Good morning. It is peak earnings season, with well over a hundred Indian companies opening their books this week, and overnight a major central bank decision gave global markets plenty to chew on too. A mixed bag, as these weeks usually are: some sharp beats, one big regulatory drag, and a reminder that not every result moves in the same direction.
In today's newsletter: Adani Enterprises swings to a loss after a $275 million US settlement, the Federal Reserve holds rates steady in a rare three way dissent, and Asian Paints beats estimates with a sharp profit jump.
Closing levels · 2026-07-29
Sensex 77,604.96 UP 1.09% |
Nifty 50 24,228.95 UP 1.02% |
USD/INR 95.72 DOWN 0.08% |
Brent Crude $86.80 UP 3.2% |
Indian equities extended their rebound as banks and IT led the charge, while the rupee firmed slightly against the dollar. Brent climbed past $86 a barrel, its third straight day of gains, as the easing of Gulf shipping tensions this week has not fully calmed traders watching the region.
Adani Enterprises swings to a ₹1,160 crore loss after $275 million US settlement
Adani Enterprises reported a consolidated net loss of ₹1,160.23 crore for the quarter ended June 2026, reversing a profit of ₹885.23 crore a year earlier. The swing was driven almost entirely by a one time exceptional charge of ₹2,644.02 crore, the rupee equivalent of the $275 million the company paid to settle with the US Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Strip out that charge and the underlying business actually grew. Revenue from operations rose nearly 50% year on year to ₹32,923.98 crore, with the flagship's copper business, still ramping up, contributing a sharp jump in sales.
A US regulatory settlement now showing up directly in a flagship Indian company's quarterly numbers is a reminder of how tightly global compliance risk and Indian balance sheets have become linked, and how a single line item can swing headline profit from black to red.
The group's new energy arm, meant to be the next big growth engine, actually saw segment profit fall nearly a quarter even as the rest of the business expanded, a soft spot the headline loss number has mostly buried.
The Fed holds rates steady, but the dissent tells the real story
The US Federal Reserve voted 9 to 3 to hold its key rate steady at 3.5 to 3.75%, the fifth straight meeting without a change. What stood out was not the hold itself but the split: three regional presidents dissented in favour of a different path, the most dissents at a single meeting since 2016.
It was also new chair Kevin Warsh's first meeting running the show, and he was careful to frame the decision as an opening chapter rather than a settled stance, with officials flagging that elevated inflation is still being driven partly by energy related supply shocks. For India, a Fed that stays cautious for longer keeps the dollar backdrop steady for now, but the unusual three way split suggests that calm may not last.
Asian Paints beats estimates with a sharp profit jump
Asian Paints posted a 40% jump in consolidated net profit to ₹1,539.25 crore for the June quarter, up from ₹1,099.77 crore a year earlier, comfortably ahead of analyst estimates of around ₹1,202 crore. Revenue from operations climbed nearly 18% to ₹10,541.94 crore.
Operating margins improved too, with earnings before depreciation, interest and tax up 33.5% and margin widening to 20.6% from 18.2% a year ago. For India's largest paint maker, whose sales track discretionary home spending closely, a beat this clean is a reasonable signal that urban consumption is holding up better than the broader mood around this earnings season would suggest.
Breaking.exe
Gadkari sues over deepfakes. The Bombay High Court has set an August 5 hearing for Nitin Gadkari's suit against Meta, X and Google over AI generated deepfakes that falsely linked him to profits from the E20 ethanol programme, with the minister seeking ₹11 crore in damages. |
KPIT's mixed quarter. Auto engineering software firm KPIT Technologies saw profit fall 32% to ₹116.4 crore even as revenue grew 9%, and the stock still rose after management said the quarter came in slightly ahead of its own guidance. |
Solar's manufacturing boom. Waaree Energies grew quarterly profit 15% to ₹891.87 crore as revenue jumped 79%, with the solar module maker's order book now standing at around ₹61,500 crore on the back of India's renewable capacity build out. |
Pangaea Revisited
Deep strike on a refinery. Ukrainian drones set Russia's Ryazan oil refinery and a nearby warehouse complex on fire in one of the largest strikes yet deep inside Russian territory, part of an intensifying campaign against Moscow's energy infrastructure. |
China squeezes Taiwan. China's coastguard has expanded patrols into waters east of Taiwan for the first time in quick succession, a move observers see as rehearsal for a wider containment strategy against the island. |
Japan's deadly quake. A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Japan's Kumamoto prefecture, killing at least 14 people and triggering a mall explosion believed to be caused by a gas leak, with thousands of military personnel mobilised for rescue efforts. |
Also, Also, Also
Housing finance holds steady. Bajaj Housing Finance's profit rose 23% to ₹715 crore, with assets under management crossing ₹1.49 lakh crore and asset quality holding firm. |
Rural India keeps buying. Dabur India's profit grew 15% to ₹591 crore, with the company noting rural sales have now outpaced urban demand for an eighth straight quarter. |
Gold in Glasgow. Dilip won gold while Basil and Sreeshankar took silvers in athletics on Commonwealth Games Day 6, pushing India's medal tally to 15 with a strong showing in track and field. |