PM Modi reaches the land of the Kiwi 🇳🇿

Soft Q1 for DMart, Quick fashion struggles, and IPOs stay hot.

🗓️ Morning, folks and Happy Mondayyy! ☀️

Last week was relatively light on market-moving data. This week is opposite.

We’ve got inflation numbers, Q1 earnings, FII flows, crude oil, monsoon updates and, of course, the US-Iran conflict all lined up. Safe to say, markets have plenty to digest over the next few days.

Let’s start with the one thing everyone’s watching.

The US-Iran conflict remains front and centre after another commercial vessel was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.

India has condemned the latest incident, calling for an immediate de-escalation after 10 of the 11 Indian crew members were rescued, while one remains missing.

Back home, all eyes are now on June’s CPI inflation data on Monday and WPI inflation on Tuesday, both of which could influence expectations around interest rates.

There is some good news though. After selling for four straight months, foreign investors have turned net buyers in July, investing over ₹15,000 crore so far.

💡 Spotlight: India, New Zealand chase ₹35,000 crore 💰

One visit, 10 agreements and a lot of new opportunities.

During PM Modi’s visit, the two countries signed 10 agreements and set a target to double bilateral trade to ₹35,000 crore by 2030. They also agreed to fast-track a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), making it easier for businesses in both countries to trade.

The two countries will work together on AI, clean energy, technology and defence, while New Zealand plans to facilitate $20 billion in private investment into India over the next 15 years.

Indian students, skilled professionals and startups are also expected to benefit through easier mobility and deeper collaboration.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big thing: DMart reports a steady quarter 💸

DMart’s parent company, Avenue Supermarts, reported a steady set of numbers, largely in line with what the street was expecting.

By the numbers:

Net profit: up 11.3% YoY at ₹860.6 cr vs ₹773 cr
Revenue: up 14.9% YoY at ₹18,794 cr vs ₹16,359 cr
EBITDA: up 15.4% YoY at ₹1,499 cr vs ₹1,299 cr
Margin: at 7.97% vs 7.94% (YoY)

What’s going on: even though sales kept growing, profits didn’t get much of a boost. That’s because expenses are rising too.

Higher employee costs, finance costs and other operating expenses continued to eat into profitability.

DMart stores that have been open for more than two years grew just 5.5% this quarter, down from 7.1% a year ago. That’s important because older stores usually generate the bulk of DMart’s profits.

The slowdown is most visible in big cities. According to the company, mature stores in large metro markets, which earn much higher revenue per square foot, saw almost no growth during the quarter.

On the other hand, stores in smaller cities continued to perform well.

The online strategy: the company has shut DMart Ready in seven cities and is now focusing only on larger towns, reducing its presence to 11 cities.

More shoppers in India's metros are turning to Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart for groceries and daily essentials instead of visiting supermarkets.

Despite the challenges, DMart opened three new stores during the quarter, taking its total store count to 503 across India.

2. Why did Ion Exchange shares surge 16%? 📈

Ion Exchange India shares jumped over 16% on Friday after the company won a ₹503 crore international order for a project in the Middle East.

Ion Exchange builds water and wastewater treatment plants and provides water purification solutions.

What’s the order about: the contract is to supply water filtration units for a Middle East project and is expected to be completed over the next 18 months.

Why it matters: the order strengthens the company’s engineering order book, which stood at ₹2,643 crore as of March 2026, and adds to a strong ₹9,509 crore bid pipeline, giving it healthy revenue visibility for the future.

Winning the contract from Hyundai Engineering & Construction also reinforces Ion Exchange India’s growing reputation in the global water treatment and filtration market.

While we are on orders 🤝,

HFCL shares rose after the company won an export order worth $52 million (around ₹496 crore).

The deets: the order is for optical fibre cable solutions that connect data centres and was awarded by a leading international customer to HFCL’s overseas subsidiary. The project is expected to be completed by December 2026.

Why it matters: the deal strengthens HFCL’s position in the fast-growing AI, data centre, and digital infrastructure market, while boosting its already record ₹13,483 crore optical fibre order book, giving the company strong long-term revenue visibility.

The BMC is India's richest municipal corporation, but most of its money doesn't come from property tax alone.

Around 30% of its revenue comes from grants by the Maharashtra government, followed by 23% from construction and building approvals. Property tax contributes 13%, while water and sewerage charges, supervision fees, and interest income add smaller shares.

Together, these revenue streams help fund Mumbai's roads, public transport, waste management, water supply and other essential civic services.

Full Story Here

4. Why 60-minute fashion is so hard 🤯

Quick commerce has made grocery shopping almost instant, but fashion is proving to be a much tougher challenge.

Startups like Knot, Slikk and Zilo are racing to deliver clothes within minutes, yet high return rates, costly inventory, changing trends and uncertain demand are making the business difficult to scale.

As larger players like Myntra also experiment with faster deliveries, the question remains: can instant fashion ever become a profitable business?

Full Story Here

5. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

📈 Anand Rathi Wealth shares gained 2% after June-quarter net profit jumped 74% YoY to ₹163 crore on healthy revenue growth.

💪🏻 Indian Bank shares went up nearly 10% after it reported a 47% jump in June-quarter net profit to ₹3,357 crore, while operating income rose 11% year-on-year.

🔺 TCS shares gained after its Q1 results met muted expectations, reassuring investors despite a challenging demand environment.

💪🏻 Wheels India shares gained nearly 5% after the company announced plans to raise up to ₹400 crore through a QIP.

What went down ⬇️

🔻Dr Reddy’s shares fell 1%, extending two-day losses beyond 9%, after quality issues delayed commercial supplies of its semaglutide product.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

🇮🇳 Boosting ties: Piyush Goyal will lead an Indian business delegation to Spain, Belgium and Finland from July 13-17 to strengthen European ties.

☀️ Solar push: the World Bank will mobilise $4.2 billion in private financing and provide an $890 million package to support India’s rooftop solar programme under the PM Surya Ghar scheme.

💰 Fund flows: Equity mutual fund inflows rose to ₹28,973 crore in June, while debt funds saw over ₹1 lakh crore in outflows amid heavy investor withdrawals.

✅ Green signal: Zetwerk received SEBI approval for its IPO, while Marri Retail, Tonbo Imaging India and Gujarat Victory Forgings also got clearance.

🚀 Power boost: State-run power producer NTPC approved a ₹20,457 crore investment for two new power units at its Lara project in Chhattisgarh.

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