Cash in 💰
B2B deals, Aramco wants oil, and Nvidia goes shopping.
☀️ Good morning, it’s Friday!
Lose some, gain some.
Markets ended higher yesterday, recovering from Wednesday’s slump. Sensex and Nifty rose 0.4% each, helped by gains in Reliance, L&T, and Bajaj Finance.
💡 Spotlight: Trump proposed a 25% tariff on all non-U.S. vehicles and parts to boost domestic manufacturing.
Indian auto stocks slipped fast, with Tata Motors hit hardest. It’s just campaign talk for now, but the threat adds fresh uncertainty for global carmakers.
1 Big Thing: Foreign investors start buying 💰
Foreign investors are back—and they’re buying big.
After six straight months of selling, FIIs have flipped the script, pumping $1.39 billion into Indian equities this week, the highest among all Asian markets.
Since March 20, they’ve poured in $2.4 billion, reversing $28.2 billion in outflows since September. The turnaround comes as valuations cool off, RBI liquidity improves, and hopes of an April rate cut lift sentiment.
Worth noting: while India saw strong inflows, other Asian markets struggled. Taiwan witnessed $298 million in outflows, followed by Malaysia and Thailand. Only South Korea and Indonesia saw marginal gains.
Why does this matter: when FIIs buy, markets tend to move. Their capital sends a signal to domestic investors, who often follow the trend.
FIIs have always been market makers in India. In bull years like 2014 and 2020, their aggressive buying lifted indices to new highs. But during global shocks like 2008 or the early COVID wave, their exit caused deep market cuts.
What’s changed: the rise of Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) as a counterweight to FIIs. Mutual funds and insurers have stepped up with steady inflows, even during volatile phases. In 2022 alone, DIIs pumped in ₹2.76 lakh crore, cushioning market shocks.
As both global and domestic investors line up behind Indian equities, the market may be gearing up for its next leg higher.
2. Aramco wants a piece of India’s oil future 🛢️
Saudi Aramco is in talks to invest in two upcoming Indian refineries, securing a long-term home for its crude.
The deets: Aramco is the world’s largest oil exporter, managing everything from oil exploration to global supply. Now, it’s negotiating stakes in BPCL’s planned refinery in Andhra Pradesh and ONGC’s greenfield project in Gujarat, both state-owned ventures.
Why it matters: as the world’s third-largest oil consumer, India is betting big on becoming a global refining hub, just as the West winds down capacity to focus on clean energy. Aramco wants in early, and these projects give it direct access to a fast-growing demand center.
For India, the benefits go beyond capital. Foreign investment brings in tech, scale, and energy security.
Zoom out: this isn’t Aramco’s first try. A previous mega plan in Ratnagiri fell through, but the oil giant hasn’t backed off. With PM Modi expected to visit Saudi Arabia soon, the timing could push both sides to seal the deal.
Big picture: India is planning three new mega-refineries of 400,000 barrels/day each, a bold play to become Asia’s refining engine. For Aramco, this could be its most important bet in Asia since its China expansion.
3. Nvidia’s power move from chips to cloud 💥
Nvidia is acquiring Lepton AI, a startup that rents out high-performance servers powered by Nvidia’s own AI chips, per Tech Crunch.
The deets: Lepton AI gives developers and enterprises access to servers built specifically for running large AI models. Think training LLMs or deploying real-time applications.
Instead of buying their own hardware, customers rent these ready-to-use machines to scale quickly and affordably.
Why it matters: this would mark Nvidia’s entry into the cloud services business. Right now, hyperscalers like AWS and Google Cloud buy Nvidia GPUs and rent them to customers.
But if Nvidia buys Lepton, it can cut out the middleman and go direct, offering its own cloud infrastructure and adding a recurring revenue stream to its business.
It’s a shift from being just a chip supplier to becoming a full-stack AI infrastructure company.
4. A quick B2B acquisition 🤝
Jumbotail is acquiring Solv India in a $50 million deal to build a B2B e-commerce powerhouse.
The deets: Solv runs a B2B platform that connects small businesses to suppliers across categories like apparel, home goods, and toys, while Jumbotail is a grocery-focused B2B marketplace serving over 50,000 kirana stores across India.
The deal will combine both platforms into a multi-category ecommerce and fintech ecosystem for small retailers and MSMEs.
The move: Jumbotail hopes to use Solv’s reach beyond groceries to become a one-stop shop for India’s vast informal retail economy.
5. Stock that kept us interested 🚀
Zen Technologies won a ₹152 crore order from the Defence Ministry to supply an integrated air defence combat simulator for the L70 anti-aircraft gun.
The deets: Zen Tech builds advanced training and anti-drone systems for India’s defence forces. The simulator will help train personnel on using the L70 gun to take down threats like drones, planes, and missiles, without using live ammunition.
Why it matters: Simulators are gaining popularity as cost-effective training tools, and Zen is becoming a go-to name in this space.
The stock rose over 2% after the announcement.
6. Story in data: Brew blues 📊
AB InBev, the world’s largest beer company and home to Budweiser, Corona, and Stella Artois, saw its pandemic recovery fade fast.
After a strong rebound in 2021, the company has seen volumes decline for 7 straight quarters. Post-pandemic, AB InBev rode the rebound with record volumes. But the high didn’t last.
Global demand is softening as drinking habits shift, especially among younger consumers leaning toward moderation, wellness, and alternatives like seltzers and spirits.
What else are we snackin’ 🍿
🚖 Ride local: the government is launching ‘Sahkar’ Taxi, a cooperative-run ride-hailing service set to compete with Uber and Ola.
🤝 Putin incoming: Russia’s Foreign Minister says Putin has accepted Modi’s invite and is prepping to visit India.
🛍️ Retail boom: India’s retail market is set to cross $1.6T by 2030, with organised retail alone topping $600B.
And that’s a wrap. Pour yourself an extra one this weekend.
Markets are closed on Monday for Eid, so we’ll be back like clockwork on Tuesday!
Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.
