Weekly Market Impact — for the week ending on 17th April 2026

Weekly Capsule (Apr 13 – Apr 17) and Impact Analysis

Merchandise trade deficit for Mar-26 at $20.7 billion was lower than expected

• While exports were under pressure, imports also slowed 6.5% amidst the supply chain disruptions in the Straits of Hormuz
• For FY26, the total trade in goods and services touched an impressive level of $1.82 trillion; despite tariff challenges

WPI inflation spikes from 2.13% in February 2026 to 3.88% in March 2026

• Primary basket was the big driver of WPI inflation in March, while the fuel inflation turned to positive after one year
• Higher WPI inflation is a cost push; and second level impact of crude oil spike on paints, plastics, and petchem is awaited

Wipro announces its biggest buyback of shares worth ₹15,000 crore

• A total of 60 crore shares will be bought back at ₹250 per share at a 19% premium; representing 5.7% of paid-up capital
• Buybacks had been on hold for the last one year, but with the Budget changing the capital gains rules, it is back again

Iran targets accessing its $100 billion money locked up in other countries

• These funds are spread across South Korea, China, India, and Qatar; and represent the sanctioned funds belonging to Iran
• It is expected that, as part of the truce, the US may allow Iran to access some of these funds for rebuilding infrastructure

RBI instructs Indian OMCs to avoid buying dollars in the spot market

• Buying spot dollars to pay for crude is a common practice among oil refiners, but it adds to pressure on the rupee
• Instead, RBI has asked banks to avail a special line of credit from SBI, and route all its dollar buying only through SBI

Consumer inflation (CPI) for March 2026 came in higher at 3.40%

• While food inflation was higher at 3.87%, the real thrust came from fuel inflation surging from 0.14% to 1.65% in March
• This is despite the government only raising the prices of ATF and premium fuels; not of general petrol and diesel

Tata Sons listing continues to be a contention issue for board members

• Currently, all board members of Tata Sons and Tata Trusts; other than Noel Tata, appear to be favouring listing Tata Sons
• The only option for Tata Sons to stay unlisted is that the RBI accepts their application for the surrender of CIC certification

It is now official; size of the fund does impact its investor returns negatively

• The study was based in the American Economic Review, based on analysis of fund NAV movements over a 37-year period
• According to the study, a 2 (Standard Deviation) increase in the fund size; depressed returns by 65 bps to 96 bps annually

Jio Platforms plans to file DRHP for IPO with size of ₹40,000 to ₹50,000 crore

• With Jefferies valuing Jio Platforms at $180 billion, a 2.5% stake sale should be enough to reach the target amount
• The IPO is expected in the first half of 2026; and will be the biggest IPO by size in the history of Indian IPO markets

For the week, the USDINR hardened from ₹93.090/$ to ₹92.603/$

• The rupee hardening was largely on the back of hopes that a US-Iran truce will be signed before the 15-day cooling period
• In addition, the RBI restrictions on OMCs buying spot dollars from the market also reduced the pressure on the Rupee

Brent Crude tapers for the week from $95.20/bbl to close at $90.38/bbl

• The sharp fall in Brent Crude prices was on the back of hopes that the US-Iran truce should be official by the coming week
• In addition, the US loosening the sanctions on Russian oil also helped to cool the supply pressures in the crude oil market

India benchmark bond yields stayed below the 7% mark; closing at 6.905%

• The bond yields had dipped below 7% after the RBI policy did not give any indication of a possible rate hike to curb inflation
• However, bond yields are expected to hover around the 7% mark, especially after CPI and WPI inflation spiked in March

Gold recovered further to $4,831/oz, and silver also recovered to $80.81/oz

• With the hopes of a truce likely in the Middle East, there was some follow-up buying in gold and silver at lower levels
• Fed commentary appeared to underline that rate hikes were not on the agenda, unless inflation impact was structural

FPIs were net buyers in the truncated week to the tune of $515 million

• For April 2026 overall, the FPIs are still net sellers in Indian equities to the tune of $4.63 billion, despite this week’s buying
• FPIs continue to be cautious on India due to valuations and the likely structural impact of oil and gas supply constraints

Government of India received ₹78,438 crore in dividends from CPSEs in FY26

• This is nearly 10% higher than the budget target of ₹69,000 crore and does not include the RBI dividend of ₹2.69 trillion
• Government has received hefty dividends from PSUs as well as quasi sovereign funds like the NIIF, which paid ₹4,013 crore

Ultratech installed cement capacity crosses 200 million tonnes per annum

• Ultratech cement capacity is more than the entire EU, even as the company is in the midst of a ₹16,000 crore expansion
• The last 50 million TPA capacity was created in just 2 years and Ultratech targets 240 million TPA capacity by FY28

IMD issues lowest monsoon forecast in 25 years at 92% of long period average

• Typically, 96% to 104% of long period average (LPA) is normal rainfall, so this year is slated to be highly deficient rainfall
• Insufficient rainfall impact may be partly offset by a good Rabi this year; but it likely to give a thrust to Kharif inflation

Zerodha zero-brokerage on delivery has saved ₹27,000 crore since year 2016

• Zerodha does charge flat commission on intraday trades and on F&O trades; but investor savings have still been huge
• This has allowed Zerodha to grow over the last 10 years without any advertising or raising any external capital

FY26 saw 20% drop in flows into multi-cap funds, as investors opted flexibility

• Flows into multi-cap funds in FY26 at ₹33,200 crore was about 25% lower than last year; and a third of flexi-cap fund flows
• Flexi-cap funds give fund managers more leeway to decide on the distribution between large caps, mid-caps, and small caps

Mehli Mistry seeks an administrator to run Dorabji Tata Trust, amid lapses

• This hardens the battle lines between Mehli Mistry and Noel Tata since Dorabji Tata Trust is a key shareholder in Tata Sons
• His questions pertain to the composition of the board of the Trust, who may not be technically eligible to be on the board

Legendary emerging market investor, Mark Mobius, passes away at 89

• For a long time, Mobius led Franklin Templeton and was almost synonymous with investing in emerging markets
• Mobius was the person who discovered the investment potential of Asian emerging markets to diversify US holdings