Defence stock posts strong scorecard 💪🏻
PM Modi goes all-in, Tata Power bets on Bhutan, and India craves premium chocolates.
🗓️ Morning, folks! ☀️
Dalal Street had a choppy day on Monday, but managed to end slightly in the green.
Sensex and Nifty recovered from early losses as strong buying in IT stocks helped calm nerves.
Earlier in the session, weak global cues, rising crude oil prices, and geopolitical tensions had dragged markets lower.
Still, it wasn’t a broad-based rally. Auto, PSU bank, media, and metal stocks remained under pressure through the session.
💡 Spotlight: From one index to another 👀
BSE is likely to enter the Nifty 50 index in the September 2026 reshuffle, potentially replacing IT major Wipro, according to a report by Quiddity Advisors.
Assuming a single change, one-way flow for the Nifty 50 is estimated at $639 million.
The reason: BSE shares have jumped over 63% in the past year, driven by a surge in trading activity, growing retail investor participation and strong growth in its derivatives business, especially weekly Sensex options.
Meanwhile, Wipro’s shares have fallen more than 25% amid weakness in the IT sector and rising concerns around AI disruption.
Because of this, analysts believe BSE is now big enough to enter the Nifty 50 index, potentially replacing Wipro in the September 2026 reshuffle.
Let’s hit it! 💪🏻
1 Big thing: Apollo Micro rallies on strong earnings 🚀
Apollo Micro Systems jumped nearly 9% after reporting a sharp rise in Q4 earnings.
The numbers:
Net profit jumped to ₹38 crore from ₹14 crore last year
Revenue surged 81% YoY to ₹293 crore
EBITDA margin improved to 23%
Bigger story: earlier this year, Apollo Micro received a major government licence with lifetime validity to manufacture advanced defence weapon systems and ammunition.
The approval allows the company to manufacture missiles, anti-tank guided missiles, torpedoes, rockets, aerial bombs, loitering munitions, and defence countermeasure systems.
All of this manufacturing and testing will happen at the company’s Hyderabad facilities, where Apollo plans to build around 1,000 units annually across categories.
The timing: India is aggressively pushing self-reliance in defence production and wants domestic defence manufacturing to touch ₹3 lakh crore by 2029.
2. PM Modi’s Sweden visit boosts AI, defence ties 🚀
Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued his Europe tour with a major stop in Sweden. He also addressed the European Round Table for Industry (ERT).
India and Sweden announced a new strategic partnership focused on green energy, AI, defence, semiconductors, telecom, and advanced manufacturing.
The two countries also set an ambitious target to double bilateral trade and investment within the next five years.
Current trade between the two nations stands at around $7.75 billion.
Breaking it down: PM Modi urged Swedish and European companies to expand investments in India across electronics, deep-tech manufacturing, artificial intelligence, mobility, digital infrastructure, healthcare, and clean energy.
One important agreement came in the space sector.
India’s ISRO and the Swedish Space Corporation signed an MoU to jointly work on an instrument for India’s upcoming Venus Orbiter Mission.
Discussions also covered resilient supply chains, semiconductor collaboration, defence manufacturing, sustainable mobility and digital technologies.
The next leg of PM Modi’s European tour will include visits to Norway and Italy, where he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
3. Tata Power bets big on Bhutan 💪
Tata Power wants to build one of the biggest clean energy partnerships and it’s happening in Bhutan.
What’s going on: the company has signed a new agreement with Bhutan’s Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) to help build the workforce needed for more than 5,000 MW of clean energy projects in the country.
Basically, Tata Power won’t just help build renewable energy projects, it will also help train the people who will run them.
Background: Tata Power and DGPC have already been working together on hydropower projects in Bhutan.
Bhutan’s goal: it is preparing for one of South Asia’s biggest clean energy expansions. The country aims to build 25,000 MW of power capacity by 2040 as part of its vision to become a high-income economy by 2034.
The country also plans to expand into wind, geothermal and biomass to reduce dependence on a single energy source.
While we are on deals 🤝,
TVS Motor shares slipped 5% after TVS Venu Group bought a 4.9% stake in Jana Small Finance Bank for ₹193.3 crore in an all-cash deal.
TVS Venu Group operates across mobility, financial services, real estate and lifestyle businesses, with a presence in over 90 countries.
Its companies include TVS Motor, TVS Credit, TVS Emerald and other promoter-linked entities, with combined FY26 revenue of around $6.5 billion.
Why it matters: the investment gives TVS deeper access to India’s fast-growing banking and financial services space while opening doors for future partnerships with Jana Small Finance Bank.
4. Why is India suddenly buying fancy chocolates? 🍫
India was always a Dairy Milk country, but something unusual is happening now.
Premium chocolates from Ferrero, Lindt and even Indian craft brands are growing fast as consumers move beyond cheap sweet bars and start spending on dark chocolate, cocoa-rich treats and luxury gifting.
Amul’s chocolate business alone crossed ₹1,400 crore recently while India’s premium chocolate market is quietly becoming a serious business.
But this shift is not just about expensive chocolate because it could completely change how India grows, sells and even thinks about cocoa in the years ahead.
5. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀
What went up ⬆️
💊 Gland Pharma jumped over 15% after Q4 profit nearly doubled.
💻 Nifty IT index gained more than 2% in a weak market as investor sentiment improved following the decline in the Indian rupee against the US dollar.
⛏️ Hindustan Copper shares surged nearly 2% after Q4 profit soared 134% YoY and strong margin improvement.
What went down ⬇️
📉 HDFC Asset Management fell 3% after the company reported a cybersecurity incident on May 16.
🏗️ Afcons Infra shares declined nearly 6% after two Croatia road construction contracts got cancelled.
🛡️ ICICI Prudential Life shares fell up to 4% as promoters reduced stake.
⚙️ Uno Minda slipped nearly 5% after the company’s conference call said that the recent geopolitical tensions have created fresh concerns.
What else are we snackin’ 🍿
🛰️ India hub: space-tech major ICEYE will launch satellite production in India, making it its primary manufacturing hub for the Asia-Pacific region.
🏦 Stake buy: UK-based insurer and asset manager Prudential plc will acquire a 75% stake in Bharti Life from Bharti Enterprises amid rapid growth in India’s life insurance sector.
That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.
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