A Rs 59 crore order lands on a packaging maker the market values at Rs 140 crore

Snapshot · Commodities, Rates & Macro

The Big Picture: a quiet weekend on screens, a busy one in filings & geopolitics

• Where Friday left us. The Sensex closed at 74,294.96, essentially flat (down 0.03%), while the Nifty rose 0.33% to 23,346.40. The divergence came from weightings: IT fell about 1% (TCS was the biggest drag as the Tata Sons dispute deepened) while the broader market rallied, with the Nifty Midcap up 1.24% & the Smallcap up 1.73%. The market is currently rewarding domestic cyclicals & punishing anything exposed to US policy: visas, tariffs & now the sanctions law.
• What changed over the weekend. Three things worth knowing. First, China held its loan prime rates for a 16th month on Sunday morning, a reminder that the world's second-largest economy has little room to ease while the Fed is hiking. Second, the West Asia picture worsened & improved at once: Houthi missiles reached Riyadh's airport & the Yanbu oil port, yet the US says Strait of Hormuz flows are at a six-month high. Third, India's tax data released late Friday showed collections running comfortably, with a 53% jump in securities-transaction tax quietly confirming how much equity-market activity has grown.
• Monday's calendar is heavy. Himadri Speciality Chemical's board meets on the Birla Tyres demerger scheme, the NSE IPO closes its final day, RBI conducts its second Rs. 25,000 crore OMO sale (an open market operation, here the RBI selling bonds to drain surplus cash from banks), & the market gets its first full session to price Friday night's signing of the US sanctions law aimed at buyers of Russian energy.