India Daily Briefing

Brent crude surging above $101 is the macro villain that the RBI hawkish policy amplifies — oil pushes inflation up, inflation keeps rates high, high rates kill rate-sensitive names (Realty -3.16%, Auto -2.49%). The ninth consecutive weekly decline tells you this is not a one-session panic; it is a structural de-rating. The next circuit-breaker is Friday US CPI — a hot print confirms the global rate-hike narrative and forces more FII selling on Monday.

The Trump administration suspended Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Cognizant, and HCL from the US green card programme for H-1B workers — and the ADR market repriced immediately with Infosys and Wipro ADRs down ~3%. NSE IT held to -0.08% Thursday because domestic markets had not fully digested the ADR signal; Friday is the real test. This is not just a sentiment hit — it touches the long-term talent pipeline thesis for Indian IT, and AI disruption fears already clouding sector valuations make the combination toxic for near-term multiples.

GQG Partners offloaded 36.51 crore ITC shares in a ₹9,395-crore block deal — a forced exit after ITC 30% decline this year amid tobacco taxation fears and weak volume recovery. Fidelity and major Indian mutual funds absorbed the supply, which reads as domestic conviction that ITC FMCG franchise is a buy at these levels. For the broader market, a foreign institutional seller of this size finding domestic buyers is constructive for long-term flow dynamics — but GQG exit timing adds to the FII-fleeing narrative dominating this week.