🗓️ Morning, folks! ☀️
How far can you go for vanity?
India’s fake weight-loss drug problem is growing. High prices are pushing some people towards Telegram, WhatsApp and online sellers offering suspiciously cheap medicines.
Experts say weak enforcement and easy access to drug ingredients are making it easier for fake drugs to enter the market.
In one case, a woman who bought Mounjaro from a pharmacy developed rashes and severe diarrhoea, only to later find her batch number had been flagged as suspicious.
And it’s not just fake Mounjaro. Investigators have also found retatrutide, an experimental weight-loss drug not approved anywhere in the world, being sold through some clinics and online platforms in India.
Makes you wonder, not fitting beauty standards ain’t that bad after all.
Moving on 🤒,
Markets ended lower, with both the Nifty and Sensex closing in the red. To top it off, the Nifty recorded its worst September since 2001. IT stocks remained weak, and Wipro was among the Nifty’s biggest losers.
Metal and pharma were among the few bright spots. The broader market also came under pressure, as midcap and smallcap indices fell around 1% each.
💡 Spotlight: Pharma off the hit-list 💊
Indian pharma stocks got a boost after the US exempted certain specialty medicines and drug ingredients from India from tariffs. These include medicines for rare diseases and infertility, as well as cell and gene therapies and some animal medicines.
Who gained: Sun Pharma rose 1.47% and Dr Reddy’s gained 2.5%, Biocon, Hester Bio, and Aurobindo Pharma also ended higher.
The broader context matters because pharma has been one of the more resilient sectors in the stock market recently and has outperformed over the past year.
The US is also India’s biggest pharma export market, taking in $9.47 billion of India’s $31.1 billion pharma exports in FY26, or about 30%.
Let’s hit it! 💪🏻
1 Big Thing: This IPO has warnings ⚠️
Anthropic is making a big bet that it isn’t entirely sure about itself. Its IPO prospectus, reviewed by Reuters, points to a listing that could value the AI company at more than $2 trillion.
What’s happening: that valuation would surpass the record $1.77 trillion valuation Elon Musk’s SpaceX reached in its IPO. But there’s a catch.
Some numbers 📊:
2025 revenue: $4.59 billion, up 1,088% year on year
Operating loss: $8.06 billion
Compute and infrastructure spending: $7.33 billion, up 190%
Cash and short-term investments: $20.2 billion
Future cloud, compute and infrastructure obligations: roughly $518 billion
Those future obligations are more than 100 times Anthropic’s 2025 revenue. Nearly a quarter of that revenue came from two customers, and the company warns that many of its largest clients are not tied to long-term contracts. Two of its biggest backers, Amazon and Google, also provide the cloud infrastructure it pays for.
The financial figures are striking, but the prospectus also spends considerable space on the risks of AI.
Roughly 80 of its 261 main pages are devoted to risk factors. Anthropic says AI could transform the global economy more profoundly than industrialisation, electricity and the internet.
At the same time, it warns that advanced AI could pose “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity.” Its models could develop unexpected capabilities, conceal or manipulate information, resist shutdown, or exhibit behaviour resembling blackmail.
The warnings come as Anthropic continues to expand its AI business. It introduced Claude Opus 5.5 last week, and its IPO is reportedly likely to take place in November.
2. HCLTech wants AI that actually works 👀
HCLTech’s software business, HCLSoftware, will buy 100% of Croatia-based Robotiq.ai for €9 million, or roughly $10.2 million through its wholly owned Austrian subsidiary. The deal is expected to close by the end of November 2026.
Robotiq.ai builds software that automates repetitive computer tasks like copying data, filling forms and updating records for banks, insurers and telecom companies.
The why: HCLSoftware already has an agentic AI platform called HCL UnO Agentic. Agentic AI can understand a goal, decide what needs to happen next and coordinate different steps to get the job done.
The catch: many companies still use old software that AI can’t directly work with. Robotiq.ai acts like AI’s hands, opening apps, clicking buttons and entering data.
Zoom out: enterprise AI is moving from chatbots and copilots towards agents that complete business processes. To work at scale, these agents must navigate old and new applications, follow business rules and leave a clear audit trail.
While we are on deals 🤝,
Pidilite Industries has partnered with South Korea’s Hwaseung Chemical to bring advanced footwear adhesives to India.
The adhesive systems are already used in the production of global sports footwear and include products approved by leading international brands.
The deal: Hwaseung will bring its adhesive formulas and technology, while Pidilite will provide the local technical support needed by Indian factories.
The why: shoe soles need to stay attached through thousands of steps and bends. Manufacturers need strong, flexible adhesives that perform consistently in mass production and meet global brands’ quality standards.
3. Essar chasing the American dream 🇺🇸
India’s Essar Group is planning to invest $18 billion in the US, including a $15 billion steel plant in Iowa.
The deets: the plant, being developed by Essar’s US arm Mesabi Metallics, will use iron ore from its Minnesota operations to create an integrated steel supply chain. US President Donald Trump has called it the “largest steel plant in American history.”
Why Iowa: one possible reason is cheaper electricity in Iowa, which is a major cost for steelmakers. The location also puts the plant closer to major industrial markets across the central US.
Mesabi Metallics, however, hasn’t publicly laid out its full reasoning for choosing Iowa.
Larger ambitions: the Iowa plant fits neatly into Trump’s broader push to bring manufacturing back to the US. Steel is a major part of that strategy.
4. Who’s eating all these noodles? 🍜
When was the last time you thought ‘there’s nothing to eat’, opened the fridge, got disappointed and then reached for a packet of instant noodles?
Looks like this meal has quite a following.
According to the World Instant Noodles Association, yes this exists, India alone accounted for roughly 9.6 billion servings in 2025, making us the world’s third-largest instant-noodle market by volume.
5. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀
What went up ⬆️
⚙️ Axiscades Tech jumped 10% after shares worth ₹741 crore changed hands in a block deal.
✈️ Azad Engg surged 7% after a positive brokerage note.
📈 Power Mech and Ellenbarrie Ind gained up to 3% after bagging orders worth ₹279 crore and ₹481 crore, respectively.
🚗 Landmark Cars ended more than 2% higher after adding M&M and BYD stores.
What went down ⬇️
🧴 Honasa Consumer (Mamaearth) slipped more than 5% after a ₹643 crore block deal.
🧪 Tata Chemicals fell more than 4% as a Tata Trusts proposal dimmed hopes of a Tata Sons listing.
📺 NCLAT to hear Zee Ent Subhash Chandra’s plea on repayment plan on October 29-30, stock down 3%.
What else are we snackin’ 🍿
🏭 Urea project: Coal India and HURL signed an MoU to explore a coal gasification-based urea production project in Sindri, Jharkhand.
🥪 Subway IPO: EverBrands India filed for an IPO with a fresh issue of up to ₹600 crore, with no OFS.
🚌 E-Mobility stake: Tata Motors’ subsidiary acquired a 26% stake in an e-mobility company for ₹2.6 lakh to support its electric bus operations in Telangana.
💎 Jewellery IPO: Royal Chain filed for a ₹1,000 crore IPO, with ₹650 crore from the fresh issue earmarked for debt repayment.
💧 Water order: NCC secured a ₹1,077 crore drinking water supply project from the Andhra Pradesh government.
That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.
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Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.