| Markets |
Sensex at 77,841.72; Nifty at 24,342.90 (around 1 pm) |
IPOs for Horizon Industrial Parks & Lalithaa Jewellery opened for subscription; Dhoot Transmission & Molbio Diagnostics listed with estimated grey market premia of ~30% and ~14%. |
| Commodities |
Brent Crude at ~$88.81/barrel (Oct contract) |
Shipping slowed via Strait of Hormuz due to Middle East tensions; freight and war-risk insurance premiums are rising faster than base commodity costs. |
| Trade |
July merchandise exports hit $44.24 bn (Record High) |
Overall exports reached $80.14 bn against imports of $95.16 bn; strong services surplus absorbed nearly half of the six-month high merchandise deficit. |
| Inflation |
WPI at 9.78%; CPI at 4.45% (July) |
WPI fuel & power inflation eased to 20.05% (from 27.41%); high input energy costs are currently being absorbed by producers before reaching retail consumers. |
| GIFT City |
Banking assets crossed $106.7 bn (Feb 2026) |
Assets expanded 7x from $14 bn in Sept 2020 (recent metrics >$111 bn); 20 out of 37 operating banks are foreign entities, establishing true international scale. |
| Payments |
23.66 bn UPI transactions worth ₹29.88 lakh crore |
Averaged 763 million transactions and ₹96,383 crore daily in July; transaction volume (+22% YoY) is growing faster than total value (+19% YoY), pointing to smaller ticket sizes. |
| Autos |
Passenger vehicle retail crossed 4 lakh units |
First time crossing 4 lakh PVs in a single month amid total retail sales of 25.91 lakh units; factory dispatches rose 34.3% (4,57,810 units) along with 19.23 lakh two-wheelers. |
| Semiconductors |
12 units approved; 3 currently operational |
Over ₹1.64 lakh crore committed under the India Semiconductor Mission; Phase 2 framework cleared on July 15, with first silicon from Dholera fab targeted for Dec 2026. |
| Defence |
Production hit ₹1.78 lakh crore in 2025–26 |
Exports reached ₹38,424 crore across 80+ nations; PSUs accounted for 76% of total production and saw export growth jump 151% compared to 14% for private firms. |
| Bilateral Trade |
India-Africa trade reached $93.69 bn in 2025–26 |
Two-way trade grew over 14% (Exports: $45.42 bn, Imports: $48.27 bn); target is to rebalance product composition while doubling total volume by 2030. |
| Energy |
14,894.95 MW rooftop capacity under PM Surya Ghar |
4.19 million installations completed out of 7.77 million applications (54% conversion rate); ₹28,390.50 crore released in central financial assistance as of August 5. |
| Policy Trend |
Exports up 13.16% ($316.42 bn) across Apr–Jul |
Imports grew 17.28% ($365.85 bn) over the same four-month period; import growth outpacing exports by 4 percentage points sets the trend for the full-year trade deficit. |
