Daily Market News Update — (29th-30th June 2026)

Midnight News Update: 29-30 Jun 2026

India IIP growth for May 2026 came in robust at 5.1%, largely driven by momentum in the manufacturing and electricity space. The IIP growth was at 4.9% in April. Within the IIP basket, manufacturing (with 76% weight) grew at 5.5%, as export activity picked up across the board. Growth in sectors like electrical equipment, metals, automobiles, and electronics were healthy. The leadership came from electricity & gas output, which grew at 9.9%, while mining once again was in contraction mode, with May being the fifth consecutive month of contraction.

Middle East oil output is recovering faster than expected with West Asia crude rebounding to 15 million bpd. Nearly 2 million barrels have returned within just 3 weeks of peace coming to the Middle East. There were expectations that due to prolonged shutdowns, the oil output may take a long time to get back to normal levels. The surge in supply is already pushing crude closer to $72/bbl, a good 40% below the war-time peak of $120/bbl. A lot will still depend on how soon the traffic through the Straits of Hormuz gets normalized, which is still seeing sporadic attacks.

Former HDFC Bank chairman, Atanu Chakraborty, dismissed the independent legal review report as superfluous. Chakraborty had resigned as chairman of HDFC Bank citing ethical considerations, although he had refrained from elaborating. The independent legal review had cleared the lender of any wrongdoing. The review also stated that contemporaneous evidence was not consistent with the allegations made by Atanu Chakraborty. However, Chakraborty dismissed the report as a mere internal compliance exercise, and had also refused to partake in the legal review.

Swiggy, Eternal, and Zepto have approached the Karnataka High Court to challenge the new Gig Workers law imposed by the Karnataka state government. IAMAI has also joined on the side of the ecommerce platforms. Their argument is that when there was already a central legislation for gig workers, there was no need for a parallel law by the state government. The new rules imposed by the state of Karnataka are likely to add to the costs of such platforms, and push back profitability even further. It could set an unhealthy precedent which other states may want to follow.

According to recent tanker traffic reports, Russian oil composition in the Indian crude basket could scale to an all-time high in June 2026. This comes amidst the Middle East just about recovering, and Indian refiners ramping up purchases. The KPLER map was also showing a large number of Russian tankers moving oil to India. Most major ports like Vadinar, Jamnagar, New Mangalore, Vizag, and Paradip reported record Russian arrivals. While Indian crude purchases grew 8% in the month of June 2026, Russian crude purchases jumped by an imposing 21%.

Tata Motors is betting big on its Commercial Vehicles (CV) business and its trump card will be its acquisition of Iveco. In fact, the Tata Motors – Iveco venture is expected to add up to $40 billion to the revenues of the company over next 5 years, as per Tata Sons chairman, N Chandrasekaran. The strategic decision will be finalized, most likely, by September 2026. The idea is to enhance the global reach of Tata Motors with the help of cutting-edge technologies and synergistic products. It will make the CV business a more robust and significant contributor to Tata Motors sales.

Even as income levels are rising in India, the car market is seeing a boom in used-cars. More Indians are choosing used cars over new cars, with the used-car market slated to touch $70 billion by the year FY31. Compared to a new car, which loses 15-20% value the moment you drive out of the showroom, certified used cars have much better resale value. Also, the second-hand market gives a wider choice and greater affordability. The used-car market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14%-18%. Interestingly, 65% of the used-car buyers in India are first-time car buyers.

As banks get the go-ahead from RBI to attract leveraged FCNR(B) deposits, the big question is at what rates to give loans to invest in these FCNR(B) deposits. Floating rate loans to invest in FCNR(B) deposits are available at 4.90%-5.25%, but they go up to 5.25%-5.50%, when converted to fixed rate loans. These are preliminary quotes from foreign banks. That just leaves enough spread for investors to borrow at the current rate and invest in FCNR(B) deposits. However, any rate hike from here would overturn the economics of the borrow-and-invest scheme for FCNR(B) deposits.