Full tank!⛽
Gold demand slumps, IndiGo brings good news, and 9 years of GST.
🗓️ Morning, folks! ☀️
July brought a positive push in the Indian markets. Sensex and Nifty bounced back by ~0.5% after two weak sessions.
The winner's trophy goes to FMCG, realty, banking and auto stocks for lifting market sentiment.
Reliance also did well by jumping close to 1%. But, IT stocks didn’t get the memo.
Infosys slipped below ₹1,000 and TCS slipped below ₹2,000, a level it hasn’t closed under in nearly five years. Damn.
💡 Spotlight: fuel prices are down. Fuel prices are up. ⛽
A party popper moment: the price of a 19-kg commercial LPG cylinder has been reduced by ₹183.5. That helps hotels, restaurants and small food businesses that run on cooking gas.
Energy prices are somewhat off steroids as Brent crude fell to $73 a barrel from nearly $120 earlier this year.
Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices have been cut by around ₹5 per litre, taking the price to about ₹110 per litre in Delhi. That is good news for airlines because ATF is usually an airline’s biggest cost.
Nayara Energy, which is India’s largest private fuel retailer, cut petrol prices by ₹5 per litre and diesel by ₹3 across its 7,000 plus fuel stations.
At the same time: the government raised the windfall tax (export duty) on petrol exports to ₹4 per litre. But they cut the levy on diesel exports to ₹8.5 per litre and ATF exports to ₹7.5 per litre.
Too much ‘energy’ in a day right? Save some of yours and let’s hit it! 💪🏻
1 Big thing: Want cheaper flight tickets? IndiGo may have an option ✈️
IndiGo probably got tired of us believing that booking flights on a Tuesday night or Wednesday afternoon magically gets us cheaper tickets. So it decided to create a cheaper fare instead.
Note: before IndiGo, Air India had also introduced a ‘Basic’ fare for price-conscious travellers by removing complimentary meals.
What’s going on: the airline has launched “IndiGo Lite”, a new budget fare for travellers who fly light. The ticket includes a 7 kg cabin bag and an auto-assigned seat. If you want checked baggage, a preferred seat, meals or priority boarding, you’ll have to pay for those separately.
The new fare will be available on all non-stop domestic and international flights booked through IndiGo’s website, app and contact centre from July 1, with travel beginning July 15.
The why: airlines have had a rough few months. The Iran conflict pushed up crude oil prices, making aviation turbine fuel (ATF), their biggest operating cost, even more expensive.
Airspace closures also forced longer flying routes, increasing fuel consumption, while intense competition kept ticket prices under pressure.
Instead of raising fares for everyone, airlines are now offering stripped-down tickets so passengers pay only for the services they actually use.
2. Auto components maker expands its portfolio 💪
Chennai-based auto components maker Rane (Madras) has agreed to acquire the friction business of Hindustan Composites for ₹370 crore.
Stock action: shares of the company jumped over 3% on the back of this development.
So, what exactly is the business?
Hindustan Composites has been making products like brake pads, brake linings, clutch facings and other friction materials for more than 60 years.
These components are used across passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, tractors, railways and industrial equipment.
Why does this matter: Rane already has a strong presence in the friction materials business, supplying major automobile manufacturers in India and overseas. This acquisition will expand its product portfolio, manufacturing capabilities and customer base.
Once the deal is completed, the combined friction materials business is expected to cross ₹1,000 crore in revenue, making it one of the largest platforms in this segment.
3. India reclaims emerging market crown 👑
After a six-month gap, India has reclaimed the No. 1 spot in Mint’s Emerging Markets Tracker, helped by stronger manufacturing activity and faster export growth.
The only challenge? Higher crude oil prices during the West Asia conflict have pushed up wholesale inflation and input costs, even as oil prices have started to ease.
4. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀
What went up ⬆️
🚗 Mahindra & Mahindra shares gained 2% after June auto and tractor sales beat estimates, with total vehicle sales crossing 1.06 lakh units.
☝🏻 Page Industries shares rose over 3% after Citi upgraded the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Sell’ and raised its target price.
📈 VA Tech WABAG shares went up 3.6% after winning a major contract to expand a water treatment plant in Vienna, Austria.
💸 EPACK Durable shares zoomed 2% after it received Andhra Pradesh approval for a ₹1,084 crore investment to expand its consumer durables manufacturing capacity.
💪🏻 CarTrade Tech shares gained nearly 5% after a brokerage firm Nomura raised its target price, citing strong growth prospects and improving earnings.
🚀 RITES shares jumped over 12% after winning a consultancy contract from Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University.
⚡️Paisalo Digital shares hit the 20% upper circuit after promoters increased their stake to 46.72% via open market purchases.
What went down ⬇️
🔻KPIT Technologies shares plunged nearly 17% after weak guidance and reduced technology spending by key European automakers rattled investors.
💰 Glenmark Pharma shares fell nearly 2% after the US FDA flagged six procedural observations at its Goa plant, with no data integrity concerns.
What else are we snackin’ 🍿
⛏️ Mining partnership: CMPDI has signed a three-year MoU with NTPC Mining to boost collaboration on coal mining and allied consultancy projects.
🤯 Cyber concerns: the Centre has asked Meta to pause WhatsApp's username rollout in India, citing cybercrime risks, and sought an explanation within three days.
⚡ IPO filing: TMC Transformers has filed draft papers for a ₹550 crore IPO to fund a new extra high-voltage transformer manufacturing facility in Gujarat.
💰 GST growth: India’s GST collections rose 13.9% year-on-year to ₹1.95 lakh crore in June, driven by strong import-related tax revenues.
🥇 Gold slump: Gold demand in India plunged over 70% after the Centre raised import duty on gold from 6% to 15% in May.
🏭 Factory PMI: India’s manufacturing PMI eased to 54.2 in June from 55 in May, as demand softened, marking the second-weakest factory growth since mid-2022.
That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.
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