Aureva Capital - Weekly Newsletter - 20th Sep 2026
Aureva Capital's weekly market memo for September 20, 2026. Discover key insights as global markets slip amid surging crude oil prices past $100 and simultaneous rate hikes by the Fed and BOJ.
MARKET UPDATE
Week ended 18 September 2026
Markets slip as crude surges past $100 on Middle East supply
risk; Fed and BOJ both hike rates
Here is your weekly market update — a snapshot of where
major indices, commodities and currencies stand, followed by the key
developments across the economy, markets, corporate activity and the week
ahead.
1. MARKET AT A GLANCE
Indices Performance
3M/6M/12M
change was not disclosed for domestic indices in this week's data; only the
1-week change is shown above.
Global Market Update
Global markets were mixed over the week — the
FTSE 100 and Japan's Nikkei each added about 1.6%, while the Dow Jones led
declines, down 1.5%, and Thailand's SET slipped 1.3%. Over 12 months, Korea's
KOSPI (+99.2%) and Japan's Nikkei (+43.5%) continue to stand out with
exceptionally strong returns.
Global Commodity Update
Gold, crude and copper firm on a softer dollar. Gold
was on track for a roughly 2% weekly gain even after the Fed's rate hike and
hawkish guidance for further increases, which lifted the dollar; elevated US
yields could cap further gains near term, though markets are pricing more hikes
than the Fed's own projections, leaving room for rate-expectation moderation
and dollar weakness to support the metal. Crude prices diverged through the
week — Brent slipped about 0.5% for its first weekly loss in three as easing
Saudi supply concerns offset renewed Middle East tensions, while WTI gained
around 1.2%. Copper was on track for a weekly gain as recovering Chinese demand
offset the hawkish Fed tone; with copper up roughly 16% year-to-date,
tariff-driven US import demand has tightened availability elsewhere.
Dollar firms on Fed tightening; rupee holds steady near
95.80. The US Dollar Index rose about 1% to 100.23 this week
following the Fed's rate hike and hawkish guidance, though it could remain
vulnerable to dovish repricing if energy prices and inflation ease. The rupee
was largely flat at around 95.80/US$, as corporate dollar demand and the Fed
hike were offset by RBI intervention and ample INR liquidity; elevated oil
prices and US yields remain the key risks to watch.
3. INDIAN COMPANIES UPDATE
▪ Tata Sons: Facing renewed IPO pressure as the
RBI reportedly pushes for a public listing to ensure the company adheres to
regulatory requirements.
▪ HDFC Bank: Board approved the appointment of a
new CEO and executive directors, and will seek RBI approval for the
appointments; an additional director role was also approved to strengthen
oversight.
▪ Sun Pharmaceutical: Sun Pharma and its
subsidiaries entered into a settlement in the Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing
Antitrust Litigation in the US for a confidential amount, providing a full
release of claims.
▪ HCL Technologies: Expanded its partnership
with CrowdStrike, integrating CrowdStrike Falcon Guardian into its AI security
services to strengthen protection for AI-powered systems.
▪ One97 Communications, Pine Labs, MobiKwik: In
focus after the government announced an increase in MDR for UPI transactions;
Yes Bank and Bank of Baroda also remained in focus.
▪ Titagarh Rail Systems & BHEL: Signed a
long-term maintenance agreement and formed a 50:50 joint venture to maintain 80
Vande Bharat sleeper trainsets for 35 years, part of the ₹24,000 crore Indian
Railways order.
▪ Adani Enterprises: Secured a Letter of Award
from National Highways Logistics Management to build a 12.9 km ropeway from
Sonprayag to Kedarnath, cutting travel time from nine hours to 36 minutes.
▪ Groww (Billionbrains Garage Ventures): Peak XV
Partners and Sequoia Capital are likely to sell up to 10.02 crore equity shares
(1.6% of equity) via a block deal worth about ₹1,918.3 crore.
▪ Infosys: Announced the expansion of its Indore
Development Center to strengthen its presence in Central India, with enhanced
capabilities in AI, cloud, cybersecurity and digital services.
▪ Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders: Signed an MoU with
National Shipbuilding & Heavy Industries Park Maharashtra to participate as
the Anchor Shipyard in the proposed Greenfield Shipbuilding Industrial Cluster
at Dighi.
▪ Fortis Healthcare: Signed definitive
agreements with Seth Sunder Lal Jain Charitable Eye Hospital to provide
healthcare services at a 400+ bed super-specialty hospital in Ashok Vihar, New
Delhi.
▪ ITC: Increased prices of two cigarette brands
— Classic Connect (pack of 20) to ₹428 from ₹390, and Gold Flake Superstar
(pack of 10) to ₹89 from ₹79.
▪ InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo): Revised charges
for excess baggage, infant tickets, unaccompanied-minor arrangements and its
Fast Forward priority service, with rates raised across the board.
▪ Bharat Forge: Launched a qualified
institutional placement (QIP) with a floor price of ₹1,947.70 per share; the
issue size may be around ₹2,000 crore, with a possible discount of up to 5%.
▪ Wipro: Announced the launch of Wipro STO360,
developed in collaboration with Aramco and SAP, to help asset-intensive
organisations manage shutdown, turnaround and outage activities.
4. GLOBAL COMPANIES UPDATE
Apple's iPhone Duo launch adds $164bn in a single
session. Apple launched its first folding phone, the iPhone Duo,
priced from ₹2,99,900 to ₹4,49,900 in India. Shares rose about 3.6% the next
session, adding roughly $164 billion in market value and taking the company's
worth to about $4.77 trillion — a striking figure against expected shipments of
around 6 million units this year. Korean component makers, however, did not
celebrate: suppliers were reportedly asked for prices around 30% below existing
levels, and on memory chips — where Samsung, SK hynix and Micron are the only
major suppliers — Apple's usual pricing leverage appears to be weakening as
AI-related demand lifts chipmakers' bargaining power.
OpenAI's "AGI era" claim draws scrutiny. OpenAI
released its GPT-6 Astra model, with leadership suggesting the announcement
could mark the arrival of artificial general intelligence. Independent testing
body ARC Prize found a large gap between the model's score under OpenAI's own
test setup (99.9%) and under a neutral, standardised setup (62.7%) on the same
benchmark — and was careful to state it was not claiming the model constitutes
AGI. The episode has renewed debate over how AI capability claims should be
measured and verified.
India advances digital rupee with first tokenised bond
settlement. At the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, the finance
minister urged the RBI to sharpen and expand its digital rupee pilots as
tokenisation gathers pace globally. Days earlier, REC Limited completed India's
first tokenised corporate bond issue within the regulator's testing sandbox,
raising ₹500 crore with payment, allotment and listing all settling on the same
day via the digital rupee. Even so, digital rupee circulation fell about 24%
over the past year even as usage pilots expanded — underscoring that its early
traction looks to be institutional rather than retail.
5. QUARTERLY RESULTS FOR NEXT WEEK
With the
September-quarter results season yet to get underway in earnest, corporate
activity next week is expected to be dominated by ongoing capital-market
transactions and board actions rather than scheduled earnings. Several
companies have board meetings lined up in the coming week around fund-raising,
preferential allotments and NCD issuances, while open offers for a number of
small and mid-cap names remain in progress through late September and October.
On the macro
front, market participants will track India's August IIP print, US weekly
jobless claims and current account data, and September flash PMI readings from
India and the US, all of which will help set the tone heading into the
festive-season trading period.
6. ECONOMIC CALENDAR FOR NEXT WEEK
For information and education only; not
investment, tax, or legal advice or an offer to buy or sell any security.
Mutual fund and securities investments are subject to market risks; past
performance does not guarantee future results.