Daily Market News Update — 12th-13th April 2026

Midnight News Update: 12-13 Apr 2026

It is official; the US Iran talks have failed to come to any consensus with the representatives of both countries going back empty-handed. However, it is still not clear if the 15-day ceasefire holds. The breakdown of talks had an immediate impact as it led to panic oil buying at prices of $140/bbl. There were several points of disagreement. Iran has refused to give up uranium enrichment capabilities, and the US refusing to intervene in Israel’s attacks on Lebanon. The Iran also wanted all sanctions on Iran removed, but the US made de-nuclearization a pre-condition.

It was a rollicking week for markets with the 10 most valuable stocks on the Nifty seeing value accretion of ₹4.13 Trillion. Among the big gainers were HDFC Bank ₹91,283 crore, ICICI Bank ₹76,036 crore, Bajaj Finance ₹60,980 crore, L&T ₹47,625 crore, Bharti Airtel ₹45,873 crore, State Bank of India (SBI) ₹43,615 crore, TCS ₹26,304 crore, and Hindustan Unilever ₹21,287 crore. The only laggard in the list was Infosys, losing ₹3,285 crore, while Reliance was flat. The big surge in the market was led by the ceasefire and hopes of peace returning to the Middle East.

Sun Pharma is poised for its next big-ticket acquisition, and has almost closed in on its $12 billion bid for Organon & Co of the US. It will be an all-cash offer by Sun Pharma. This will help Sun Pharma boost its position in branded and innovative drugs. Sun Pharma has completed its elaborate due diligence of the target. Organon was spun off from Merck in 2021 with a focus on women’s health (contraception, fertility), biosimilars, and dermatology. This will be the largest global acquisition by an Indian pharma company and could catapult Sun to the global pharma league.

ONGC Chairman, Arun Kumar Singh, cautioned that India must rapidly reduce its dependence on Middle East oil. Instead, he suggests India chase domestic oil at all costs. With the recent Hormuz disruption and the power equations in the Middle East shifting towards Iran; Gulf oil & gas supplies can no longer be guaranteed. He also called for a massive expansion of the strategic oil reserves of the government. According to Singh, energy security must be treated as a national security imperative. India has the oil resources and it has to only be prospected and exploited.

With the government giving a ₹10,000 crore boost through its Biopharma Shakti Scheme; India could see a shift from low-cost generics to high value biologics. Some of the domestic companies to benefit from this shift will be Biocon, Syngene, and Divi’s Laboratories. All of them are expanding capacities in peptides, biosimilars, and custom synthesis. This scheme will also reduce India’s dependence on the global pharma value chain and create its own supply chain. This scheme is likely to come as a big boon for CDMO companies, which help global pharma make drugs.

The Shapoorji Pallonji group, which holds 18.3% stake in Tata Sons, has renewed calls for listing of Tata Sons. As it stand, Tata Sons is classified as an upper layer NBFC, which means they should have been listed by September 2025. However, Tata Sons had sought an exemption, and the case is still pending with RBI. The SP group sees listing as a structural progression for Tata Sons, but clearly, the SP group needs listing to monetize its holdings in Tata Sons, at a time when it is deep in debt. For now, all directors other than Noel Tata, appear to be supporting listing of Tata Sons.

With the pall of uncertainty still hanging over the sale of Jaiprakash Industries to Adani group, the promoters of JP group have come out in favour of the Adani bid. Vedanta group had objected to the NCLT decision on the grounds that Vedanta had put in a higher bid than Adani group. However, the COC had decided in favour of Adani group as their plan had a bigger upfront cash payout. The lawyers for Vedanta argued that the COC did not balance the interest of all creditors; including the financial and operational creditors. The last word is yet to be said in this case.

A landmark study published in the American Economic Review, has raised the familiar question; does size of the fund impact its performance? The study looked at performance of funds between 1962 and 1999, and the findings were unambiguous. Fund performance falls as the fund size increases; both before and after fees. For instance, a 2SD increase in fund size, led to returns compressing by anywhere between 0.65% and 0.96%. As funds become bulkier, market moves work against them. Also, stock selection becomes tougher, especially in narrow markets!