Daily Market News Update — 08th-09th April 2026

Midnight News Update: 08-09 Apr 2026

In its April 2026 monetary policy, the RBI MPC held status quo on rates at 5.25%. The stance of the policy was also maintained at “Neutral.” This holds the SDF rate at 5.00% and the MSF / Bank Rate at 5.50%. There were changes to the inflation and GDP growth projections. The real GDP growth estimate for FY27 was lowered by the RBI MPC by 50 basis points from 7.4% to 6.9% due to lag impact of the Iran war and the blockade of the Straits of Hormuz. The inflation forecast for FY27 has been raised by 40 basis points from 4.2% to 4.6%, with core inflation pegged at 4.4%.

The 2-week ceasefire between the US and Iran was welcomed by markets. While the India bond yields fell sharply by nearly 15 bps in a single day to 6.898%, the Sensex rallied by close to 2,950 points in a single day to celebrate the truce. Even the Dow futures opened in the positive, and crude price cracked. It remains to be seen how long the ceasefire lasts. To protest against Israel bombing Lebanon, Iran has once again closed free passage through the Straits of Hormuz. Iran has also struck the East-West pipeline in Saudi Arabia, its only option to the Straits of Hormuz.

FPI selling has continued in the month of April also. After FPIs sold Indian equities worth $12.58 billion in the month of March; April saw net FPI equity selling of $4.77 billion in the first 4 trading days of April. FPIs have also sold debt to the tune of $1.35 billion in these 4 days of April, clearly indicating that exiting India appears to be a macro decision for the FPIs. The FPI selling on all the 4 days was very intense and has averaged well above $1.20 billion each day. Clearly, war outcomes, inflation, valuations, and the volatile rupee appear to be big concerns for FPIs.

Vietnam based Vingroup will invest $8.5 billion in Maharashtra focused on sustainable urban development and clean mobility. The project is expected to create 24,700 direct jobs. Vingroup will roll out a large-scale electric taxi service and build a Mobility as a Service (MAAS) platform. It will also create a state-wide EV charging network supporting the green mobility push of the state. The Mumbai Raigad hub is expected to emerge as a globally competitive urban hub. Its EV arm, VinFast will invest $2 billion in an integrated EV and battery manufacturing plant near Chennai.

SEBI has further tightened IPO rules to plug key gaps in regulation. It will enable a new mechanism to enforce lock-in on pledged shares. This has been an area of contention in primary markets. Even if a pledge cannot be created, depositories can tag these shares as “non-transferable.” This will ensure greater system-level controls. The compliance responsibility will be on the issuers and the intermediaries. There was always the risk that such locked-in shares could be circumvented since a pledge cannot be technically created. Now that problem stands resolved on such shares.

RBI has reviewed the minutes of the HDFC Bank board meeting and concluded that there were no concerns over ethics and governance. HDFC Bank is systemically important bank and any questions raised over the bank could have systemic implications. This was necessitated after former HDFC Bank chairman, Atanu Chakraborty, had resigned from the bank citing certain developments at the bank that were not in sync with his personal ethics and values. His resignation did mention any specific reason. However, it seems to be connected to the AT-1 bonds mis-selling issue.

Biocon is looking at substantial gains from the implementation of AI in its business. In fact, Biocon is planning to significantly scale up its adoption of artificial intelligence across R&D, manufacturing and procurement. The idea is to enable substantial cost saving, accelerate drug development timelines, and offer the company a competitive edge in an intensely competitive market. It is planning a huge investment outlay in AI to embed the latest generation data science, and analytical tools into its full range of operations. Biocon expects visible benefits in the medium-term.

Who rules West Asia, is a question that has now come up. For a long time, Saudi Arabia was the most powerful country, due to its wealth and its proximity to the US. However, things have changed in the last 4 weeks. In West Asia, any country that stands up manfully to Western imperialism is revered. Like Nasser in the 1950s, Iran has become an unlikely hero in the Middle East and West Asia by its stoic resistance. If Iran is also able to impose passage toll on the ships passing through the Straits of Hormuz, the shift in power in the Middle East will be total.