March 06, 2026

LATEST NEWS

>> 1:52 PM

Liquor stocks: The Karnataka government has revamped its liquor policy deregulating pricing, halving slabs from 16 to eight, and introducing an alcohol-in-beverage (AIB) based taxation system to boost revenue. Key aspects of the new policy include: 1) Pricing Deregulation: The government no longer sets liquor prices, allowing manufacturers to determine prices based on market competition, 2) Taxation & Slabs: The number of price slabs is reduced from 16 to eight, simplifying the tax structure, 3) Operational Hours: Distilleries and breweries are permitted to operate 24/7, among others. Positive for liquor stocks such as United Spirits, United Breweries, Radico Khaitan, Allied Blenders & Distillers.

TOP NEWS

Iran- Israel conflict: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied reports that Iran had requested a ceasefire and signaled no willingness to enter negotiations, and Israel has continued conducting airstrikes on Tehran leading the crude to reach $84/bbl. The increasing crude prices is a Negative read through for fertilizers stock. Crude oil hike will impact negatively for BPCL, HPCL, Paint companies, Tyre companies, Aviation companies etc. Positive for upstream companies such as ONGC and Oil India.

Russian oil: To enable oil keep flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department has issued a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian Refiners to purchase Russian Oil. Positive read through for Reliance Industries and other refiners.

Petronet LNG: The company has received a notice of Force Majeure from its LNG supplier Qatar Energy (QE). Consequently, it has issued corresponding Force Majeure notices to its off-takers, namely GAIL (India), Indian Oil Corporation, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), under the relevant Gas Sale and Purchase Agreements. Negative

Fractal Analytics : Revenue grew strongly at Rs 854 Cr in Q3FY26, up 20.8% YoY and 7.0% QoQ, reflecting solid operational momentum. EBITDA came in at Rs 129 Cr, translating to a margin of 15.0%. This represents a meaningful improvement of 254 bps YoY and 290 bps QoQ, suggesting the business is generating strong operating leverage. EBITDA grew 45.4% y-o-y on the back of just 20.8% y-o-y revenue growth. The improvement is partly driven by the fact that Q2FY26 and Q3FY25 had high other income (Rs 21 Cr and 24 Cr respectively) which, when excluded, reveals the true underlying operational strength of the current quarter. EBIT stood at Rs 93, a margin of 10.9%, up 175 bps YoY and 295 bps QoQ. The YoY expansion here is notable given that D&A has risen from Rs 24 Cr to Rs 36 Cr, indicating increased capital deployment yet margins are still expanding, which speaks to the quality of revenue growth. PAT came in at Rs 100 Cr with an 11.7% margin, up 8.6% YoY. However, this figure is materially distorted by a one-time deferred tax credit of Rs 50 Cr.

Samhi Hotels: The company has entered into a strategic investment to acquire ~70% stake in RARE India for Rs. 47 crore in two tranches. RARE India is one of India’s earliest and largest platform of heritage hotels, retreats and experiential stays. It has a portfolio of 990 rooms across 67 hotels with a presence across 15+ states in India and international presence in Nepal and Bhutan. Samhi expects to enter into definitive agreements by May 2026, marking its entry into the experiential leisure segment through an asset-light platform investment. In parallel, Samhi and RARE have entered into an MoU for an affiliation with Marriott International under which RARE would have exclusive rights to operate its portfolio of hotels under the Outdoor Collection brand by Marriott Bonvoy across India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, with distribution across Marriott’s worldwide channels. Positive

MACRO WRAP

• The main theme overnight was risk-off. US equities fell, led by declines in chipmakers, while US Treasury yields continued to rise and the USD traded slightly firmer. The DJIA, the S&P500, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.6%, 0.6%, and 0.3%, respectively. The Euro Stoxx 50 fell 1.5%. The Dollar Index rose 0.6% while EUR-USD dipped 20 pips to 1.1610.
• The US 2Y treasury yield rose 3bp to 3.58% and the 10Y yield rose 4bp to 4.14%. So far this week, the 2Y and 10Y yields have both risen by 20bp respectively. The German 10Y jumped 9bp yesterday to 2.84%. The UK 10Y jumped 10bp to 4.54%.
• Brent crude oil prices rose 4.9% to USD85.41. Gold fell 1.1% to USD5,082. Silver fell 1.6% to USD82.24.
• Trump administration might release emergency reserves and waive fuel requirements to address rising oil prices due to the Iran conflict. Prices surged 20% as tensions halted Strait of Hormuz shipments. Trump seeks influence over Iran's leadership as Israeli airstrikes persist; Iran denies seeking a ceasefire.
• US initial jobless claims were steady at 213,000 in late February, below the expected 215,000. Continuing claims rose by 46,000 to 1,868,000, surpassing the expected 1,850,000, reflecting labor market stability. Federal employee claims decreased by 25 to 529, amid government shutdown scrutiny.
• US nonfarm productivity rose 2.8% in Q4 2025, exceeding the expected 1.9%. Output increased 2.6%, while hours worked decreased by 0.2%. Manufacturing productivity fell 1.9% as output and hours worked declined. Durable goods productivity dropped 3.0%; nondurable fell 0.2%. 2025's average productivity growth was 2.2%, down from 3.0% in 2024.
• The ECB maintained rates at its first 2026 meeting: refinancing at 2.15%, deposit at 2.0%, and lending at 2.4%. Despite predicting stable 2% inflation, uncertainties from trade and geopolitical issues remain. President Lagarde warned against reacting to single data points amid global uncertainties.
• US employers announced 48,307 job cuts, down from January's 108,435 and last year's 172,017. Tech led with 11,039 cuts, driven by AI impacts and rising costs. Education and manufacturing followed with 5,417 and 4,109 cuts. More layoffs may occur due to US involvement in Iran. Tech faced the most cuts this year at 33,330, followed by transportation (31,702) and health care/products (19,228).
• The key US data on Fri will be the Advance retail sales for Jan (Bloomberg est. -0.3% m/m from 0.0% in Dec) and more importantly, the Feb Labor Market Report by BLS (non-farm payrolls (NFP) Bloomberg est: 55,000 from 130,000 in Jan, unemployment rate est: 4.3% unchanged from Jan, wage growth est 0.3% m/m, 3.7% y/y from 0.4% m/m, 3.7% y/y in Jan). In Europe, we will get the Eurozone final 4Q GDP (Bloomberg est 0.3% q/q, 1.3% y/y same as prelim est.).

Stock Update: Cummins India Stock update – Power Biz driving demand

Rating: Buy     Reco Price: Rs 4,805       Price Target: Rs 5,550

• Cummins is seeing demand revive in the powergen segment from across the sectors such as real estate, manufacturing, hospitals, datacenters, etc.
• Demand is picking up in high-HP products as prices stabilise, with incremental demand arising from datacenters, hospitals, hotels, etc.
• Cummins is emerging as a clear leader owing to early product launches, strong customer adoption and aftermarket support.
• We expect a 18%/19% CAGR in revenue/PAT (FY25-28E). Given a rise in domestic demand on explosive growth through data center business and gradual improvement in exports business, we maintain a Buy rating with a PT of Rs 5,550..

Valuation (Consolidated)                                                           (Rs. crore)

OTHER NEWS

IRDAI Proposes New Insurance Accounting Rules: In an effort to align India’s insurance industry with international financial reporting standards, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has suggested introducing new accounting rules for insurers on April 1.

Finkurve Financial Services: The company has announced a strategic co-lending partnership with Godrej Finance (GFL), a subsidiary of Godrej Capital, to jointly offer gold loan products under the Reserve Bank of India’s co-lending framework. Positive

SBI Cards and Payment Services: The Board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 2.5 per share for the current financial year 2025–26. The record date for determining the entitlement of payment of the interim dividend is March 11. Additionally, the Board has approved the extension of the term of Ved Prakash as Executive Vice President & Head – Internal Audit for a period of four months, from March 1, 2026 to June 30, 2026.

Balmer Lawrie and company: The company has declared an interim dividend of Rs 4.25 per share for the current financial year 2025–26.

Jio Financial: The company has subscribed to and has been allotted 14.74 crore equity shares of Allianz Jio Reinsurance (AJRL), joint venture, for cash at par, aggregating Rs 147.45 crore. AJRL will utilise the amount to fund its business operations. The aggregate investment by the company in AJRL till date is Rs 150 crore.

Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services Limited has entered into a 3-year agreement with Blue Star Limited. Under this agreement, Zaggle will provide its Zaggle Save platform, which offers employee expense management and benefits solutions, to Blue Star Limited. The contract is with a domestic entity, and it is not a related party transaction. The company also confirmed that no promoter or promoter group has any interest in Blue Star Limited. Positive

Lemon Tree Hotels (LTHL): The company has signed a License Agreement - Lemon Tree Hotel, Barog, Himachal Pradesh. The property shall be managed by Carnation Hotels Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of LTHL. This hotel will feature 49 well-appointed rooms, a restaurant, banquet hall, meeting room, spa, swimming pool and fitness center. This is LTHL’s 10th property in Himachal Pradesh including four operational and six in the pipeline (including this signing). Positive.