Daily Market News Update — (15th-16th June 2026)

Midnight News Update: 15-16 Jun 2026

The Indian rupee hardened nearly 3% from its record lows on expectations of an imminent US-Iran deal. For the day, the rupee was stronger by 90 bps. The deal became more certain after Iran also concurred that a deal had been worked out. Among other things, it would help to open up the Straits of Hormuz and begin the process of trade normalization. The rupee also got a boost from signals of heavy dollar inflows into FCNR(B) deposits and FPI flows into debt paper. The other big trigger for rupee strength was the price of Brent Crude falling below the $85/bbl mark.

For the month of May, Indian passenger vehicle (PV) sales increased by 27% yoy to 4,38,854 units. These are based on wholesale despatches and is reported monthly by SIAM. The surge in sales was largely influenced by lower GST rates and favourable financing conditions. There was an overall surge in the sales of SUVs, hatchbacks, and two-wheelers. This only refers to the domestic sales, and the export sales are not included in this number. In the two-wheeler space, the growth was dominated by scooters, which saw a yoy growth of 27% in the month of May 2026.

Global analysts believe that even if the Straits of Hormuz are opened up, the actual supply situation could take a long time to normalize. That is because; across the Middle East, energy companies need to resume operations and scaling up to full capacity will take time. Also, there is a huge backlog in shipping and that will also take time to normalize. Above all, the costs of trade in the form of freight and insurance costs need to come down to normal levels. Also, oil storage is overflowing in the Gulf region and that also needs to get back to normal levels.

WPI inflation jumped to 9.63% for the month of May 2026, bearing the full brunt of supply chain constraints caused by the US-Iran war. There are expectations of some relief in June data. WPI inflation was 8.3% in April. In the last 2 months, WPI inflation has moved up by 575 basis points. The WPI inflation for primary commodities increased from 3.78% to 4.99%. Manufacturing inflation with the highest weight, also surged from 6.68% to 7.48%. However, the real thrust came from fuel inflation, which surged from 24.89% to 30.33% in the last 1 month due to West Asia turmoil.

The sops offered to FPIs in the form of tax relief on bond investments seems to be working. In the first fortnight of June 2026, FPIs have already infused ₹15,895 crore into debt paper. Most of these purchases were made through the fully accessible route (FAR), where the RBI had expanded the FPI limits for investment. Overall FPI holdings in government securities stood at ₹3.39 trillion as of 12-June. This surge in demand from FPIs has also led to a fall in bond yields. RBI has also given a boost to FCNR(B) deposits by taking over the forex risk, which had to be borne by the banks.

Merchandise exports for the month of May 2026 came in at a robust $45.20 billion. However, goods imports were also up for the month at $73.41 billion, resulting in a rather steep merchandise trade deficit of $28.21 billion for May 2026. The services trade managed a surplus for the month of May 2026, but still the Indian economy ended up with an overall trade deficit of $10.51 billion. Indian exports to West Asia remained stable despite the turmoil in the area. Service exports were still driven largely by robust IT Services exports and from global capability centres (GCC).

HCL Tech has picked up a 10.46% stake in Sarvam AI for a consideration of ₹1,427 crore. This stake buy has propelled Sarvam AI to Unicorn valuation of nearly $1.50 billion. With this $150 million raised from HCL Tech, Sarvam AI has already raised $234 million out of its targeted fund raising of $300 million in this round. This partnership is critical because Sarvam AI builds foundational models trained from scratch in India; and can handle diverse languages, complex data sets and scale. For HCL Tech, it is a natural extension to its global enterprise transformation expertise.

Airtel has secured 100% shareholder approval to raise its stake in Airtel Africa to 79%. This will be done by way of a stock swap, wherein the promoter group will transfer shares of Airtel Africa to Bharti Airtel; and the latter will allot shares of the parent company to the promoter group. There was unanimity of assent across individual and institutional shareholders. Airtel Africa has been central to the growth strategy of Airtel, and hence it is only logical that Airtel consolidates its holdings in its African subsidiary. Being a swap transaction, there will be no exchange of cash.