July 14, 2026

TOP NEWS

War update: The US has launched more strikes against Iran at President Donald Trump’s direction in the port city of Bandar Abbas and the islands of Kish, Qeshm and Abu Musa. Iran’s military said it struck and disabled two rogue supertankers. US Central Command also said it will resume its naval blockade of ships going to and from Iranian ports. Global oil prices surged more than 9% for $85/ barrel on the news. Gift nifty indicates a negative start for the day. Asian markets also opened weak based on the reason of AI trade deflation. Negative for HPCL

PDS: Announced a landmark multi-year sourcing partnership with a leading French-headquartered global supermarket. The agreement mandates PDS to manage over $250 million in annual apparel sourcing, significantly boosting its global fashion infrastructure footprint. Transition from transactional sourcing to a structured multi-year managed service model. Deepens footprint in the French market, a major hub for European retail.

BEL: Receives fresh orders worth Rs 572 crore. Major orders include communication equipment, avionics and encryptors. The contracts also cover tank sub-systems, EVMs, batteries, components, upgrades, spares and services.

Welspun corp: Officially signed a definitive agreement for the development of a Rs 7,300 crore highway project in Maharashtra. This 6-lane partially elevated corridor connecting Pune and Shirur marks a significant expansion of the company's transportation portfolio, transitioning it from a water-heavy order book back to a major road infrastructure player. Current order book at Rs 18,755 crore. At a market capitalization of approximately Rs 8,500 crore, securing a single order of Rs 7,300 crore is transformative. While the company has been focused on water projects through the Jal Jeevan Mission, this move back into roads—specifically the DBFOT-Toll model—indicates a management shift toward higher-margin, long-gestation assets

ICICI Pru AMC: Profit rises 23% to Rs 965 crore in June quarter: ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company on Monday reported a 23 percent rise in profit after tax (PAT) to Rs 965 crore during the June quarter.  Revenue from operations during the quarter rose 17.5 percent to Rs 1,564 crore compared with Rs 1,331 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in an exchange filing. The company paid a final dividend of Rs 12.4 per equity share for the year ended March 31, 2026 during the latest April-June quarter. ICICI Prudential AMC's mutual fund quarterly average assets under management (QAAUM) stood at ₹11.17 lakh crore in Q1FY27, compared with ₹9.44 lakh crore a year ago. The company’s mutual fund market share stood at 13.4% as of June 30, 2026.

Biocon : Mylan plans to sell its entire 5.64% stake at the floor price at Rs 378.5 per share, which is at an 8% discount to the previous day’s close.  Negative  

Asian Paints raises prices by 12% due to raw material costs: Asian Paints has raised prices by approximately 12% to address rising raw material costs linked to the Middle East conflict, the company said on Monday. The increase represents the steepest hike in India’s paint industry. The country’s largest paint-maker by market share said the situation in West Asia remains uncertain, and input costs could take time to stabilize. Other Indian paint manufacturers have also raised prices this year. Berger Paints India increased its prices between 1% and 2%, while Kansai Nerolac Paints raised prices by 2-3% and JSW Dulux by 10%. Indian paint makers have adjusted prices to offset higher crude-linked raw material costs. Volatility in petrochemical supplies due to tensions in the Middle East has affected production and margins

MACRO WRAP

• IndiaInc: The headline June CPI inflation at 4.38%, breached the central bank's target for the first time in 17 months, led by higher fuel and food costs, which rose amid Iran war-driven supply disruptions and a delay in seasonal rains setting ‌the stage for interest rate hikes in an economy at risk from a prolonged Middle East conflict. transport inflation rose to 4.31% in June, quicker than the 1.75% rise in the previous month.  food inflation accelerated to 5.32% in June from 4.78% in May, on the back of weak monsoon showers. Sentimentally negative for India rupee
• China's June exports in USD terms rose 27.0% YoY, versus a forecast of 18.2% and May's 19.4%. its June imports in US dollar terms rose 36.0% YoY, versus 24.0% expected and 27.4% in May. Resulting in widening of trade surplus in USD terms to$125.62 bln, versus $120.6 bln expected and $105.43 bln previously. Sentimentally positive for Industrial commodities
• Trump reinstated the US blockade of Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz and demanded a 20% reimbursement on all cargo passing through. US Central Command is reportedly planning multiple days of strikes on Iran, hurting hopes for a quick shipping recovery and reviving global inflation fears. Federal Reserve Governor Chris Waller signalled that the FOMC may need to consider tightening monetary policy in the near term if this week's core inflation data disappoints. The US 2Y yield rose 7bp to 4.28% and the 10Y rose 6bp to 4.62%.
• UK like-for-like retail sales rose 1.7% y/y in June 2026, below the 2.9% forecast and down from 3.4% in May, the weakest since February. World Cup matches and a heatwave lifted clothing, cooling products, food, drink, and pubs, while non-food sales grew 1.2% on strong online demand. Overall spending rose 1.9%, with essentials up 2.2% and travel steady, but the BRC warned that politics and the Iran conflict may weigh on future sales.
• Global smartphone shipments fell 11% in Q2, reaching their lowest level for the period since 2013. A memory chip shortage has pushed up phone prices and weakened demand, hitting Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo hardest. Samsung regained the top position, while Apple reached a record 20% global market share. Negative for long term silver demand.
• The Fed Funds Futures are pricing in a total hike of 43bp for this year and a total rate hike of 45bp by October 2027. The DJIA, the S&P500, and Nasdaq Composite declined 0.3%, 0.8%, and 1.6% respectively. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 4.8%.
• The Eurostoxx 50 was little changed, having closed before the Trump's Hormuz announcement hit markets. The Dollar Index gained 0.3% to 101.24. EUR-USD fell 40 pips to 1.1380.
• The US 2Y yield rose 7bp to 4.28% and the 10Y rose 6bp to 4.62%. The German 10Y yield rose 4bp to 3.11%. The UK 10Y yield gained 10bp to 4.97%. Brent crude surged 9.6% to USD83.30, as the re-imposition of the blockade dashed hopes for a near-term recovery in Hormuz shipping flows. WTI jumped 9.4% to USD78.14. Gold fell 2.9% to USD4,002.
• Data watch: Geopolitical developments in the Middle East and movements in oil prices are likely to remain key drivers of market sentiment, particularly if tensions around the Strait of Hormuz escalate further. Apart from the CPI report, the US economic docket picks up tonight with the release of the NFIB small business optimism index for Jun and the weekly ADP employment report.

INVESTMENT Calls

HCL Tech Q1FY27 Consolidated Results – Revenue Meets Expectations; Adjusted PAT Exceeds Estimates Driven by Lower Depreciation

• HCL Tech’s Q1FY27 revenue came in at $ 3,650 million, down 0.5% q-o-q (+2.6% y-o-y) in CC. Advanced AI revenue for the quarter stood at $172 million, marking 10.3% q-o-q and 62.1% y-o-y growth. HCL Tech is retaining its FY27 guidance for organic revenue growth at 1% to 4% and operating margins at 17.5% to 18.5%, excluding the impact of acquisitions.
• Services revenue declined 0.7% q-o-q (+3.5% y-o-y) in CC while IT and Business Services grew flat q-o-q (up 4.2% y-o-y) in CC. HCL Software business grew 2.2% q-o-q (down 5.3% y-o-y) in CC. Engineering and R&D Services grew 0.3% y-o-y and declined 3.7% q-o-q. HCL Software annual recurring revenue is now at $1.063 billion, up 2.0% y-o-y.
• HCLT deal wins stood at $2.4 billion, up 24.3% q-o-q (32.8% y-o-y), excluding the $1.14 billion mega deal signed by the company in the first week of Q2FY27. 
• HCLTech is investing up to ₹3,500 crore to build AI data centers in India, targeting a long-term capacity of 50 MW. The company aims to offer a full-stack AI platform spanning AI infrastructure, GPU compute, sovereign AI, cloud operations, and managed services. T
• he investment is driven by rising AI demand, data localization requirements, and India's rapidly growing AI data center market. HCLTech expects the initiative to strengthen its AI services portfolio and create a new growth engine in the AI ecosystem

Actuals vs Estimates

Stock Update: L&T Finance – Q1FY27 , Stellar Q1; long-term growth path intact

Rating: Buy     Reco Price: Rs 324     Price Target: Rs 380

·         PAT stood at Rs. 916 crore, beating estimates by 6.4%, growing by 30.7% y-o-y and 13.2% q-o-q. Overall, operational momentum stays strong.

·         GNPA fell 45 bps y-o-y and 2 bps to 2.86%, helping to reduce credit costs by 9 bps y-o-y and 8 bps q-o-q to 2.38% of AUM.

·         Disbursements spiked 36.1% y-o-y to Rs. 23,852 crore, pushing consolidated AUM up 26.7% y-o-y to Rs. 129,634 crore, driven by retail, consumer, LAP, and microfinance segments.

·         A gradual reduction in credit costs and stable margins is expected to deliver a robust 29% PAT CAGR over FY26–28E, driving RoA/RoE to 2.7%/15.1% by FY28E. The stock trades at 2.2x FY28 BV and we maintain a Buy rating with a revised price target of Rs. 380, valuing the stock at 2.5x FY28 BV.

Valuation

Results Table Consolidated Q1FY2027

Source: Mirae Asset Sharekhan Research

Asset Quality

Source: Mirae Asset Sharekhan Research

Key Metrics

Source: Mirae Asset Sharekhan Research

OTHER NEWS

Grasim’s subsidiary Aditya Birla Renewables will acquire Sprng Energy from Shell for an enterprise value of Rs. 17,200 crore (~US$1.8 billion). The deal adds a ~5 GWp renewable energy portfolio, increasing the group’s combined capacity to around 9.3 GWp, subject to regulatory approvals and expected to close by December 2026.