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

Midnight News Update – 12-13 Aug 20266

N Chandrasekaran has stepped down from the chairmanship of Tata Sons and will not offer his candidature for reappointment when his term expires in February 2027. However, he will continue in the position till Feb-27 and ensure smooth transition. Chandra was emphatic that he would only accept the chairman’s post if the decision was unanimous; and that looked unlikely. Over the last 1 year, Noel Tata and Chandra have had major differences over the loss-making businesses of the Tata group, its listing discussions with RBI, and its below-average market cap growth.

Retail inflation for July 2026 (CPI) came in at an 18-month high of 4.45%. Since April, CPI inflation is up by nearly 100 bps. At 4.45%, the CPI inflation is well above the RBI preferred median of 4%, although it is still within the outer limit of 6%. Food inflation at 5.52% remained the primary driver of consumer inflation in July. While rainfall has been 11% in deficit in 2026, the food output has only been 2% lower than last year. Rural inflation continues to be above urban inflation. Core inflation has remained closer to 4.1%, opening the RBI rate hike question once again.

Canadian Pension Fund (CPPIB) will invest ₹3,000 crore for a 28% stake in Prestige Hospitality. This is the hotels venture of the Prestige group of South India. Prestige Hospitality currently operates 7 properties in Bengaluru, while its other 5 properties in other locations are under construction. Earlier, Prestige Hospitality had planned a ₹2,700 crore IPO last year, but put off plans due to weak market conditions. CPPIB is one of the biggest sovereign investors in India and has a portfolio of over $22 billion. With this stake sale, Prestige Hospitality may put off its IPO plans for now.

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) reported a 14.9% growth in net profits for Q1FY27 at ₹1,590 crore, while the revenue from operations increased 14.5% to ₹5,515 crore for the quarter. However, net profits and revenues were sharply lower on a sequential basis. For FY26, HAL had declared a total dividend of ₹45 per share. The product portfolio of HAL includes the Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA), helicopters (Dhruv, Rudra, LCH), and also makes other fighter aircraft in collaboration global players. HAL also offers maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for aircraft.

L&T plans to take Chinese competition head-on by manufacturing rare-earth magnets in India. Currently, China controls about 90% of the rare earth magnet market in the world. L&T will also bid for the government-sponsored $764 million incentive package for rare-earth magnets. L&T will need global partners as it involves high precision engineering. L&T is already investing in making motors for electrical vehicles (EVs), which also entails the use of rare-earth magnets. India is looking to build a domestic supply chain for rare-earth magnets to support EVs.

Bharti Airtel continues its focus on boosting its ARPU. Its latest decision to scrap the base ₹299 plan will drive up the ARPU by 16.7%. Now, the base plan will start at ₹349. However, the ₹349 plan will have a 1.5 GB data allowance, against the 1.0 GB offered in the ₹299 plan. For Q1FY27, Bharti Airtel had reported average revenue per user (ARPU) of ₹264, which will now go up to ₹308. Bharti Airtel already has the best ARPU in the industry. While eliminating the low value customers is positive for ARPU, it has led to Bharti Airtel consistently losing market share to Reliance Jio.

In its latest note, Morgan Stanley named IT sector as the dark horse of India investing, while data centres are the new investment theme. It sees a multi-quarter upgrade in earnings cycle in next couple of years. At a macro level, Morgan Stanley expects investment as a share of GDP to touch 37.5% in the next few years. The brokerage house is overweight on financials, industrials, and consumer discretionary; while being underweight on energy, materials, and healthcare. As a dark horse, it sees a possible upside surprise from IT, as IT players get their AI act together.

Between 01-April and 10-August, India’s direct tax collections touched ₹8.11 trillion. Tax collections after refunds grew by 23.1%, largely led by a 51% surge in STT collections, and slowdown in refund payouts. For FY25 and FY26, the government has kept most of the large refunds on hold, which is one of the factors explaining the surge in net tax collections. During the period, corporate tax collections rose by 19.8% to ₹2.70 trillion. The sharp spike in STT collections can be attributed to the higher rates on futures and options. The final figures net of refund will hold the key.