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Nifty ends above 24,550; media shares in demand

Nifty ends above 24,550; media shares in demand

The domestic equity benchmarks ended with small gains today, snapping a two-day losing streak, despite investor concerns over the U.S. imposing an additional 25% tariff on Indian exports. The Nifty settled above the 24,550 mark. Media, IT and pharma shares advanced, while oil & gas and realty shares declined.
As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 79.27 points or 0.10% to 80,623.26. The Nifty 50 index rose 21.95 points or 0.09% to 24,596.15.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 30% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.18%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,869 shares rose and 2,168 shares fell. A total of 154 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, dropped 2.27% to 11.69.
Trump's Tariff:
United States President Donald Trump announced an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods on August 6. This effectively doubles the total import duties to 50%. The decision responds to Indias ongoing purchase of Russian oil, which the U.S. believes undermines its sanctions. The new tariffs will come into effect on August 27.
The move is expected to severely impact key Indian export sectors, including leather, chemicals, footwear, gems and jewellery, textiles, and shrimp.
IPO Update:
The initial public offer (IPO) of Highway Infrastructure received bids for 4,63,15,27,226 shares as against 1,60,43,046 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:35 IST on Wednesday (6 August 2025). The issue was subscribed 288.69 times.
The initial public offer (IPO) of All Time Plastics received bids for 30,36,528 shares as against 1,05,46,297 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:35 IST on Thursday (7 August 2025). The issue was subscribed 0.29 times.
The initial public offer (IPO) of JSW Cement received bids for 4,60,50,960 shares as against 18,12,94,964 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:37 IST on Wednesday (6 August 2025). The issue was subscribed 0.25 times.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Media index rose 0.99% to 1,636.80. The index shed 0.05% in the past two trading sessions.
PVR Inox (up 2.99%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (up 1.99%), Nazara Technologies (up 1.07%), Dish TV India (up 0.97%) and Sun TV Network (up 0.46%), D B Corp (up 0.33%) advanced.
On the other hand, Network 18 Media & Investments (down 1.9%), Tips Music (down 1.55%) and Hathway Cable & Datacom (down 1.04%) edged lower.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Hero Motocorp advanced 4.37% after the companys standalone net profit rose 0.3% to Rs 1,125.70 crore despite a 5.6% decline in revenue from operations to Rs 9,578.86 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q1 FY25.
Sula Vineyards declined 3.84% after the companys consolidated net profit tumbled 86.7% to Rs 1.94 crore on a 9.3% fall in revenue from operations (excluding net excise duty) to Rs 109.64 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q1 FY25.
Trent shed 0.85%. The company reported a 9.45% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 429.69 crore in Q1 FY26 as against Rs 392.57 crore posted in Q1 FY25. Revenue from operations jumped 18.98% YoY to Rs 4,883.48 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2025.
Jindal Stainless declined 1.53%. The company has reported an 11% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 715 crore on an 8% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 10,207 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q1 FY25.
Rain Industries surged 6.41% after the company reported a net profit of Rs 60.70 crore in Q2 FY25, compared to a loss of Rs 77.88 crore in Q2 FY24. Revenue from operations rose 7.5% to Rs 4,401.38 crore from Rs 4,094.15 crore a year earlier.
Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) tanked 4.76% after the companys consolidated net loss widened to Rs 445.50 crore in Q1 FY26 compared with a net loss of Rs 211.40 crore in Q1 FY25. Revenue from operations saw a marginal year-on-year (YoY) increase of 0.03%, reaching Rs 5,486.91 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2025.
IRCON International declined 1.89% after the companys consolidated net profit dropped 26.75% to Rs 164.10 crore in Q1 FY26, compared to Rs 224.03 crore in Q1 FY25. Revenue from operations declined 21.89% to Rs 1,786.28 crore during the quarter, compared to Rs 2,287.13 crore in the same quarter last year.
VIP Industries rose 1.66%. The firm reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 13.10 crore in Q1 FY26 compared with a net profit of Rs 4.04 crore in Q1 FY25. Revenue from operations declined 12.12% year on year (YoY) to Rs 561.43 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2025.
Fortis Healthcare jumped 2.83% after the company reported a 56.83% surge in consolidated net profit to Rs 260.28 crore in Q1 FY26, compared to Rs 165.96 crore in Q1 FY25. Revenue from operations rose 16.55% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 2,166.72 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2025.
RateGain Travel Technologies added 3.04% after the companys consolidated net profit jumped 3% to Rs 46.93 crore on a 4.96% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 272.91 crore in Q1 FY26 over Q1 FY25.
Global Markets:
Most European markets traded higher on Thursday as investors turned their focus to the upcoming Bank of England monetary policy meeting.
Most Asian indices ended higher even as U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to impose a 100% tariff on imports of semiconductors and chips.
However, the companies that are building in the United States would be exempted from the said tariff.
Meanwhile, South Korea posted a record-high current account surplus in June on strong demand for technology exports, central bank data showed on Thursday.
The country's current account stood at a surplus of $14.27 billion, up from $10.14 billion in May. It was reportedly the biggest monthly surplus in the data series dating back to January 1980.
South Korea's trade deal with the U.S. will take a huge burden off monetary policymakers at their upcoming meeting later this month, the country's central bank governor reportedly said on Thursday at his first meeting with the newly appointed finance minister.
The Bank of Korea kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.50% last month, but a majority of board members signaled another rate cut in the next three months and warned of "significant" economic uncertainty from the U.S. tariffs. The central bank next meets on August 28.
All three major equity averages on Wall Street finished with gains on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.73% to finish at 6,345.06, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.21%, closing at 21,169.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose 81.38 points, or 0.18%, to end the day at 44,193.12.
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Apple ramps up India output as Foxconn begins iPhone 17 production at Bengaluru plant
Apple ramps up India output as Foxconn begins iPhone 17 production at Bengaluru plant

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  • Hans India

Apple ramps up India output as Foxconn begins iPhone 17 production at Bengaluru plant

Taiwanese electronics major Foxconn and Apple's key supplier has started production of iPhone 17 at its new Bengaluru factory This marks a significant milestone for the facility, which is Foxconn's second-largest iPhone manufacturing unit outside China and has been set up at an investment of around $2.8 billion (about Rs 25,000 crore). The Bengaluru unit, located in Devanahalli, is now operational alongside Foxconn's Chennai plant, where iPhone 17 production is also underway, as per sources close to the development. This follows the local production of iPhone 16 series last year around the same time-frame, ahead of its global and India launch. However, Apple or Foxconn were yet to officially comment on the development. The new facility had faced a brief setback earlier this year after several Chinese engineers left abruptly, but Foxconn has since managed to bring in experts from Taiwan and other locations to bridge the gap. Apple is betting big on India as a manufacturing hub. The company is expected to scale up iPhone production to 60 million units this year, compared to 35–40 million units in 2024–25. In the year ended March 31, 2025, Apple assembled 60 per cent more iPhones in India, worth an estimated $22 billion. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently underlined India's growing importance in the company's global supply chain. After announcing financial results on July 31, he revealed that a majority of iPhones sold in the US in June 2025 were made in India. During the second-quarter earnings call, Cook also confirmed that all iPhones sold in the US during the June quarter were shipped from India. An analysis by S&P Global shows that iPhone sales in the US touched 75.9 million units in 2024. With March 2025 exports from India at 3.1 million units, Apple will need to double shipments through expanded capacity or divert more devices meant for the domestic market to meet this demand. Meanwhile, Apple's presence in India's smartphone market continues to grow. Supplies rose 21.5 per cent annually to 5.9 million units in the first half of 2025, with the iPhone 16 emerging as the most shipped model. In the June quarter alone, Apple's shipments in India rose nearly 20 per cent year-on-year (YoY), giving it a 7.5 per cent market share. The broader Indian smartphone market, however, remained dominated by Chinese brands, with Vivo leading at 19 per cent share during the same quarter, according to IDC. The launch of the Bengaluru factory is seen as a major step in Apple's strategy to diversify its production base away from China and strengthen India's role as a global manufacturing hub.

Modi's Three Sudarshan Chakras: From Mythic Precision to Military Confusion
Modi's Three Sudarshan Chakras: From Mythic Precision to Military Confusion

The Wire

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Modi's Three Sudarshan Chakras: From Mythic Precision to Military Confusion

New Delhi: The BJP-led government penchant – and the Indian military brass's support – for christening platforms, projects, formations and doctrines with Hindu mythological names intended to evoke grandeur and a continuing sense of epic valour, at times also tend to breed confusion. The latest such example is the repeated use of 'Sudarshan Chakra,' Lord Vishnu's celestial discus – meant to symbolise speed, precision, and the destruction of evil – which has blurred the line between an imported air-defence system and a planned indigenous blanket shield against aerial threats, slated for 2035. The first Sudarshan Chakra As we know, the 'Sudarshan Chakra' already refers to the five Russian S-400 'Triumf' air-defence systems India acquired in October 2018 for an estimated $5.43 billion. Three were commissioned from 2021 onwards, with the remaining two slated for delivery next year. This Sudarshan Chakra was actively deployed during Operation Sindoor across northern and western India as part of the air-defence grid, successfully intercepting incoming threats and reportedly downing five Pakistan Air Force fighters. along with a large military surveillance platform at ranges of around 300 km inside neighbouring enemy territory. Announcing this development on August 9, more than three months US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire which 'paused' Operation Sindoor, Air Chief Marshal A. P. Singh described it as the longest recorded surface-to-air kill. Other officials praised the S-400 for living up to its 'Sudarshan Chakra' name, citing its unerring precision, formidable speed, and ability to strike multiple targets, much like Vishnu's divine discus, which, the legend goes, never missed and always returned unerringly to its master. After Operation Sindoor, the S-400 has, for many in government and the military, transcended mere technology to acquire the near-mythical aura of an ancient weapon reborn in the 21st century, enhanced with technical wizardry. It is celebrated not simply as a missile system but as an 'implacable shield,' evoking the divine armour that repelled evil and protected 'Bharat'. Now, take two Meanwhile, the latest 'Sudarshan Chakra' was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address as an indigenously developed, multi-layered security shield, slated for completion by 2035, to protect strategic, civilian, and religious sites nationwide. Drawing liberally from mythology, he added that this conceptual Sudarshan Chakra would not only counter terrorist attacks but also strike back at the perpetrators. Official sources later elaborated that the PM's Mission Sudarshan Chakra will integrate land-, sea-, and space-based defences, encompassing the S-400 Sudarshan Chakra, the ongoing Ballistic Missile Defence network, and the secretive Project Kusha, also known as the Extended Range Air Defence System (ERADS). The Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO's) top secret Project Kusha, named after one of Lord Rama's twin sons, Kusha, echoes his mythological role as a guardian. The top-secret Kusha is being designed as a protective shield to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft, incoming cruise and potentially even ballistic missiles. The ambitious Sudarshan Chakra project, akin to Israel's and the US's multi-tiered 'Iron' and 'Golden Dome' space-to-ground defence grids, is also expected to integrate numerous other local air-defence assets, including the upgraded Akash Prime system, all of which performed efficiently during Op Sindoor. A cross-section of veterans and analysts said that this dual use of the 'Sudarshan Chakra' moniker not only creates a 'semantic muddle' but also blurs operational understanding, making it unclear whether one means the existing S-400 missile system or the proposed indigenous, broader air-defence network. 'The overlap confuses soldiers and the public alike,' said a senior Indian Air Force (IAF) veteran. It dilutes clarity between a deployed capability and an aspirational project expected to mature over the next decade, he said, declining to be named. Other military veterans, speaking anonymously, urged the defence establishment to adopt a 'disciplined nomenclature' regimen. One suggested officially distinguishing the two Sudarshan Chakra systems as the S-400 Sudarshan Chakra and the Operation Sudarshan Shield to avoid confusion. Actually, there are three The confusion, however, deepens: 'Sudarshan Chakra' is not only the name of a Russian missile system and a proposed indigenous air-defence network, but also the designation of the Indian Army's XXI Corps, headquartered at Bhopal. The youngest of the Army's three Strike Corps, that constitute its offensive punch into enemy territory, particularly along the western front against Pakistan, XXI corps embodies mobility and concentrated firepower – of armoured divisions, mechanised infantry and artillery. Yet, despite its formidable structure and mythic name, it has largely remained a deterrent formation, rehearsing operational plans rather than unleashing its full might—an ever-ready sword still sheathed in Sudarshan Chakra symbolism. Taking all this into account, the irony in naming a weapon system, the proposed anti-missile shield, and an Army corps 'Sudarshan Chakra' is unmistakable: a weapon once synonymous with divine precision now exists in triplicate across India's military lexicon. One Sudarshan Chakra is a tried and tested Russian air-defence system, another largely exists as PowerPoint slides on missile defence, and the third is an Army corps that has yet to see battle. In many ways, the saga of the three Sudarshan Chakras not only highlights India's reverence for Hindu mythology, but also the defence establishment's willingness to embrace politically-driven, muddled nomenclature. What mythologically symbolised clarity and precision has, in India's military, become an example of branding gone astray – spawning confusion through triplication, much like a typical government directive or a railway reservation slip in times gone by. Ultimately, it's also obvious that without disciplined nomenclature, even the most exalted symbols of India's mythic or actual past can lose their clarity, creating confusion where accuracy is most needed

Putin Returns to Moscow With Air of Triumph After Summit
Putin Returns to Moscow With Air of Triumph After Summit

Hindustan Times

time6 minutes ago

  • Hindustan Times

Putin Returns to Moscow With Air of Triumph After Summit

ANCHORAGE, Alaska—Russian President Vladimir Putin couldn't have scripted his first visit to the U.S. since 2015 much better. The Russian leader strutted along a red carpet at a U.S. air base and posed smiling with President Trump, who had weeks earlier been expressing mounting frustration with him and threatening to hit Russia and its trading partners with sanctions. He met with Trump under a sign that read 'pursuing peace.' When they emerged 3½ hours later, the leaders said they hadn't reached a deal. Instead, Putin used the stage to press his demands on Ukraine. Neither Trump nor Putin, who is facing an international arrest warrant for war crimes, took questions from the U.S. press. Putin, by clinching a long-awaited summit with Trump, scored a win. The Kremlin leader, has staked his legacy on dismantling the post-Cold War world order and resurrecting Russia's great-power status to put it on par with the U.S. 'Putin achieved exactly what he wanted: He simultaneously preserved his relationship with Trump, avoided additional sanctions, and received the blessing to continue his war,' said Andrey Kolesnikov, a Moscow-based political analyst and a columnist at New Times, an independent Russian-language magazine. The summit gave Putin a platform to turn longstanding narratives about the Ukraine war on their head, emphasizing that the U.S. and Russia are neighbors separated at their closest point by just over 2 miles of water. Meanwhile, he has tried to paint Europe and Ukraine as the two biggest obstacles to peace, while stepping up recent attacks on Ukrainian cities. Putin and Trump emerged from talks Friday without having a deal. Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in the days before the summit to understand better their red lines in negotiations with Russia. But the images of the two leaders in Alaska were certainly unsettling on the continent. Trump rolled out a red carpet for Putin on the taxiway of the U.S. air base, applauding as the Kremlin leader approached. After a firm handshake, Trump invited him to ride in his armored limousine to the meeting. 'Putin loves trolling and rubbing Europeans' noses in the fact that there is a strong relationship with Trump,' said Andrew Weiss, who worked on Russian affairs in George H.W. Bush's and Bill Clinton's administrations. Hours after arriving back in Moscow, Putin gathered his top officials inside the Kremlin to tell them the summit had been a resounding success. 'We have not had direct negotiations of this kind at this level for a long time,' he said to an array of officials, including the defense minister, the chief of staff and intelligence chiefs. 'I repeat once again: We had the opportunity to calmly and in detail once again explain our position.' To be sure, Trump said in the days before the summit that he didn't expect any major breakthroughs and said he hoped he could clinch a cease-fire and lay the foundation for a lasting peace process. But in the hours after the summit, previous calls for an immediate cease-fire evaporated. Meanwhile, Trump's own language mirrored that of the Russian side, calling in a post on Truth Social for an overarching peace agreement as opposed to a halt to fighting first. That effectively gives Putin the green light to continue the fighting to capture more land in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops are making gains. 'Tonight, the president of our great country showed Trump, the president of another great country, that Russia is a party to be reckoned with,' said Alexander Dugin, a far-right politician and a pro-Putin ideologue. 'Therefore, we cannot be forced to do things that anyone wants, be it the West or Trump.' Putin, who has called the fall of the Soviet Union a geopolitical catastrophe, has been working to resurrect slowly Moscow's sphere of influence in parts of the territory that once encompassed the Soviet Union. Ukraine occupies a special place in Russian history. It is where the founding dynasty of the Russian Empire was formed. He is unlikely to sacrifice his ambition to reclaim Ukraine as a part of Russia to improve relations with Washington. But it would be a coup for the Russian leader if he could accomplish both after years of Western isolation sparked by his invasion. 'Both sides want normalization, which has a very strong business aspect that could unlock some money flows for both countries,' said Elina Ribakova, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Putin seemed to signal as much on Friday when he signed a decree that could offer Exxon Mobil re-entry into the Russian market through a stake in the potentially lucrative Sakhalin-1 oil field, which it pulled out of after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Whether the takeaways from the summit can translate into a sustainable peace process is hard to determine. In a call from Air Force One on his way home from the summit, Trump relayed to the Europeans the outcome of the meeting and that Putin wanted to keep fighting, according to European officials. Trump plans to meet Monday with Zelensky, who wasn't invited to Friday's summit. Analysts said expectations are low that a road to peace can be found in a war that Russia is slowly winning. 'The bubble of inflated expectations has burst, and the process itself has turned into 'Waiting for Godot,'' said Kolesnikov, referring to a play about endless waiting. Write to Thomas Grove at

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