📰2026 Earnings Start With Two Major Leaks | Daily India Briefing

ICICI disclosed that an employee prematurely shared unpublished quarterly earnings on WhatsApp. While a minor lapse that has not been publicized, the mishap continues to diminish India’s $5.2 trillion (₹468.5 trillion) equity market as immature. Today, we explain more.

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Macro

• Electricity demand rose 7.5 percent y-o-y to 241 GW during the chilly winter. December’s load came within striking distance of summer peaks. The rise also reflects increased manufacturing use which could be from lower GST rates. 

• Fmr. RBI Governor said low inflation is a tailwind to economic growth. Financial stability and low inflation is leading to more real growth. He fears the end of multilateralism with trade and semiconductors being used as bargaining chips.  

• 2025 rice exports surged 19.4 percent near record highs after curbs were lifted. Improved harvests and exports led prices to fall to their lowest in a decade with 21.55 million metric tons shipped primarily around Asia and Africa. 

• Gold is set for a weekly gain under more geopolitical pressure from somewhat higher oil prices.While oil is still down from the US’s taking of Maduro from Venezuela, a rebound from the attack will also bring gold higher.

Equities

• Reliance is in talks with the US to buy a permit for Venezuelan oil. Reliance had gotten permission from Washington in the past for 63,000 barrels per day until new sanctions in April blocked all exporting from Caracas.

Alts

• The RBI may block Bain Capital's plan to take a majority stake in Manappuram Finance due to its stake in Tyger Capital. The RBI generally blocks financial institutions from owning multiple firms in the same space. Manappuram fell 7.8 percent on the news. Bain plans to acquire 18 percent of Manappuram for $490 million (₹44 billion) and launch an open offer for another 26 percent after divesting from Tyger Capital.

Policy

• SEBI will clear the way for a 2026 NSE listing after clearing past litigation. SEBI fined the NSE $122.1 million (₹11 billion) for not providing equitable access to all trading members back in 2019. The NSE offered $160 million (₹14.4 billion) to clear the matter. 

• Pakistan is nearing a $1.5 billion (₹135.2 billion) deal to supply weapons and jets to Sudan.Sudan and the RSF have been locked in a brutal conflict for the past 3 years. The deal is likely being brokered by Saudi Arabia.

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2026 Earnings Are Starting With Two Major Leaks

ICICI disclosed that an employee prematurely shared unpublished quarterly earnings on WhatsApp. While a minor lapse that has not been publicized, the mishap continues to diminish India’s $5.2 trillion (₹468.5 trillion) equity market as immature. These small leaks carry outsized symbolic weight especially against SEBI and the government who continue to take steps in their years-long crusade in convincing more global investment. 

The leak was taken down within an hour and happened after market hours. Despite years of SEBI tightening rules around unpublished MNPI, messaging apps continue to be an issue. WhatsApp in particular is a bridge between private and public communication in India. This also is the second such episode in days, following Hatsun Agro’s admission that a draft set of quarterly numbers was accidentally shared internally and then circulated more widely. Together, they revive memories of 2017, when earnings data routinely appeared on WhatsApp groups before official releases, prompting SEBI to step in and demand internal probes at some of India’s largest listed companies.

SEBI’s response over the years has been largely procedural. Companies are required to define who has access to sensitive information, maintain digital trails, and enforce trading window closures. Those frameworks exist on paper at most large firms today. What they cannot easily address is casual leakage that does not involve trading or malicious intent, but still undermines market fairness.

For investors, especially foreign ones already wary of governance risks, perception matters as much as enforcement. Repeated disclosures of WhatsApp leaks reinforce the idea that India’s market plumbing remains vulnerable to informal networks and weak internal discipline. For Indian regulators, challenges continue to be adapting compliance norms, preventing rampant insider trading, and reducing volatile small companies from listing.

See you tomorrow.

Written by Yash Tibrewal. Edited by Shreyas Sinha.

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