Daily Market News Update — 03rd-04th May 2026

Midnight News Update: 03-04 May 2026

Government has notified 100% FDI under the automatic route for insurance companies. The FDI limit will stay at 20% for LIC. This is likely to allow greater participation from foreign investors in the fast-growing insurance sector in India. The government has also stipulated that whatever the foreign ownership of the life insurer; either the Chairperson, Managing Director, or the CEO must be an Indian resident citizen. This 100% FDI limit will also apply to insurance brokers, reinsurance brokers, insurance repositories etc. For land-bordering countries, the limit will be 10%.

For the March 2026 quarter, the cash pile of Berkshire Hathaway has surged to $397 billion as the company sold shares worth $8.1 billion but continues to be wary of fresh investment. Over the last few years, the cash pile of Berkshire has been gradually rising as Warren Buffett did not see enough opportunities to invest in global equities. The big question is; what does Greg Abel, who replaced Warren Buffett at the top, do with this cash stash. Berkshire, for now, sees more sense keeping the money in treasuries and it remains to be seen if Berkshire finally takes a tech pivot.

The exit of UAE appears to have had an impact as the OPEC Plus has provisionally agreed to add up to 1.88 lakh barrels per day of oil output. However, the real issue is that the quota hike would only be symbolic as the Middle East members of OPEC Plus will not be able to increase supplies unless the Straits of Hormuz were opened up again. Prior to the exit of UAE; it was Saudi Arabia, Iran, and UAE which were the largest oil exporters in the OPEC. With shale output from the US and Canada rising over the last decade, OPEC is having less of an influence in crude oil price setting.

Kotak Bank reported 13.4% rise in standalone net profits at ₹4,027 crore for Q4FY26. Apart from higher income, lower provisioning also helped profits. Net interest income (NII) was up 8% for the quarter at ₹7,872 crore, while the net interest margins (NIM) edged up by 13 bps to 4.67%. Net advances were up 16% yoy at ₹4.96 trillion; led by corporate banking, SME Banking, and consumer banking, in that order. Deposits also grew 15% to ₹5.72 trillion with a CASA share of 43.3%. Cost of funds were slightly lower at 4.45%. PCR was comfortable at 79%, as fresh slippages fell.

Proxy advisory firm, InGovern, has called upon the RBI to formally reject the application by Tata Sons to surrender its CIC status. Under the revised regulatory framework of 2026, the accent of NBFC regulations has shifted to size and InGovern has called the application incongruous with the “Scale-based Regulation” model of the RBI. According to InGovern, Tata Sons may be debt-free, but it has indirect access to debt through its invested companies. With other large NBFCs adhering to the rules, Tata Sons may also have to comply with upper-layer NBFC listing regulations.

The big quick commerce push by Amazon is focused on non-metro markets. Amazon is investing heavily into more than 1,000 micro-fulfilment centres to make a big foray into Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns. Amazon Now (Q-Commerce) is taking the battle to smaller cities, at a time when the big quick commerce names like Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto are largely metro stories. For Amazon, focusing on metros would mean being a late starter in a crowded market. Amazon’s supply chain integrates sellers, logistics, farmers, and sourcing giving them a big cost advantage.

Amidst rising demand from thermal power, Coal India saw a sharp drop in April coal output. At a time when nearly 70% of Indian energy is still thermal; Coal India witnessed a 9.7% fall in coal output. With peak summer demand straining supplies, the risk of depleting coal inventories at power plants has again arisen. Coal India accounts for 80% of the coal production in India. Even the FY26 production of Coal India was about 1.7% lower than FY25. A shortage in Coal India output means that Indian power producers have to rely more on imported coal to meet the shortfall.

In the March 2026 quarter, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) reported 25% higher sales from hyperlocal delivery platforms and from ecommerce. From the back-end, HUL has focused on data-led demand generation, digital-first assortments, and improved product availability across platforms. HUL has built capabilities across channels and has also strengthened execution. For FY26, HUL reported total revenues of ₹65,219 crore, of which nearly 3% reportedly comes from the ecommerce mode. That is expected to grow significantly as Priya Nair moves HUL towards an omnichannel paradigm.