September 16, 2026

TOP NEWS

War update: Saudi air defenses intercepted a Houthi drone attempting to enter the airspace around Mecca. Some physical oil cargoes in Europe climbed above $130 a barrel after an attack shut Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline and disrupted exports from Yanbu. JD Vance says the war with Iran will enter a “much different phase in a couple of months”, describing Washington’s next objective as preventing Tehran from rebuilding its military capabilities. Oil prices hold at $108/barrel.

UPI payments above Rs 2,000 to merchants to attract 0.4% MDR from Oct 15: A 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) will be levied on UPI person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions above Rs 2,000 from October 15. Person-to-person (P2P) transfers and P2M transactions below Rs 2,000 will continue to be free for users. Essential sectors like railways, telecom, and fuel, along with government utility bills, will have a flat MDR of Rs 5 for transactions over Rs 2,000. The charges aim to fund UPI infrastructure, innovation, and cybersecurity, with collected fees distributed among payment ecosystem partners. Small merchants receiving up to Rs 1 lakh monthly via UPI QR codes will continue to enjoy zero MDR on all transactions. India's click-and-pay UPI services will attract a fractional charge above Rs 2,000 for merchant payments, the government has notified, though it ruled out charges on person-to-person transactions. The new UPI Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) framework will be effective from October 15. The new framework suggests a 0.4% charge will be levied on such transactions made by consumers to merchants, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has stated in its new rules for Unified Payments Interface (UPI). This charge is capped at Rs 300 per transaction, one that the Finance Ministry has advised banks to ensure merchants don't pass on to consumers. For merchant categories like railways, telecom services, insurance, and fuel, the NPCI stated a flat rate of Rs 5 will be levied on UPI payments above Rs 2,000. The charges are lower than other digital payment instruments like credit cards, debit cards.

Key Beneficiaries

• Yes Bank
• PayTm
• Other beneficiaries namely Axis Bank, SBI, ICICI, HDFC other players who has UPI base

Vikram Solar: Strengthens its DCR market position & supply chain resilience by entering into a domestic solar cell supply agreement of 1GW with Avaada Electro Limited. This agreement is a significant step for Vikram Solar in penetrating the domestic DCR market & diversifying its cell supply chain. It also complements the company's backward integration strategy, which includes an upcoming 9 GW high-efficiency solar cell manufacturing facility slated for commissioning in Q4 FY27.

Saatvik Green Energy: Bags a massive Rs1,041.63crore order from SECI for Solar PV Modules to be executed by Dec 2027.

Sonata Information Technology has signed a five-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA) with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to accelerate cloud adoption and modernisation for enterprises across India.The agreement advances Sonata’s hyperscaler-led growth strategy and expands its ability to address cloud transformation opportunities in the Indian market.

Groww Block Deal: Peak XV Partners, Sequoia Capital likely to sell shares at Rs. 191: Peak XV Partners Investments VI-1 and Sequoia Capital Global Growth Fund III - U.S./India Annex Fund, L.P. are likely to sell shares of Groww parent Billionbrains Garage Ventures Ltd through a block deal at a floor price of ₹191.45 per share, sources said on Tuesday (September 15). The floor price represents a 3.1% discount to Groww’s last closing price, sources said. The base offer size is up to 1.6% of the company’s existing total shares outstanding. Negative

BHEL: Titagarh Rail Systems Limited and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited executed a formal Joint Venture Agreement to handle long-term rail asset management for 35 years. The partnership supports the national contract for manufacturing and maintaining 80 trainsets while upgrading government depots and manufacturing hubs.

NBFC - The US 10-year Treasury yield crossed 5% on Tuesday (September 15), reaching its highest level since 2007, before easing slightly in Asian trade on Wednesday. Higher bond yields can weigh on gold because the precious metal does not generate interest income. Negative for NBFCs

Macro Wrap

• Fed Preview: The Fed funds futures are pricing around a 94% probability of a 25bp hike today, which would lift the Fed funds target range to 3.75-4.00%. It will mark the first Federal Funds Rate increase since 2023. They are also pricing in a cumulative tightening of 52bp by year-end, implying two 25bp hikes in the remaining three Fed meetings this year. A surprise hold could push front-end yields lower but potentially lift longer-term yields if investors interpret the Fed as insufficiently hawkish on inflation, steepening the yield curve.
• The US 2Y Treasury yield was unchanged at 4.66%. The US 10Y yield rose as high as 5.04%, the highest since 2007, before closing around 1bp higher at 5.00%. The US 10Y Treasury yield briefly rose to 5.04%, its highest level since 2007, before closing around 5.00%. The German 10Y yield rose 2bp to 3.54%, its highest level since 2009. The UK 10Y yield rose 2bp to 5.39%.
• Brent crude rose 2.9% to USD108.75, while WTI jumped around 4.4% to USD105.83. Saudi Arabia has cancelled some late-September crude shipments to European customers after last week's drone attack forced the closure of its East-West pipeline and suspended loadings from the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The pipeline had been carrying around 4mn barrels per day (mb/d), equivalent to roughly 4% of global oil supply, as a bypass to the disrupted Strait of Hormuz.
• Libya halted production at three oilfields following domestic disruptions, adding another source of supply pressure. However, Libya's national oil company said overall production remained around 1.4mb/d, suggesting the immediate impact on aggregate output has so far been limited. Bullish for Crude oil and upstream companies.
• The shipping rate have spiked again, the cost of chartering a VLCC carrying 2mn barrels of US crude from the Gulf Coast to China has also risen to a record USD44.8mn, compared with around USD17.8mn before the Iran war began.
• The UK jobless rate held at 4.9% in the three months to July 2026, defying forecasts of 5.0%. Unemployment rose slightly to 1.78 million, while employment increased by 66,000 to 34.48 million, driven by more full-time jobs. The inactivity rate edged down to 20.9%.
• Germany’s wholesale prices rose 6.8% year-on-year in August 2026, up from 5.3% and the fastest since February 2023, driven by higher energy and raw material costs. Mineral oil products jumped 36.1% and metals 27.4%, while several food categories fell. Month-on-month, prices climbed 0.9%, the quickest in four months and above expectations.
• Japan’s exports jumped 19.3% year-on-year to JPY 10,048.4 billion in August 2026, beating forecasts of 18.2%, marking a 12th month of growth on a weaker yen and strong AI-chip demand, despite Middle East-related supply chain risks.
• Japan’s core machinery orders fell 3.7% m/m to JPY 1,016.9 billion in July 2026, the fourth drop this year and worse than the expected 2.8% decline, with both manufacturing and non-manufacturing orders weaker. Year-on-year, orders rose 11.2%, below the 15.3% forecast and down from 16.9%.
• The Empire State Manufacturing Index fell to 7.6 in September 2026 from 20.6 in August, below expectations of 14.75, signalling softer activity. New orders were flat, shipments slipped, supply conditions worsened, and price pressures rose, but firms stayed optimistic, with the future conditions index at 29.
• Data watch: we get August retail sales, import and export prices, and the NAHB Housing Market Index ahead of the Fed decision.

Other news

Uno Minda, at a meeting held in Manesar, Gurugram on Monday, September 14, 2026, approved Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for four manufacturing projects entailing a combined capital expenditure of approximately Rs 1,415 crore, along with the issuance of Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) of up to Rs 600 crore and Commercial Papers of up to Rs 500 crore. 

NBCC (India): The company has Received 7 work orders worth ~Rs. 145 crore across township development, Bokaro Steel Plant works, office renovation and dormitory construction.

Exide Teams Up With ExCom Germany To Boost Industrial Battery Sales In Europe: Exide Industries Limited has entered into a long-term strategic cooperation agreement with Germany's ExCom Energy Solutions GmbH. The alliance is designed to aggressively scale the sales and technical distribution of industrial battery and energy storage systems across the European Economic Area (EEA), leveraging Exide's manufacturing strength and ExCom's regional interface. Positive