Daily Market News Update — 15th-16th September 2026

Midnight News Update: 15-16 Sep 2026

India’s merchandise trade deficit for August 2026 narrowed to an 8-month low of $26.86 billion, due to a sharp fall in gold imports. While the merchandise exports for the month stood at $43.81 billion, the merchandise imports were at $70.67 billion. The overall situation looked a lot better when services were also added to the picture. The combined exports of goods and services stood at $82.68 billion for August 2026, while the combined imports of goods and services stood at $92.09 billion. Services surplus at $17.45 billion offset 65% of the goods deficit.

The government has clarified that all UPI transactions up to ₹2,000 will continue to be free of MDR charges. Above ₹2,000, merchant transactions can be levied MDR up to 0.40% of the value of the transaction. However, the MDR for any transaction cannot exceed ₹300. In case of capital market transactions, the rules stipulate that the MDR cannot exceed 0.02%, which should be far more reasonable. However, the big question is whether the introduction of MDR on UPI would end up being penny wise and pound foolish. For a few dollars more, it should not kill the idea.

In an interesting development, the RBI has filed a pre-emptive caveat with the Bombay High Court after rejecting the CIC registration surrender application of Tata Sons. This caveat means that if Tata Sons decides to approach the court of law, then the court cannot give a ruling or exemption on the subject, without giving a prior hearing to the RBI. Clearly, the RBI is expecting the Tatas to go to court over the CIC ruling. RBI has also informed Tata Sons of this Caveat being filed in court. Under the RBI upper-layer NBFC rules, Tata Sons has to go public and list its stock.

The Indian crude oil basket has surged by nearly 30% in last 12 days to $128.7/bbl. This has raised serious concerns about a higher current account deficit and imported inflation. The CPI inflation for August came in higher at 4.82%, and if this trend continues in oil, then the inflation could get well above 5% mark in the coming months. India can absorb costs up to a price of $110/bbl, but beyond that it has to start passing on the costs to consumers. Every $10 increase in the price of Brent Crude widens the CAD by 50 bps and spikes inflation by 25 bps.

In a development that was already expected, the US bond yields crossed 5% mark. This was always considered the threshold level, after which the growth will start to get impacted. The spike in benchmark bond yields in the US reflects concerns over sticky inflation and the possibility of a rate hike in the September Fed meet. Markets are now betting on around 2 rate hikes of 25 bps each by the Fed in 2026 itself. Higher interest rates could create a problem for retail mortgages, even as most of the heavy AI borrowings may feel the stress. This the highest level since 2007.

For SBI, the next big frontier to conquer is wealth management. It has set aggressive targets to scale up its wealth management AUM to ₹2.40 trillion. That would be a three-fold growth from the current level of ₹0.80 trillion AUM currently. The wealth management service will be a mix of investment and banking services and will be targeted at the affluent clients of SBI. This will be one of the major growth engines for SBI to improve its ROI per customer. While they may take time to boost profits, the positive impact on shareholder value is likely to be more immediate.

Dr Reddy Labs has launched Nivolumab biosimilar in India. NIVORZ is designed to enhance immune response against a variety of cancers. The new treatment has received approval from DCGI for twelve specific indications. It is an intravenous therapy. The idea is to broaden the access to affordable high-quality cancer cure options for patients in need. The launch of NIVORZ strengthens their oncology portfolio and expands its presence in immuno-oncology. In India, the immuno oncology market is estimated to be ₹3,900 crore, with a high growth potential.

India’s current account deficit (CAD) for July more than doubled yoy to $7 billion. This spike in CAD was largely due to a spike in the merchandise trade deficit. Despite higher exports in the month, the imports grew much faster. The final tally was partly offset by a better-than-expected services surplus. Net transfers in the month, continued to be robust at $13.2 billion in July 2026. However, thanks to the positive FDI flow and the positive FPI flows in the month of July, overall balance of payments (BOP) reported a surplus of $20.8 billion. Rising CAD is a cause for concern!