

Hindustan Unilever's consolidated net profit fell 3% year-on-year to ₹2,673 crore in Q1 FY27. Revenue from operations increased 10.1% to ₹17,341 crore.

The profit decline was mainly because the corresponding quarter last year included a one-time tax credit.

Sales volume grew 5% during the June quarter. This was lower than the 15-quarter high of 6% recorded in the previous quarter.

EBITDA margin stood at 23%, down 40 basis points from a year earlier. Tax expenses nearly doubled to ₹939 crore from ₹485 crore.

Restructuring costs increased to ₹115 crore from ₹90 crore in Q1 FY26. Advertising and promotion spending reached ₹1,657 crore, the highest in 11 quarters.

HUL increased prices by 5% during the quarter.

The stock closed at ₹2,020, down 7.11%.

Larsen & Toubro

Larsen & Toubro's Q1 FY27 net profit increased 14% year-on-year to ₹4,123 crore. Revenue from operations rose 7% to ₹67,942 crore.

The profit was below the ₹5,266 crore consensus estimate from six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Revenue was above the market estimate of ₹67,545 crore.

EBITDA fell 3% year-on-year to ₹6,117 crore, below the expected ₹6,535 crore. EBITDA margin declined 92 basis points to 9%.

The company said the West Asia war was the main reason for the margin decline.

L&T received new orders worth ₹1.08 lakh crore during the quarter, up 14% year-on-year. Around 56% of the new orders came from overseas markets. This included a single European order worth ₹33,000 crore.

The company's order book reached a record ₹7.8 trillion at the end of the quarter.

L&T shares closed 0.75% higher at ₹3,832.75 on the BSE.

Coforge

Coforge's revenue rose 21% sequentially to $592.2 million. This was the fastest quarterly growth among India's 15 largest technology services companies.

Its executable order book rose 44% year-on-year and 27% sequentially to a record $2.23 billion.

New order intake increased 6.5% sequentially to $691 million.

Encora Holdings contributed $100.7 million of revenue during its first two months of consolidation after May.

Revenue from Coforge's top 10 clients grew 18.7% year-on-year and contributed 26.1% of total Q1 revenue.

EBIT margin was 16%, up 414 basis points from a year earlier. The organic EBIT margin was 16.7%.

Net profit fell 15% sequentially to ₹519 crore, or $55.6 million.

Management guided for a standalone EBIT margin of 16.5% and a consolidated EBIT margin of 15.5% for FY27.

The stock closed at ₹1,683.70, up 10.16%.

Mphasis

Mphasis recorded revenue of $471.1 million during the latest quarter, up 1.8% sequentially.

Around one-fourth of the company's growth came from healthcare, manufacturing, and retail clients.

Net profit fell 4% sequentially to ₹490 crore, or $51.6 million. Operating margin was 14.8%.

The company maintained its full-year growth guidance of “high-single-digit to low-double-digit growth in constant currency”.

Mphasis opened 0.3% lower after announcing its results.

Bharat Electronics

Bharat Electronics' June-quarter revenue rose 25% year-on-year to ₹5,533 crore.

EBITDA increased 12%, but EBITDA margin fell 297 basis points to 25.1% because of higher raw-material costs.

Order inflow during Q1 FY27 was ₹3,800 crore, almost half the amount recorded in Q1 FY26.

Management maintained its FY27 order-inflow guidance of ₹55,000 crore. This includes a large Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile order worth ₹30,000 crore.

BEL's order book stood at ₹72,300 crore, equal to around 2.5 times its sales over the previous 12 months.

The company plans to invest around ₹2,200 crore in research and development during FY27. Capital expenditure is expected to be ₹1,200 crore.

Consolidated net profit rose 8.2% to ₹1,048 crore from ₹969 crore a year earlier.

Varun Beverages

Varun Beverages recorded consolidated revenue from operations of ₹8,650.6 crore in Q1 FY27, up 20.8% from a year earlier.

Revenue was slightly below the Bloomberg consensus estimate of ₹8,675.9 crore, based on 15 analyst estimates.

Consolidated net profit increased 15.1% to ₹1,525.4 crore. This was also slightly below the Bloomberg consensus estimate of ₹1,533.6 crore from 14 analysts.

The stock closed at ₹429.50, down 7.53%.

Suzlon Energy

Suzlon shares fell nearly 10% after the company announced mixed Q1 FY27 results.

Revenue rose 22.3% year-on-year to ₹3,830 crore, helped by strong execution and record deliveries.

Net profit fell 5.9% to ₹305 crore.

EBITDA remained broadly unchanged at ₹596 crore. As a result, EBITDA margin fell to 15.6% from 19.1% a year earlier.

The stock closed at ₹47.98, down 9.73%.

Ambuja Cements

Ambuja Cements' consolidated net profit attributable to owners of the parent fell 33% to ₹577 crore for the quarter ended 30 June. Profit was ₹869 crore a year earlier.

Revenue from operations fell 7.3% year-on-year to ₹9,474 crore from ₹10,244 crore.

Cement sales volumes declined 7% to 17.1 million tonnes.

EBITDA was ₹1,589 crore. This was 8% higher than the previous quarter but 19% lower than a year earlier.

The company temporarily shut around 3.5 million tonnes of production capacity for approximately six months.

UltraTech Cement

UltraTech Cement recorded a nearly 17% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit to ₹2,599 crore.

Revenue increased 16% to ₹24,648 crore.

TTK Prestige

TTK Prestige shares rose more than 7% after the company announced strong Q1 FY27 results.

Consolidated net profit more than doubled to ₹60 crore from ₹27 crore a year earlier.

The improvement was driven by demand for induction cooktops and premium cookware.

Revenue from operations increased nearly 34% year-on-year to ₹814 crore.

Tata Communications

Tata Communications expects its data-centre capacity in India to increase five times.

Managing director and chief executive Ganesh Lakshminarayanan said intra-data-centre connectivity in India could become a $1 billion opportunity under some estimates.

The company's net profit fell by half from the March quarter to ₹129.72 crore.

A note published by ICICI Securities on 23 April estimated that the company's digital-services revenue could increase to ₹28,000 crore by 2027-28.

IndiGo

InterGlobe Aviation is seeking shareholder approval to increase its borrowing limit by 57%.

The airline wants to raise the limit to ₹1,10,000 crore from the current ₹70,000 crore.

IndiGo expects to use its existing borrowing limit fully during FY27. It is seeking an additional ₹40,000 crore, which it is likely to use by the first half of FY29.

Around 75% of the additional borrowing is expected to finance aircraft through long-term finance leases.

IndiGo had 441 aircraft as of 31 March 2026. Its order book included around 900 aircraft, with deliveries scheduled through 2035.

Swiggy

Swiggy has appointed Nandita Sinha, former chief executive of Myntra, as chief executive of Instamart from 3 August.

She will replace Amitesh Kumar Jha, who resigned on Monday. His resignation took effect immediately, based on a stock-exchange filing on Tuesday.

Swiggy shares closed at ₹270.10, up 4.70%.

Canara Bank

Canara Bank has started reviewing its cybersecurity systems after a recent fraud incident at another state-owned bank.

Managing director and chief executive Brajesh Kumar Singh said the bank had allocated more than ₹2,000 crore to information technology and cybersecurity initiatives.

The bank also expects to raise between $2.3 billion and $2.5 billion through FCNR(B) deposits, external commercial borrowings, and overseas foreign-currency borrowings.

Around $1.5 billion is expected to come through FCNR(B) deposits before the RBI's special window closes on 30 September.

Paytm Payments Bank

The Delhi High Court has ordered the winding up of Paytm Payments Bank.

The court appointed Girikumar M. Nair, a former State Bank of India executive, as the official liquidator.

The RBI had cancelled the bank's licence on 24 April. Nair will oversee the liquidation process with effect from 8 July.

Telecom subscribers

India's telecom subscriber base increased slightly to 134.8 crore in June.

Bharti Airtel added the highest number of subscribers, with a net increase of 31.63 lakh.

Reliance Jio added 22.91 lakh users.

Coca-Cola in India

The Coca-Cola Company lost value market share in India's non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverage market during the April to June quarter.

The company also lost value share across the total non-alcoholic ready-to-drink category in the Asia-Pacific region.

Gains in Japan and China were more than offset by the decline in India.

The information was included in Coca-Cola's June-quarter earnings statement released on 28 July.

Deals, funds, and startups

SK Finance

Early investors in Jaipur-based non-banking finance company SK Finance are discussing partial exits with Kenro Capital, a fund focused on secondary transactions.

The proposed deal is valued at $50 million to $60 million.

Long-term investors TPG and Norwest are expected to be among the selling shareholders.

In 2024, SK Finance filed preliminary documents for an IPO that aimed to raise around ₹2,200 crore. The company later postponed the plan.

Welspun One

Welspun One is closing its first ₹500 crore logistics-parks fund.

The company has appointed CBRE to help sell the fund's remaining four assets.

Welspun One is seeking an equity value of around ₹600 crore to ₹800 crore for these assets.

Saurabh Gupta, chief executive of fund management, expects the portfolio's enterprise value to exceed ₹1,600 crore to ₹1,700 crore.

The four assets cover approximately 4.5 million square feet across Bengaluru, Lucknow, the National Capital Region, and Chennai.

Inflexor Ventures

Inflexor Ventures has announced the first close of ₹400 crore for its third fund.

The fund has a target size of ₹1,250 crore.

Its anchor investors include the Self-Reliant India Fund, HDFC Asset Management Company, HDFC AMC Select AIF Fund of Funds, and international institutions.

Inflexor mainly invests at the pre-Series A and Series A stages. Its typical investment size ranges from ₹15 crore to ₹45 crore.

Ferns N Petals

Ferns N Petals' quick-commerce and food-commerce business generated around ₹8 crore in FY25.

Revenue increased eight times to ₹65 crore in FY26 and is expected to almost double to ₹125 crore this year.

The company is targeting total revenue of ₹1,400 crore in FY27, up from ₹1,085 crore in FY26.

It is preparing for a possible IPO by early FY29.

IPL franchise valuations

Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals were sold at valuations of $1.78 billion and $1.65 billion, respectively.

These transactions increased the Indian Premier League's enterprise value to $20.6 billion, up 11.4% from 2025.

The IPL's standalone brand value increased 10.3% year-on-year to $4.3 billion.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru remained the league's most valuable brand, with a value of $312 million.

Ratan Tata Endowment Fund

An investigation of corporate filings over three years found that the Ratan Tata Endowment Fund received cash, shares, and a loan from Tata Group companies through transactions that were not publicly disclosed at the time.

Tata Sons donated ₹45 crore in cash to the fund in 2022. It later gifted the fund a 1% equity stake in Tata Digital Private Limited.

Tata Capital Housing Finance also extended an unsecured loan of ₹147 crore at an interest rate of 10.5%.

The fund spent ₹146.67 crore to buy 3.65 million Tata Technologies shares at ₹401.81 each.

By the end of July 2024, it had sold 2.558 million of these shares at an average price of ₹1,019 per share, earning a profit of ₹158 crore.

A Tata Sons spokesperson said all transactions with the Ratan Tata Endowment Fund had received the required board approvals, including approval from the Tata Sons board.

An email sent to the Ratan Tata Endowment Fund had not received a response.

Upcoming economic events

Earnings calendar: 29 July 2026

The Zerodha AfterMarket Report dated 28 July 2026 did not include a table of corporate actions, dividends, or ex-dates. These records can be checked on the NSE and BSE corporate-action portals or the Tijori App.

Global pulse

Global markets

Global markets were mixed.

The Dow Jones and FTSE 100 rose 0.51%, while the S&P 500 was almost unchanged. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.88%.

Asian markets were weaker. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 3.95%, and the Shanghai Composite declined 1.16%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.41%.

Global developments

Crude oil

Brent crude fell for a third consecutive session to around $81 per barrel, its lowest level in more than a week.

Oil prices fell as hopes of diplomatic progress between the United States and Iran reduced concerns about supply disruptions.

Donald Trump said the United States was holding “good talks” with Iran and that there was a “good chance” of reaching a resolution.

Military strikes had been paused to allow negotiations to continue.

Global chip selloff

Global semiconductor stocks came under pressure after China announced that it had developed its own immersion deep-ultraviolet lithography machines.

These machines could challenge ASML's near-monopoly in advanced chipmaking equipment.

ASML shares fell more than 7%. The announcement also affected Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia.

South Korea

South Korean shares recorded their worst session in around five months.

The KOSPI fell 10.84% to 6,023.66 as selling in global semiconductor stocks affected SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay an estimated $5.5 billion to settle around 76,000 US lawsuits.

The lawsuits allege that the company's talc-based baby powder and other products caused ovarian cancer.

The proposed settlement requires acceptance from lead plaintiff law firms representing at least 95% of eligible claims.

Johnson & Johnson stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the United States in 2020 and globally in 2023.

RBC analyst Trung Huynh said the $5.5 billion settlement was “materially below” what the company had previously intended to pay.

Dubai

The Dubai International Financial Centre recorded a 30% increase in new company registrations during the 12 months ended June.

BYD

BYD launched an electric mini-car called the Racco in Japan.

The vehicle is priced below 2 million yen, or approximately $12,213, after taxes and government subsidies.

Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines recorded a first-quarter net loss of S$76 million, or $58.79 million, for the three months ended 30 June.

The airline had reported a profit of S$186 million a year earlier.

The loss was much larger than the S$4.3 million loss estimated by LSEG.

The result was affected by losses from associate company Air India and higher jet-fuel costs linked to the Middle East conflict.

The last time Singapore Airlines reported a quarterly loss was in the fourth quarter of FY22.

Amazon data centres in Bahrain

Satellite images showed damage to two Amazon data centres in Bahrain.

The images supported Iran's claim that the facilities had been hit by missiles.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released high-resolution satellite images showing damage at facilities in Zallaq and Askar.

Bloomberg also reviewed lower-resolution images from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2 satellites. These images showed damage at both locations.

Strait of Hormuz: Iran and Oman talks

A pause in fighting between the United States and Iran has accelerated diplomatic efforts to restart shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran and Oman held talks through the weekend and into Monday.

Before the war reduced traffic, the strait carried around 20% of the world's oil production.

Iran and Oman remain far apart on some issues. One disagreement is whether ships should be charged fees for passing through the strait. However, both sides said the discussions had made progress.

Oman proposed creating a regional Strait of Hormuz consortium. The group would oversee maritime security, search-and-rescue operations, and other forms of regional cooperation.

Iran is considering the proposal but still wants to retain control over the strait, including the right to collect transit fees.

Oil prices fell below $90 per barrel after the pause in fighting. However, prices could move back above $100 because global crude inventories are declining and the Houthis are trying to stop Saudi oil shipments from moving through the Red Sea.

Mediators are trying to secure a formal 10-day truce between the United States and Iran.

Under the proposed agreement, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the United States would lift its blockade of Iranian ports.

China's AI chip push

China has started a coordinated programme to develop domestic alternatives to American artificial-intelligence chips.

Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang created a committee that includes leading Chinese companies and research laboratories.

China raised around $48 billion through a state semiconductor fund in 2024.

Huawei has played a major role in reducing China's dependence on foreign AI chips. Foreign chips supplied around 90% of China's requirements in 2021. This share had fallen to below 60% by 2025.

New Chinese chip designs could reduce the foreign share to 25% over the next five years.

Huawei expects to ship around 1.5 million AI chips this year, approximately twice its 2025 volume.

Chinese chipmakers aim to increase the production of advanced wafers from around 30,000 per month last year to more than 500,000 per month by 2030.

However, a large technology gap remains.

Nvidia's leading AI chip has around four times the computing power of Huawei's best product.

China's total AI computing power was around 14% of the United States' level in 2025. Research firm Bernstein expects China to remain significantly behind the United States through 2030.

Huawei plans to produce around 750,000 units of its new chip this year, but this will remain well below demand.

Meta: Social-media litigation

Meta is facing a large number of lawsuits related to the alleged effects of social media on users.

The company is currently in a trial brought by Tennessee's attorney general.

In August, Meta is scheduled to face a federal trial in Oakland involving claims from four state attorneys general.

The states are seeking damages of up to $1.4 trillion. This amount is close to Meta's market capitalisation of around $1.5 trillion.

Thousands of additional lawsuits have been filed by individuals, school districts, and more than 40 state attorneys general.

Meta described the estimate of more than $1 trillion in damages as absurd.

The company stated in a filing that “a sanction of that size has no analog in the history of consumer protection enforcement”.

Meta also warned investors that losing the New Mexico case alone could lead to damages of $3.7 billion after the trial's second phase.

Awards already made include $6 million to a 20-year-old woman in Los Angeles, divided between Meta and YouTube, and $375 million to the state of New Mexico.

The legal exposure comes while Meta is making large investments in artificial intelligence.

The company plans capital expenditure of up to $145 billion this year, mainly for computer chips and data centres.

It also laid off 8,000 employees earlier this year, partly to finance its AI plans.

Analysts expect Meta to report its first quarter of negative free cash flow when it announces second-quarter results on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve under Kevin Warsh

On the evening of 15 June, before his first policy meeting as Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh announced five review panels.

The panels will examine how the Federal Reserve analyses the economy and communicates its decisions.

Their work will cover areas such as communication, the inflation framework, and the Fed's asset holdings.

The 15 people selected to lead the reviews include a Nobel Prize winner, former central bankers, and business executives.

The Federal Reserve meets again this week. The outcome is unusually uncertain.

Many market participants expect rates to remain unchanged. However, renewed concern about inflation means a surprise rate increase is also possible.

Warsh will answer questions on Wednesday after the decision.

Warsh served as a Federal Reserve governor from 2006 to 2011. For more than a decade, he has argued that the Fed's forecasts encourage officials to think in similar ways and that economic data are often outdated by the time policymakers receive them.

Governor Christopher Waller has publicly criticised the Fed's limited communication.

“It's a stretch to think that by not commenting on the data, the market will assess the data”

Michael Gapen, chief US economist, Morgan Stanley

He added that the market would still try to estimate how the Federal Reserve interpreted the information.

News in numbers

Management commentary

“Our mass segments are not lagging. At a total organization level, while you may find some differences at a segment or category level, we continue to see competitive growth in mass just as we see in premium. Of course, in India, you see higher growth rates in some premium sub-segments; that indeed is the shape of the market. But I want to correct the notion that we are pushing only towards premium growth. We continue to be competitive, which is very important given our scale. … In terms of rural versus urban growth, both have been robust and continue to be strong. In the last few quarters, we have seen a step-up in our rural growth, which has been a big driver for us.”

Priya Nair, chief executive, Hindustan Unilever, on mass and premium segments and rural and urban demand

“Almost all products we deliver to Indian customers have demand internationally. The main interest is in radios, software-defined radios, and D4 solutions. We are seeing leads for communication and weapon-locating radar (WLR) systems.”

Manoj Jain, chairman and managing director, Bharat Electronics, on interest from international buyers

“The 10 rupee is a non-profitable category for us. … As long as we are delivering 20% plus growth in most of our markets, we are pretty happy with that growth.”

Ravi Jaipuria, chairman, Varun Beverages, on the ₹10 price point

“Fiscal year 2027 is shaping up to be an exceptional growth year for Coforge, despite the significant AI-driven flux. … Not only do we expect to set the benchmark on revenue growth, but we also expect to emerge as one of the highest-margin mid-caps across our industry in this year itself.”

Sudhir Singh, chief executive, Coforge, during the post-earnings call

“I think the environment at a macro level is obviously complex, I think, to say the least. What that does is it creates uncertainty. And of course that leads to a certain degree of caution with clients in committing to programs, not knowing where the cycles are heading.”

Nitin Rakesh, chief executive, Mphasis, during the post-earnings call

Feature: The Cult.fit IPO

IPO filing

Cult.fit, previously known as Curefit Healthcare, has filed its draft red herring prospectus with SEBI.

The IPO will include:

• A fresh issue of equity shares worth up to ₹950 crore.
• An offer for sale of up to 17,86,09,200 equity shares by existing shareholders.
• Shares with a face value of ₹1 each.

The DRHP was filed on 6 July 2026. The company plans to list its shares on both the BSE and NSE.

Axis Capital, Goldman Sachs India Securities, Jefferies India, JM Financial, and Morgan Stanley India are the book-running lead managers.

KFin Technologies is the registrar to the issue.

Cult.fit plans to use ₹217.5 crore from the fresh issue for lease and rental payments at existing fitness centres.

Another ₹120 crore will be used to repay or prepay borrowings, while ₹75 crore will be used for brand marketing and business promotion.

The remaining funds will be used for general corporate purposes. The company also plans to spend on new Cult Elite and Cult Neo centres and invest in subsidiary Cultsport to open new exclusive brand outlets.

The offer-for-sale participants include:

• MacRitchie Investments Pte Ltd.
• Fitness First Luxembourg SCA.
• IDG Ventures India Fund III LLC.
• Tata Digital.
• Chiratae Trust.
• Schroders Capital Private Equity Asia Mauritius IV Ltd.
• Twenty Nine Capital Partners Ltd Partnership.
• Accel India V Mauritius Ltd.
• Kalaari Capital.
• Co-founder Mukesh Bansal.
• Actor Hrithik Roshan.
• Angel investor Bruno Raschle.

SEBI will now review the DRHP. After receiving regulatory observations and approvals, Cult.fit is expected to file its Red Herring Prospectus.

The price band, issue dates, lot size, and other subscription details have not yet been announced.

Financial performance

Revenue from operations increased 36.26% year-on-year to ₹1,720.61 crore in FY26 from ₹1,262.80 crore in FY25.

Revenue had increased from ₹926.66 crore in FY24 to ₹1,720.61 crore in FY26.

Adjusted EBITDA margin improved from negative 2.76% in FY25 to positive 8.41% in FY26.

The company's net loss fell to ₹251.85 crore in FY26 from ₹480.82 crore in FY25.

Fitness services contributed 69.62% of total segment revenue in FY26. Fitness products contributed the remaining 30.38%.

The services business generated approximately ₹1,197.8 crore of revenue.

The products business, which includes Cultsport apparel, footwear, and equipment, generated ₹522.8 crore.

Cult.fit has raised more than $714 million across 16 funding rounds.

It was last valued at around ₹12,600 crore, or $1.5 billion, following a $47.6 million Series G funding round in March 2026.

Its investors include Tata Digital, Temasek, Accel, Kalaari Capital, Chiratae Ventures, and Zomato.

Fitness network

Cult.fit was India's largest fitness and active-lifestyle platform by number of fitness centres as of 31 March 2026, based on a Redseer report cited in the DRHP.

The company operated 708 fitness centres across 77 Indian cities.

It had 987,020 paid fitness members and employed 6,331 people as of 31 March 2026.

The company says it is the only Indian platform with a presence across both fitness services and fitness products.

Cult Elite offers equipment-based gym workouts and trainer-led group classes.

Cult Neo is positioned as a gym format for the professional segment.

Structural questions

Geographic concentration

Delhi NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad generated more than 90% of Cult.fit's fitness-centre revenue in FY26.

The share of these four markets increased over the previous two years, while the share of smaller city groups declined.

Cult.fit operated 708 fitness centres with around 987,000 members.

Revenue from its fitness centres grew at a compound annual rate of 33% over the previous two years.

Shift towards an asset-light model

Franchised and marketplace centres represented 69% of Cult.fit's network in FY26 but generated only 47% of revenue.

For these centres, Cult.fit records only platform commissions, listing fees, or its share of revenue. It does not record the full subscription revenue collected at company-owned locations.

The draft prospectus states that “a majority of new centre additions” will follow the franchise model.

Member retention

Cult.fit's annual member-retention rate improved from around 41% in FY24 to 51% in FY26.

Its membership base increased from around 0.7 million in March 2024 to approximately 1 million in March 2026.

Marketing, branding, and related costs represented 8.4% of total expenditure in FY26.

In developed fitness markets, average annual retention is usually between 65% and 70%.

Market penetration

India had only nine fitness-centre subscriptions for every 1,000 people in 2025.

Cult.fit's prospectus refers to China as an example of how fitness demand can rise with income.

China's per-capita GDP increased 1.7 times between 2015 and 2025. Over the same period, fitness-centre membership penetration increased five times to 5.5%.

Products and services

The products business generated 30% of Cult.fit's FY26 revenue.

It grew faster than the fitness-services business, with growth of 60% compared with 35%.

However, the products business competes with established companies such as Decathlon.

The services business became more profitable as it grew.

The products business continued to make an operating loss, although the loss reduced from ₹80 crore to ₹57 crore.

Valuation

Cult.fit was last valued at around ₹12,600 crore, based on Tracxn data.

This was approximately 7.2 times its FY26 revenue of around ₹1,800 crore.

Company background

Cult.fit was founded in 2016 by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori.

It was originally called Cure.fit Healthcare and was designed as a complete health platform covering fitness, food, well-being, and preventive healthcare.

The company separated its food business, EatFit, in 2020.

Mukesh Bansal remains Cult.fit's executive chairman and a shareholder but is no longer responsible for daily operations.

Cult.fit has received around $714 million of investor capital.

The company has achieved scale and is moving closer to profitability. Its next phase will depend increasingly on whether both the services and products businesses can generate sustainable profits, not only revenue growth.