Daily Market News Update — 20th-21st April 2026

Midnight News Update: 20-21 Apr 2026

March 2026 core sector output contracted -0.44%. This is the second month in FY26 when core sector has contracted, the first being October 2025. The sharpest fall was seen in fertilizers, where the output contracted -24.6%. The surprise package was a 6.36% expansion in natural gas output, as the government pushed Indian oil & gas companies to boost production to offset the global gas shortfall. For the fiscal year FY26, the core sector growth was at 2.6%, marking a steady fall in core sector output over last 5 years. FY26 core sector growth is sharply lower than 10-year average.

Even as the final Supreme Court order on gaming companies is awaited, a tax hammer of ₹1 trillion is likely on these gaming companies. In fact, between 2017 and 2025, a total of 91 show-cause notices were issued worth ₹1.44 trillion. The Supreme Court is also hearing a separate set of petitions that have challenged the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025, which imposes a blanket ban on all gaming platforms involving monetary stakes. A lot will depend on whether the Supreme draws a line between Games of Skill and Games of Chance.

In FY26, inflows into debt funds fell sharply by 83%. The reasons were a rise in yields and a shift to multi-asset class funds. In FY25, net flows into debt funds stood at ₹1,38,000 crore, but fell to just ₹22,262 crore in FY26. The potential for rates to go up reduced the attractiveness of duration strategies. Yields had also gone up because commercial banks were heavily borrowing from the debt markets to make up for the gaps between credit growth and deposit growth. In contrast, hybrid funds like multi-asset class funds saw a sharp 87% spike in inflows in FY26.

Groww (Billionbrains Garage Ventures) announced 122% higher net profits at ₹686 crore. Revenues from operations were also up 81% yoy at ₹1,468 crore, while the EBITDA for the quarter was up 142% at ₹939 crore. For the quarter, EBITDA margins expanded by 320 bps to 62.4%. Total transacting users in the quarter touched a new high of 2.16 crore investors, while the active base stood at 1.67 crore. While the stock of Groww had a smart listing on the bourses, it could not maintain the momentum after that, although it still trades at a premium to the IPO price.

For FY26, the trade deficit touched a level of $334 billion. However, the key driver was not crude oil but the rising prices of gold and silver. The import value of gold and silver saw a jump of $21.9 billion in FY26, although the volumes were almost flat. This can be attributed to a spike in the prices of gold and silver. In 2025 alone, gold was up 72%, while silver rallied by over 150%. Gold and silver prices accounted for about 45% of the accretion in merchandise trade deficit in FY26. For the month of March 2026, the overall merchandise trade deficit sobered closer to $20 billion.

After putting tough curbs on bank derivative positions in USDINR, the RBI has relaxed some of these stringent rules to make life easier for the banks. After the RBI had introduced these measures, the rupee hardened from ₹95.22/$ to ₹92.40/$. As part of the relaxations, RBI allowed ADs to reissue NDF contracts to resident Indians and to NRIs. RBI has also removed the ban on rebooking foreign exchange derivative contracts that had been cancelled. However, related party transactions continue to be restricted. For now, geopolitical risks remain an overhang.

Vedanta has fixed May 01, 2026 as the record date (RD) for the 5-way split of the company. As part of the terms of the demerger; the aluminium, power, oil, and iron business will be spun off into separate listed entities. Existing shareholders of Vedanta will get equal number of shares in each of these demerged units. This demerger is likely to unleash operational efficiencies and lead to better allocation of capital. Vedanta plans to use this restructuring to simplify its business and also to reduce its debt in a phased manner. NCLT had cleared the demerger in December 2025.

Radisson group is undertaking a massive expansion of its India franchise, aiming at 500 properties by year 2030. Radisson, the Belgium headquartered hospitality group, is also initiating the right training and orientation programs for this shift. As of date, Radisson group manages closer to 200 properties in India. Radisson is looking at a mix of properties across Tier-1, Tier-2, Tier-3, and Tier-4 towns and cities. Only 15% of the properties will be 5-star while about half the properties will be 3-star and 4-star properties. Half the upcoming projects will be in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.