11:11 | Putin in India for BRICS Summit; oil crosses $108; rupee slips

Good morning!

India is BRICS ready.

New Delhi is hosting the 18th BRICS Summit and Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived early to accommodate a bilateral talk with PM Narendra Modi. Security and traffic restrictions are in place across the capital as more leaders and delegations arrive.

Markets, meanwhile, are under pressure from a fresh surge in crude. Brent has crossed $108 a barrel after a 7% overnight jump, putting prices on track for their biggest weekly gain since July. The spike is also

weighing on the rupee, which has slipped 25 paise to ₹95.69 against the dollar, while gold and silver have fallen as investors reassess the outlook for inflation and US interest rates.

Indian equities have plenty of company-specific triggers. Vodafone Idea is gaining after an SBI-led consortium advanced its evaluation of the telecom operator’s ₹35,000 crore funding proposal, while three stocks — Granules India, Jamna Auto and Sri Lotus Developers — have seen nearly ₹1,400 crore worth of block deals. Jefferies has also picked a few names it expects could deliver strong operating-profit growth over the next three years.

Elsewhere, Anthropic says it disrupted suspected Russian and Chinese campaigns targeting its Claude AI models, while US lawmakers are calling for sanctions against three Indian hack-for-hire firms. The IMF, meanwhile, has backed India’s 7.8% GDP growth rate and welcomed efforts to modernise the country’s statistical framework.

Brent Crude prices cross $108 a barrel

Crude oil prices continued to extend gains. After a 7% overnight surge during which prices crossed the $100 a barrel mark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) trades around the $104 a barrel mark, while Brent Crude has also extended its overnight gains to trade above the $108 a barrel level in early Asian trading.

This is the highest level seen by Brent Crude prices in the last four months and prices are also set for their biggest weekly advance since July.

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Putin arrives in India for BRICS Summit, to hold bilateral talks with Modi

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi early Friday, September 11, to attend the 18th BRICS Summit and hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Kremlin has said the talks will cover a wide-ranging bilateral agenda, with trade and economic cooperation expected to be a major focus. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Indian companies were interested in expanding their investments in Russia.

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Anthropic disrupts Russian, Chinese AI campaigns targeting its Claude models

Anthropic on Thursday said it had disrupted several allegedly malicious uses of its Claude models over the past eight months, including a suspected Russia-linked cyber espionage campaign and efforts by Chinese AI firms it accused of trying to extract and replicate Claude's capabilities. Cybercriminals and state-backed hackers were increasingly using AI not just to assist with tasks but to orchestrate and execute large portions of cyberattacks.

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IMF backs 7.8% GDP growth rate, welcomes India's efforts to modernise statistical framework

Amid the ongoing debate over the credibility of India's latest GDP estimates, the IMF has welcomed the country's efforts to modernise its statistical framework, saying the incorporation of a new Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Producer Price Index (PPI) series should help improve the accuracy of GDP estimates.

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Vodafone Idea shares gain as SBI-led consortium evaluates ₹35,000 crore funding proposal

Shares of State Bank of India (SBI) opened 1% lower on Friday, September 11, while Vodafone Idea shares were trading 2% higher.

The moves come after CNBC-TV18 reported on Thursday that an SBI-led consortium of lenders is at an advanced stage of evaluating Vodafone Idea's funding proposal, after the telecom operator submitted a detailed plan outlining its borrowing requirement and proposed use of funds.

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Block Deals Today: Three stocks that have dominated headlines on Friday

Pharmaceutical company Granules India Ltd., auto components manufacturer Jamna Auto Ltd., and real estate player Sri Lotus Developers have seen large trades take place in the pre-market block window on Friday, September 11.

Cumulatively, these three stocks witnessed block deals are worth nearly ₹1,400 crore in size.

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Gold, silver prices fall up to 1.6%: What could decide the next move

Gold and silver prices fell in international markets on Friday, September 11, as a sharp rise in crude oil prices and uncertainty over the US Federal Reserve’s interest-rate path weighed on precious metals. On COMEX, gold was trading at $4,369.40 an ounce, down $37.90, or 0.86%, from the previous close.

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Stocks To Buy: Jefferies picks five financial names that can grow substantially in three years

Brokerage firm Jefferies has picked Groww, Paytm, PB Fintech, AU Small Finance Bank and Poonawalla Fincorp as the five stocks that have a market capitalization at, above or near $5 billion and can grow their operating profits at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 25% over the next three years with healthy revenue growth.

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Rupee slips 25 paise against dollar: Oil, US yields and other factors to watch

The Indian rupee opened lower against the US dollar on Friday (September 11), extending its recent decline as a sharp rise in crude oil prices increased pressure on the currency. The rupee opened at 95.69 per US dollar, compared with Thursday’s (September 10's) close of 95.44, marking a depreciation of 25 paise, or about 0.26%.

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BRICS Summit in Delhi: Office, school closures, and traffic curbs from Sept 11-13

Restrictions have begun to set in on New Delhi as the Indian capital welcomes world leaders and their delegation arriving for BRICS Summit 2026. The summit will be held from September 11 to 13 at Bharat Mandapam, with government offices and schools shut and extensive traffic diversions planned across the capital.

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US lawmakers call on American government to blacklist three Indian hack-for-hire firms

Three US lawmakers have called on the American government to blacklist a set of Indian IT firms over what they describe as “more than fifteen years of targeted espionage against US citizens, businesses, and the lawyers representing them.”

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