Top Business & Market Headlines Today — BL Morning Report, April 16, 2026

Mehli Mistry, who stepped down from the Tata Trusts as a Trustee in November last year after being denied reappointment, has called for an Administrator to be appointed to run the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT). He has also declared that he has no desire to rejoin the board of the trust. In a filing today before the C harity Commissioner, Mumbai, seen by businessline, Mistry alleged grave illegalities in the administration of the Trust by the Board of Trustees which now comprises of Noel Tata (Chairman), Venu Srinivasan (Vice Chairman), Vijay Singh, Darius Khambatta, Bhaskar Bhat and Neville Tata. The last two were appointed in place of Mehli Mistry and Pramit Jhaveri, who stepped down in February. Objecting to the Change Report filed by the Trust after his exit and the entry of new trustees, Mistry has contested his non-renewal as a trustee, arguing that it violates a 2024 resolution for mutual perpetual reappointments among trustess of SDTT and the other major trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, reports Raghuvir Srinivasan. —————— India’s markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board ⁠of India (SEBI), will allow companies ​to cut the size of IPOs by as ⁠much as 50% without filing additional onerous paperwork as the Iran war has made it hard to follow through with initial plans, according to an email seen ‌by Reuters. Current rules stipulate that initial public offering documents need to be refiled if the planned fund-raising amount increases or decreases ‌by 20% or more. Firms will now only have to ‌submit ⁠their revised offer size to SEBI for approval and these reviews will be fast-tracked, the regulator said in an email sent to the Association of Investment Bankers of India. The relief will apply to issuers ​planning to raise fresh funds ‌before September 30 and will only be granted if there is no change in the main object of the issue. ————— Markets surged on Wednesday, delivering their strongest session in weeks, as geopolitical optimism, falling crude oil prices, and buoyant global cues triggered broad-based buying that left virtually no sector untouched. The BSE Sensex closed at 78,111.24, gaining 1,263.67 points or 1.64 per cent, while the Nifty 50 settled at 24,231.30, up 388.65 points or 1.63 per cent — its highest close since March 10, 2026. From its recent swing low of 22,182, the Nifty has clawed back over 2,100 points in just eight trading sessions. Volumes on NSE’s cash market rose 12 per cent from the previous session, underlining the conviction behind the move. The single biggest catalyst was US President Donald Trump signalling that Washington and Tehran may be heading back to the negotiating table, with talks potentially resuming in Pakistan within days, describing the conflict as “close to being over.”, writes Anupama Ghosh. ------ India’s merchandise exports grew by over 4 per cent in the 2025-26 fiscal year, though the overall trade deficit widened by more than 26 per cent for the full year, according to data released by the Commerce Ministry on Wednesday. Despite the annual expansion of the gap, the trade deficit narrowed in March as both exports and imports saw a synchronized dip during the final month of the fiscal year. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said India’s exports are doing well despite challenges. The country’s merchandise exports during April-March 2025-26 went up 1 per cent to $441.78 billion from USD 437.7 billion. Imports also increased to $774.98 billion during the period from $721.2 billion in 2024-25. Services exports are estimated at $418.31 billion in 2025-26, showing a growth of around 8 per cent, reports Shishir Sinha.