Daily Market News Update — 29th-30th April 2026

Midnight News Update: 29-30 Apr 2026

With all phases of voting in key state elections completed, the Election Commission allowed the release of exit poll outcomes. The exit poll reports appear quite mixed. As per the poll of polls; BJP will return with a comfortable majority in Assam and Puducherry, while Congress (UDF) could make a smart comeback in Kerala. The BJP is expected to substantially improve its performance in West Bengal and the final outcome could be a nail-biting finish. In Tamil Nadu, the DMK had a slight edge over AIADMK, but the big X-factor could be the stellar performance by Superstar Vijay.

With the UAE exiting OPEC effective May 01, 2026, the big question is; what it means for India? Oil chiefs believe it could substantially expand India’s trade with UAE; which is already one of India’s biggest trading partners in the Middle East. Also, the exit of a key member like UAE could substantially undermine the power of the OPEC and we could see less of pricing power in the hands of the cartel. That means; the crude oil prices could actually come down as UAE would be inclined to boost supply. UAE had a major issue with the dominance of Saudi Arabia in the OPEC.

If you though that gold may have had its rally from $1,500/oz to $4,500/oz, think again. Deutsche Bank believes that the rally could be starting all over again and gold could be poised to touch $8,000/oz over the next 3-5 years. While the investment demand for gold may have saturated in the short term, the central bank buying of gold as an alternative to dollar is likely to be the big trigger for the upcoming gold rally. Economies are looking to denominate less of their trade in dollars and that, by itself, is a boost for gold. Lower rates could only add to the allure of gold.

On the subject of gold, with India’s gold imports rising sharply in FY26 in value terms, India is looking to revive the gold monetization scheme. In addition, the government is also looking at options like quantitative caps and increased customs duties to discourage the imports of gold. The GMS was discontinued in March 2025, but may be revived to help meet jeweller’s demand. Unlike the Sovereign Gold Bonds, the GMS will have attractive terms for depositors, but minimal costs to the government. Another option is to issue Electronic Gold Receipts against physical gold.

For Q4FY26, Vedanta Ltd reported 92.4% growth in net profits at ₹6,698 crore, while the revenues were up 44.6% at ₹23,731 crore. The company also declared a third interim dividend of ₹11 per share, taking the total dividend paid for FY26 to ₹34 per share. Vedanta saw record volume offtake across aluminium, zinc, and steel. The Demerger of Vedant has a record date of May 01, 2026 and the company will be split into 5 distinct listed entities across business verticals. The listing of these 4 additional demerged entities is expected to happen by the middle of June 2026.

Why have FPIs started to lose interest in Indian equities and why have they sold $50 billion of Indian stocks? Global investment guru, Ruchir Sharma, has an answer. According to Sharma, the real reason why FPIs exited India is its slipping position in the AI race, while others like China, Korea and Taiwan were way ahead. These countries are dominating semiconductors and memory, while India is still putting its bells and whistles in place. While India participated in the pharma, tech, and outsourcing boom of 1990s and 2000s; it has virtually lagged in the global AI race.

Bajaj Finance reported a 22% rise in net profits for Q4FY26 to ₹5,465 crore. This is on the back of lower loan-loss provisioning. Total revenues for the quarter were up 18% yoy at ₹21,066 crore. Bajaj Finance has been India’s most valuable NBFC in terms of market cap and has consistently been among the 10 most valuable companies in India. The total assets under management at the end of March saw yoy growth of 21% at ₹3,72,986 crore. The company also saw a 20% spike in net interest income (NII), while the gross NPAs were almost marginal at 0.27% of total assets.

OneEMI Technology (Kissht) saw ₹278 crore raised through anchor allocation, a day ahead of the IPO. The IPO will be opening for subscription on 30-April. Anchor investors included domestic funds like HDFC MF, ICICI Pru MF, Bandhan MF, and Whiteoak Capital; as well as FPIs like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and BNP Paribas. The anchor allocation was made at the upper band of ₹171 per share. The total issue size is ₹926 crore and includes a fresh issue and an offer for sale. The fresh capital will be used to augment the capital of its subsidiary, Si Creva, to boost its asset book.