Daily Market News Update — 01st-02nd June 2026

Midnight News Update: 01-02 Jun 2026

For FY26, the data put out by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) confirm that India has managed to defend its fiscal deficit goal of 4.4% of GDP. The rupee fiscal deficit is 2.5% below target and that implies the nominal GDP also being below revised estimates for FY26. However, with the supply chain constraints showing up, meeting 4.3% fiscal deficit target in FY27 may be a lot tougher. There was a slight spillage in the revenue deficit, as the growth in capital spending was slower than revenue spending. This includes front-ended advance tax collections for FY27 before 15-March.

The US-Iran peace deal appears to be faltering as Iran has called off the information talks mediated by Pakistan. This is largely due to Israel continuing its attacks on Lebanon and Gaza. Brent Crude rallied by nearly 7% to $97.4/bbl. While Iran wants Israel to stop attacks on Lebanon and Gaza, Trump has underlined that it was not part of the deal. In retaliation, Iran has now threatened to also block the Bab Al Mandeb, the crucial Red Sea trade route. It appears like Trump will have to rein in Netanyahu from going berserk, if he really wants the peace talks with Iran to be fruitful.

Despite higher fuel prices and fuel shortages; car sales touched new highs in May 2026. On a yoy basis, the passenger vehicles (PV) segment grew by 25% to 4.40 lakh units in May 2026. Growth in output was seen across Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, M&M, and Hyundai Motors. This is interesting because May 2026 saw fuel prices rising by 7.5% and there could be more price hikes in the offing. Once again, it was the SUV sales leading the pack, with EV sales showing a lot of traction. The top 6 auto players in India by volumes are Maruti, TAMO, M&M, Hyundai, Toyota, and Kia.

Noel Tata has written to the RBI opposing the listing of Tata Sons, underlining that it would disrupt its philanthropic activities as well as risk-capital allocation. Tata Sons also acts as an incubator for new businesses of Tata group like digital, semiconductors, aviation etc. These arguments were also aired by Tata group veteran, Noshir Soonawala, in an article in the newspapers. Noel Tata has also underlined that public listing of Tata Sons could expose the company to unnecessary scrutiny by institutional shareholders, who may try to prevail on the company to focus purely on profits.

The revamped IIP growth for April 2026 came in sharply higher at 4.9%. The new IIP series has shifted the base year from 2011-12 to 2022-23. In addition, the new series has done a lot more of granular inclusion of sub-segments. It has marginally reduced the weights of manufacturing and mining; while increasing the weight of electricity and added a new segment of water supply and sewerage management. The electricity segment has also been classified into fossil fuels and RE. The new IIP series contains 463 items, against just 407 items included in the previous series.

As the Q4 results come to a conclusion for FY26, the net sales have grown at 14.4% yoy, showing one of the best growth performances in recent years. On a yoy basis, the operating profits of India Inc were up 11%, the best performance in the last 12 quarters. Exporters did gain substantially from a weaker rupee. Demand also got a boost from the GST rate cuts. For the sample (excluding financials and OMCs), the operating profit margin was robust at 17%, while the net profit growth stood at 34% yoy. Nearly 10% of this 34% growth was driven by the “other income” factor.

As India and Chile near the fructification of their CEPA talks, it looks like Chile could offer India, a big missing link in critical minerals. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that is likely to be signed between India and Chile, is expected to include significant opportunities for India in the mining of critical minerals in Chile. The nation is known for its rich and abundant mineral wealth and India needs a partner who can help them secure the supplies of critical minerals for various industries. This will power India’s energy transition and secure supply chains.

Axis Bank is consolidating its foothold in life insurance. Towards this end, it has hiked its stake in Axis Max Life Insurance from 19.02% to 19.99% at a buy value of ₹380 crore. Axis Max Life Insurance has gross written premiums of ₹38,877 crore as of end March 2026. Some of India’s biggest private life insurers are from the bancassurance space like SBI Life, HDFC Life, ICICI Pru Life, and Kotak Life. For Axis Max Life Insurance, leveraging its banking network for selling insurance is a natural progression towards providing comprehensive financial solutions to its customers.