Daily Brief — Monday, 26 October 2026

📈 Indian equities snap four-session losing streak (confirmed)

The Sensex gained 482.92 points, or 0.66%, to 73,606.75, while the Nifty 50 rose 153.20 points, or 0.68%, to 22,753.20 on Monday, 26 October.

The rebound came after four consecutive sessions of losses. Buying interest was visible across metals, power, healthcare and selected large-cap stocks. Brent crude remained elevated at about $115.29 a barrel during the session.

Friday's institutional flow data showed foreign institutional investors bought about ₹887.65 crore of Indian equities, while domestic institutional investors bought about ₹3,235.36 crore.

Why it matters: The recovery reduced some of the immediate market pressure, but crude prices and global monetary-policy decisions remain important influences on Indian markets.

Sources: Financial Express

🛢️ Crude remains a major Indian macro risk (confirmed)

Brent crude traded around $115 per barrel on Monday despite easing from earlier highs as diplomatic efforts around the Middle East continued.

India is particularly sensitive to sustained crude-price changes because of its large dependence on imported energy.

Why it matters: A prolonged oil-price shock can affect India's import bill, inflation, corporate costs and the rupee.

Sources: Financial Express, Reuters Global Markets

🤖 Verizon signs $2 billion-plus AI infrastructure deal with AWS (announced)

Verizon announced an AI infrastructure agreement worth more than $2 billion with Amazon Web Services on 26 October.

The telecom company also raised its annual forecast for wireless subscriber additions after reporting 406,000 net additions of monthly-bill-paying wireless customers in the third quarter, nearly twice the analyst expectation cited by Reuters.

Why it matters: AI infrastructure spending is increasingly spreading beyond specialist technology companies into telecommunications and other large enterprises.

Sources: Reuters

📉 AI-related market concerns remain elevated (reported)

Goldman Sachs data reviewed by Reuters showed trend-following hedge funds suffered their worst weekly performance in two years last week.

The Nasdaq 100 fell about 5.5% over the week, its steepest weekly decline since April 2025. Concerns over the scale and financing of AI investment were a major source of volatility.

Why it matters: AI investment has become large enough to influence technology valuations, credit markets and broader financial conditions.

Sources: Reuters

📚 CA Intermediate September 2026 results already declared (confirmed)

ICAI announced the results of the September 2026 CA Intermediate examinations on 22 October.

According to ICAI, 1,60,887 candidates were admitted, with examinations conducted at 583 centres in India and abroad. The pass rate was 23.14% for Group I, 18.92% for Group II and 13.21% for candidates appearing for both groups.

No newer major official examination announcement meeting the materiality threshold was identified during the latest 24-hour period.

Why it matters: The results affect progression to the next stage of the CA qualification and are a significant academic event for accounting students.

Sources: ICAI

🏛️ Communist Party's fifth plenum opens (confirmed)

China's Communist Party began its four-day fifth plenum on 26 October.

The meeting is focused on party governance and the implementation of Central Committee decisions. It is also being closely watched for signals on China's economic and development priorities.

Why it matters: Major Communist Party meetings can provide important policy direction for China's economy, technology sector and financial markets.

Sources: Reuters

🤖 China's AI-heavy stock market suffers sharp correction (reported)

The STAR50 index, heavily weighted toward Chinese technology and AI-related companies, has fallen approximately 40% in less than four months, according to Reuters.

The decline has erased roughly $480 billion in market value. The broader CSI300 index has fallen about 20% from its June high. Reuters attributed the pressure to concerns including high valuations, uncertain AI demand and possible U.S. technology restrictions.

Why it matters: The correction highlights how concentrated technology enthusiasm had become in China's equity market and could affect technology fundraising and investor sentiment.

Sources: Reuters

💱 Yuan reaches strongest level against dollar since 2022 (confirmed)

The onshore yuan strengthened to 6.6682 per U.S. dollar, its strongest level since June 2022, before trading around 6.6691.

The People's Bank of China set its daily midpoint at 6.7162, the strongest fixing since February 2023.

Why it matters: Currency movements affect China's exports, imports, capital flows and the relative competitiveness of Chinese companies.

Sources: Reuters

🏦 Federal Reserve meeting begins this week (confirmed)

The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to meet on 27–28 October.

The Fed's current target federal-funds range is 3.75%–4.00%, following the 25-basis-point increase approved at its September meeting.

Why it matters: The decision and accompanying guidance affect borrowing costs, bond yields, currencies and global financial conditions.

Sources: Federal Reserve — September FOMC minutes, Federal Reserve — policy-rate history

💻 Major technology earnings arrive alongside the Fed decision (announced)

The week features earnings from several major U.S. technology companies, making corporate results a second major focus alongside monetary policy.

Investors are particularly watching whether companies' large AI infrastructure expenditures are translating into revenue and productivity gains.

Why it matters: Technology companies account for a large share of U.S. equity-market capitalisation, so their earnings can influence broader market sentiment.

Sources: Economic Times/Reuters

🛢️ Houthis claim attacks on Saudi oil pumping stations and Riyadh airport (reported)

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday that they had attacked Saudi Arabia's East-West crude oil pumping stations and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia had not immediately confirmed the oil-infrastructure claim. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a missile headed toward Riyadh and destroyed two Houthi missile launchers in Sanaa. It also reported strikes against Houthi military infrastructure.

Why it matters: Attacks affecting Saudi energy infrastructure can add another layer of risk to global oil supply at a time when the wider Gulf conflict is already disrupting energy flows.

Sources: Reuters

✈️ Saudi aviation disruption remains severe (reported)

Cirium data cited by Reuters show that 4,071 of 4,736 scheduled flights at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport were cancelled between 8 and 25 October — about 86%.

More than 7,800 flights, or 45% of scheduled departures across Saudi airports, were cancelled during the same period.

Saudi authorities partially reopened Riyadh airport on Sunday, but further Houthi claims of attacks on Monday added uncertainty around operations.

Why it matters: Aviation disruption affects tourism, business travel, logistics and major business events across the Gulf.

Sources: Reuters

🤝 Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey prepare for talks with Iran (announced)

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey were due to meet Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday.

The talks are intended to address regional security, including the conflict involving the Houthis and wider tensions involving Iran, Israel and the Gulf states.

Why it matters: The meeting represents a diplomatic channel between countries that are increasingly exposed to the regional conflict.

Sources: Reuters

🕊️ Russia accuses Ukraine of attacks ahead of Oleshky humanitarian ceasefire (reported)

Russia's Defence Ministry accused Ukraine of repeatedly attacking the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky with artillery and drones during the week beginning 19 October.

Russia said there had been 18 artillery attacks and more than 120 drone attacks against the town and surrounding roads. Reuters could not independently verify the claims, and Ukraine had not immediately responded.

The local ceasefire is scheduled to begin on 27 October to facilitate humanitarian deliveries and civilian evacuations.

Why it matters: The accusations underline the difficulty of implementing even limited humanitarian pauses while fighting continues elsewhere.

Sources: Reuters

📉 Global markets begin a major central-bank and earnings week (confirmed)

Global shares edged higher on Monday as oil prices eased from six-month highs.

Markets are entering a week containing decisions from the Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and European Central Bank, alongside major corporate earnings.

The combination of elevated energy prices, monetary-policy decisions and large technology-company earnings is driving market attention.

Why it matters: Interest rates and energy prices affect borrowing costs, currencies, corporate profits and financial conditions worldwide.

Sources: Reuters

🌌 NASA publishes new astronomy and Earth-observation research (confirmed)

NASA's science programme published new material on 26 October, including an astronomy feature on M42, the Great Nebula in Orion, and satellite observations of autumn vegetation.

No major launch, spacecraft failure or other space event requiring a separate lead story was identified in the latest 24-hour period.

Why it matters: The releases add to ongoing scientific observations but do not represent a major change in the status of a major space mission.

Sources: NASA Science