Weekly Market Impact — for the week ending on 22nd May 2026

Weekly Capsule (May 18 – May 22) and Impact Analysis

RBI announces record ₹2,86,588 crore dividend payout to government of India

• This is 6.7% higher than last year and the fiscal year FY26 marks the third consecutive year of dividend over ₹2 trillion
• The RBI dividend will now account for nearly 43% of non-tax revenue for FY27 and around 5.4% of total budget estimates

RBI intervened late in the week to defend the rupee after record lows

• RBI intervened by selling dollars after the rupee touched a low of ₹96.97 to the dollar, on persistent FPI selling in stocks
• The sustained RBI intervention and its $5 billion swap helped the rupee to strengthen and close at around ₹95.70/$

Brent Crude prices sober from $113/bbl to $103/bbl on weak demand outlook

• While supply continued to be constrained, the month also saw the demand getting constricted; putting a cap on prices
• The recent RBI bulletin has also highlighted that crude above $100/bbl poses the biggest risk to the Indian economy

AIIB, an Indo-China initiative, launched a $10 billion crisis-support facility

• This $10 billion corpus will help countries in Asia to handle disruptions caused by oil and food shortages and supply issues
• While China is the largest shareholder in AIIB, India happens to be second largest shareholder in the infrastructure bank

Eicher Motors saw its Q4FY26 net profits touch a record of ₹1,520 crore

• The surge in sales of Eicher Motors was led by a sharp surge I the sales of Enfield motorcycles and Volvo Eicher CVs
• Royal Enfield motorcycle volumes were up by 22% at 1.23 million with exports accounting for 10% of volumes

Moody’s warns that corporate capex growth could fall to just 4% till FY28

• Some of the reasons cited by Moody’s include higher input costs, geopolitical risks, and supply chain disruption of inputs
• It expects the earnings traction of Indian non-financial companies to substantially weaken and impact GDP growth

HSBC warns that rising crude prices could spike the CAD to 2.3% of GDP

• While the current account deficit (CAD) may be restricted to 0.9% in FY26, elevated oil could spike CAD to 2.3% by FY27
• HSBC has factored in crude at an average of $95/bbl as well as a spike in the demand for gold, despite buoyant gold prices

US Justice Department may drop criminal charges against Gautam Adani

• This decision is expected to come after Adani paid $275 million to the US Treasury in the bribery allegations case
• The allegations were fairly serious and included misleading US investors and offering bribers for RE contracts in India

Amid the EV boom, India sees a 10-fold rise in import of lithium over 8 years

• For FY26, the total lithium imports touched a high of ₹37,624 crore amid rising EV adoption and growing battery demand
• Industry sources admit that due to time needed to ramp up domestic capacity, the import demand may be on an uptrend

ICRA expects power, fuel costs to squeeze cement margins by 15%

• Due to its dependence on the energy supply chain, cement companies may see a spike in fuel, freight, and packaging cost
• For FY27, this could hit cement operating profits by up to 15%, and may fall sharply from ₹980/tonne to ₹870/tonne

Trump pick, Kevin Warsh, took oath as next chief of the US Federal Reserve

• Warsh has emphasized his focus on containing inflation, which will require rate hikes; the opposite of what Trump wants
• Warsh also alluded to the fact that the risks to higher inflation were meaningfully higher than lower growth currently

India installs record 15.3 GW of solar capacity in the March 2026 quarter

• The focus on solar has been so intense that it accounted for nearly 77% of new power additions in Q1
• That is nearly 143% higher on a yoy basis and 49% higher on sequential basis; with the war driving this power shift

Centre to push capex with ₹90,000 crore of interest-free loans to states

• This amount will be released to the states in the March-June quarter to sustain economic activity amidst the ongoing war
• That is nearly 45% of the full year budgeted outlay for capex transfer to states at ₹2 trillion; a clear case of front-loading

Tata veteran, Soonawala, questions the logic of forcing Tata Sons into an IPO

• According to Soonawala, a forced IPO and listing may dilute the legacy of the conglomerate and strategic backstop role
• Being unlisted, Tata Sons can take a strategic view on key issues, which may not be possible under shareholder pressure

Core sector growth for April 2026 was relatively muted at just 1.7%

• This is better than the 1.2% growth reported in March; and was largely driven by cement, electricity and steel sectors
• The other 5 core sectors (largely hydrocarbons driven) saw contraction in output; with steepest being coal and fertilizers

SEBI proposes key changes pertaining to auto SIPs and commissions in units

• SEBI plans to make MF as part of automatic savings like in the case of provident funds, but it will be entirely voluntary
• SEBI also plans to permit the payout of commissions to authorized agents in the form of MF units, instead of cash

India’s renewable energy sector may get $120 billion investment by 2030

• According to Colliers, this will be needed for 300 GW of solar and wind power additions planned by the year 2030
• Colliers has also estimated that out of this outlay of $120 billion, nearly 12% of the outlay will be for land acquisition

BPCL reported 75% higher net profits for FY26 at ₹23,303 crore

• However, the net profits for Q4FY26 were almost flat at ₹3,191 crore due to upstream oil and gas impairment
• Apart from impairment losses of ₹4,349 crore, BPCL also reported under-recoveries in LPG at ₹12,319 crore

India’s peak power demand scaled a record 260.45 GW due to heatwave

• While no major shutdowns were reported, there were reports of persistent power cuts in several places under the load
• Cooling demand has been a key factor in this peak power demand; as ACs and refrigeration systems work overtime

Bharat Forge to set up first private sector marine gas turbine unit in Vizag

• The facility will be set up in Visakhapatnam to support the Indian Navy, as gas turbines are their propulsion backbone
• This will reduce dependence on global players by in-sourcing the skills and also save India from supply chain disruptions

Dhoot Transmission files updated DRHP for its proposed ₹1,400 crore IPO

• The overall IPO will comprise of a fresh issue of shares of ₹1,400 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) on top of that
• The company will use the funds to set up new manufacturing facilities in TN and Haryana; and to repay some of its debt