Daily Market News Update — 16th-17th July 2026

Midnight News Update: 16-17 Jul 2026

The ₹9,813 crore IPO of SBI Funds Management got a stellar response in the market, getting subscribed nearly 41.66 times at the close of the third day of the IPO on 16-July. Overall, the IPO of SBI Funds got investment interest to the tune of ₹2.98 trillion. If the ₹2,662 crore anchor allotment is also added up, then the total interest just crosses ₹3 trillion. That makes it the fifth most popular IPO in Indian history. The oversubscription was nearly 140X in case of QIBs. The basis of allotment will be finalized on 17-July and the stock will list on 21-July.

With the monsoons continuing to be patchy, the Kharif sowing for 2026 is down 16% on a yoy basis. With the sowing season almost coming to an end by the last week of July, this could trigger a serious deficit in foodgrain production this year. Kharif includes rice, pulses, oilseeds, and cotton. The total acreage at 53.1 million hectares this year is nearly 48% lower than annual average. Cumulative rainfall in the June-July period was 23.9% below the long-period average (LPA). The rainfall deficit is quite intense across South India, Northwest, and Northeast.

In what could be one of the biggest domestic nuclear orders, the NTPC-NPCIL joint venture has floated a tender for a 2.8 GW nuclear plant with an order value of around ₹28,000 crore. The project will be located in the Mahi-Banswara region in Rajasthan. The tender has been called for the full EPC delivery covering the primary infrastructure for heavy water reactors, nuclear building raft, reactor building internal structures, heavy water upgrading plant, plant water systems, and waste management facilities. Safety is a key consideration in operation of nuclear plants.

With renewable energy storage becoming the next big thing, Waaree Energies has commenced its 5.15 GWh battery storage container manufacturing plant in the state of Gujarat. In RE, energy storage is the key to energy security, grid stability, and sustainable growth. A battery energy storage system (BESS) is an energy retention system that stores electrical power in rechargeable batteries. Its current capacity is at 3.5 GWh, but has been upgraded to 5.15 GWh through better energy density of battery cells and debottlenecking of production throughput.

With the chip-making ecosystem still evolving in India, the Tata group has resorted to older tech to launch its chip foray, by partnering with Powerchip Semiconductors of Taiwan. Instead of starting with 28nm tech as originally planned, the group will start with 90nm tech. The plant set up at Dholera will be operational by 2028 and manufacture India’s first semiconductor wafers. The 90nm technology is a rather mature technology that is widely used in lower-end industrial applications and entry level cars. However, it risks becoming obsolete in coming years.

According to the Niti Aayog, the world is likely to see patent expiries of $300 billion by the year 2030. This offers India a huge opportunity to upgrade its pharma stack and move beyond generics. The low-cost generics are the low-hanging fruit, but they offer limited long-term value in the form of IP. A better way would be to use this opportunity to upgrade to high-end AI drug discovery and biosimilars. While traditional generics are likely to grow at 2% CAGR, biosimilars are expected to grow at 17% CAGR. Nearly 40% of medicines sold globally will be biologics.

A recent report by Barclays highlighted that FCNR(B) collections have fallen short of the RBI expectations. That is because sustained geopolitical risk and rising oil prices weighed on the rupee, making it less lucrative for NRIs. While the RBI has estimated total collections from FCNR(B) deposits at $50-$70 billion, Barclays is pegging collections closer to $25 billion. That should be fairly disappointing for the government, after the big push given. As of date FCNR(B) flows stood at $5 billion, with 40% collections coming from SBI alone. High global rates are a headwind.

Arbitrage funds saw net inflows of a robust ₹23,875 crore, largely on the back of March redemption reversal. Arbitrage funds are classified as hybrid funds, but are akin to liquid funds and taxed like equity funds. For HNIs, the arbitrage funds are a very smart alternative to liquid funds as they play on the market volatility and are more tax-efficient; while being structurally akin to liquid funds. Typically, companies and institutions withdraw money from arbitrage funds each quarter for paying advance taxes. However, the sharp redemptions in March, led to inflows in June.