A match made in fashion 🛍️

IT stocks soar, Adani Enterprises slips into loss, and anti-paper leak bill passes.

🗓️ Morning, folks! ☀️

Wednesday belonged to the bulls as the Sensex and Nifty climbed around 1% each, with gains spread across almost every sector.

Realty was the only laggard, while IT, media, metals, pharma, telecom, private banks, FMCG and consumer durables rose 1-2%.

Globally, the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at 3.50-3.75%, a move that markets had widely expected.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said the US economy was showing ‘impressive resilience’ and reiterated that the central bank remains focused on bringing inflation back to its 2% target.

💡 Spotlight: IT sector plots a dramatic respawn 📈

Indian IT stocks staged a strong comeback on Wednesday, bucking the weakness seen across Asian technology markets.

The Nifty IT index was the best-performing sector on the day.

Heavyweights TCS, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and HCLTech gained up to 1-5%, while mid-cap names saw even stronger buying.

The why: investors shifted their focus from pricey AI stocks to more stable software companies like Indian IT firms, whose revenues come largely from IT services, cloud and consulting rather than AI chips and data centres.

The rally also came as enthusiasm around the global AI trade cooled, with technology stocks in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan coming under pressure.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: Adani Ent slips into loss after US settlement 📉

Adani Enterprises reported a net loss this quarter after paying ₹2,644 crore to settle a case with US authorities.

What happened: the case pertains to the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Since the entire payment was booked in this quarter, it pulled the company into a net loss.

Without this one-time payment, Adani would still have made a profit, although it would have been lower than last year.

The company also spent much more on interest as it continued investing in airports, mining and other infrastructure projects. Higher depreciation costs also weighed on profits.

The numbers: revenue jumped 50% to ₹32,924 crore, while operating profit (EBITDA) rose 52% to a record ₹5,019 crore. Margins also improved slightly.

The biggest boost came from the copper business, where revenue surged nearly 20 times compared to last year as the company’s new smelter ramped up operations.

The airport business also performed well, helped by higher passenger traffic and the start of international operations at Navi Mumbai International Airport. Commercial mining continued to grow, while losses in that business narrowed sharply.

Big picture: over the past year, the company has commissioned major projects like the Navi Mumbai International Airport and its copper smelter, while also raising ₹15,000 crore through a QIP to fund future expansion.

While we are on earnings 💰,

Asian Paints saw improvement in demand and price hikes helped the company recover from a weak start to last year.

Higher sales, better operating performance and a jump in profit marked the company’s best June quarter in recent years.

The numbers 📊:

Net profit: ₹1,539 crore, up 40% YoY
Revenue: increased in double digits as both volumes and prices improved

Decoding the quarter: the biggest driver this quarter was the recovery in domestic decorative paints, which accounts for the bulk of Asian Paints’ business.

Demand improved across both urban and rural markets after remaining subdued for much of last year. The company also benefited from industry-wide price hikes amid higher raw material costs.

2. Snitch bets on women’s fashion 🛍️

D2C fashion brand Snitch has fully acquired women’s fashion label Berrylush, marking its entry into the women’s apparel segment as it expands beyond menswear.

Founded in 2018, Berrylush caters to Gen Z and millennial women with affordable fashion.

Why it matters: the deal gives it an immediate foothold in India’s women’s apparel market, which is projected to exceed $121 billion by 2034, growing at an annual rate of 2.71% between 2026 and 2034.

By acquiring Berrylush, Snitch skips years of brand-building and gains an existing customer base, brand recall and an established distribution network.

If it can replicate even part of its success in menswear, this could become one of the most significant acquisitions in India’s D2C fashion space.

Some numbers: Snitch closed FY26 with operating revenue of ₹900 crore, up about 80% from ₹498 crore a year earlier.

3. India’s used-car market boom 🚘

Online automotive marketplace CarTrade Tech has partnered with used-car platform Spinny to make buying and selling pre-owned cars easier across CarWale and OLX India.

What’s changing: if you’re selling your car on CarWale or OLX, you’ll now get access to Spinny’s vehicle procurement network. If you’re buying, you’ll be able to browse Spinny’s quality-checked used cars directly through these platforms.

In simple terms, CarTrade brings customers, marketplace technology and data, while Spinny brings its expertise in inspecting, buying and selling used cars.

The company also reported its Q1FY27 results, with revenue rising 16% YoY to ₹201 crore, while net profit increased 21% to ₹57 crore.

The big picture: according to Redseer, India’s used-car market is currently worth $53 billion.

The market is expected to reach $68-78 billion by FY31, making India the world’s third-largest used-car market, behind only the US and China.

Between FY21 and FY25, Maharashtra collected an average of ₹6.2 lakh crore in direct taxes, more than three times Delhi and over 40 times Uttar Pradesh. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were the only other states to cross the ₹1 lakh crore mark.

Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone in Maharashtra earns more. States with more company headquarters, financial hubs and formal jobs naturally collect more tax.

The takeaway? India’s high-paying jobs, businesses and taxable incomes are still concentrated in a handful of states.

Full Story Here

5. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

📈 L&T shares rose over 2% after brokerages stayed positive on Q1 results, supported by strong order inflows and unchanged FY27 guidance.

💨 Inox Wind gained after securing a ₹1,600 crore order from NLC India, boosting its renewable energy order book.

⚡️Tata Capital went up nearly 2% after June-quarter profit jumped 56%, while assets under management neared the ₹3 lakh crore mark.

🚀 Coforge shares ended in the green after the IT firm reported a 63% year-on-year rise in Q1 net profit and strong earnings.

⚡️PCBL Chemical surged 14% after the company reported a 65% jump in June-quarter net profit, driven by strong earnings growth.

💰 SML Mahindra hit the 20% upper circuit after Mahindra agreed to sell its truck and bus business for ₹525 crore.

What went down ⬇️

📉 VST Industries fell 4% after Q1 revenue dropped 13% and profit declined sharply, hurt by higher cigarette taxes and weak earnings.

🔻 Phoenix Mills slipped nearly 6% despite reporting 23% profit growth, as investors focused on weaker sequential earnings from the previous quarter.

👎🏻 Thangamayil Jewellery shares tumbled 10% despite Q1 profit rising 86% to ₹85 crore, as margins narrowed to 5.4%.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

📜 Paper leak: the Lok Sabha has passed the anti-paper leak bill by voice vote, proposing stricter penalties, higher fines and time-bound investigations for exam paper leak offences.

🥤 India slowdown: Coca-Cola said it lost market share in India during the second quarter, citing higher costs and packaging constraints, including a shortage of aluminium cans.

⚡ Power demand: AI data centres are expected to add 26.3 GW to India’s power demand by FY32, nearly double the government’s earlier estimate.

🏗️ Kuwait order: L&T has secured a major order worth up to ₹5,000 crore from Kuwait Oil Company, marking its fourth consecutive order win.

📈 SEBI auction: from August 3, SEBI will use an auction process to decide the closing prices of F&O stocks, aiming to make closing prices more accurate and harder to manipulate.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.