India Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Stock market recap: India's benchmark indices recouped early losses to settle higher on Wednesday, helped by a rally in index heavyweight Reliance Industries, even as investors remained cautious due to higher crude prices and a weaker rupee.The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 117.54 points, or 0.16%, to settle at 75,318.39, having touched a low of 74,529.41 intraday. However, buying in oil & gas, financial and auto shares in the last hour helped the index trim losses and rebound.The 50-share NSE Nifty edged higher by 41 points to end at 23,659.Best stocks to buy today (All Buy trades are rates of Equity & Sell rates are based on F&O)INDIGOPNTS: Buy above ₹985, stop ₹940 target ₹1090(Multiday)ABB: Buy above ₹6625, stop ₹6400 target ₹7250 (Multiday)TIMKEN: Buy above ₹3660, stop ₹3550 target ₹3985 (Multiday)On 20 May, Indian markets ended in the red as weakness across metal, oil-linked, PSU bank and realty stocks dragged benchmarks lower, while persistent rupee depreciation continued to weigh on investor sentiment.The Sensex slipped 160.73 points, or 0.21%, to close at 75,237.99, while the Nifty declined 46.10 points, or 0.19%, to settle at 23,643.50.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India, one of the world’s largest buffalo meat exporters, is planning a DNA-based testing system to strengthen meat verification and traceability, amid concerns over illegal meat exports and suspected mixing of banned cow meat with buffalo meat consignments, two people directly involved in the process said.The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which reports to the consumer affairs ministry, has started a study to validate a real-time PCR-based test to detect buffalo DNA in foodstuff and feedstuff to check adulteration and improve species verification in animal-derived products, the people said on the condition of anonymity.“The study's findings will pave the way for introducing new standards as the existing international ISO standards currently do not provide a dedicated method for buffalo DNA detection,” one of the two people cited above said. “Because processed or minced meat is difficult to identify visually, DNA/PCR testing is widely used internationally to verify the animal species and detect adulteration."DNA-based testing refers to a scientific method that identifies the exact animal species in food products by analysing unique genetic material, helping regulators detect adulteration even in processed or mixed products.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: India’s efforts to diversify LPG supplies have gained momentum after state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) made its first-ever spot purchases from the American market, a top company official said, as the country seeks to reduce dependence on West Asia amid ongoing conflict in the region.The development assumes significance as India imports 60-65% of its annual liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) requirement of 33 million tonnes, with nearly 90% of these imports sourced from West Asia, making it vulnerable to supply-chain disruptions amid the ongoing US-Iran tensions in the region.Although the mobilization period from the US is about 45 days, cargoes from North America would ease supply crunch faced by the world's second-largest LPG importer, said VRK Gupta, director (finance) at BPCL."For the first time, BPCL has procured 2 US cargoes of LPG on spot purchase basis which have arrived in the month of May 2026. Hence, even if it takes about 90 days (to and fro), cargoes from the US will ease the supply scenario," Gupta told Mint in an interview.These are very large gas carriers (VLGC), with a capacity of 45,000-48,000 tonnes.BPCL’s LPG business accounts for about 28% of the country’s liquefied petroleum gas market, covering 93.5 million cylinder connections.LPG is a sensitive issue in the country as it is used for cooking by nearly 340 million households.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Last week, US President Donald Trump’s historic two-day meeting with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, the first in Beijing at this level since 2017, ended without a commercial breakthrough despite the presence of a high-powered technology delegation of 17 American CEOs, including Elon Musk of SpaceX and Jensen Huang of Nvidia. China did not respond to US overtures, including the potential sale of Nvidia’s cutting-edge H200 chips to Chinese entities that the Joe Biden administration had blocked and Trump administration reversed. US officials dismissed a lack of business progress as immaterial.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Executives at Nippon Life India Asset Management and Deutsche Bank’s asset manager DWS said global investors continue to view India as a key long-term market despite continued foreign portfolio outflows from equities.Global investors may be in a temporary “wait-and-watch” mood, said Sundeep Sikka, managing director and CEO of Nippon Life India Asset Management Ltd.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: Air India is cutting domestic and international capacity this summer, flying up to 5% fewer flights on domestic routes and nearly 40% less on international corridors compared with a year ago, as a depleted fleet, surging jet fuel costs, and war-related airspace closures squeeze the Tata Group carrier.The airline and its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express together offered roughly 9.24 million domestic seats in April and May, down from 9.71 million a year ago, even as India's largest carrier, IndiGo, expanded domestic capacity 6% to 23.04 million seats and newcomer Akasa Air grew 9% to 1.63 million seats, according to data from aviation analytics firm OAG reviewed by Mint. Seats are a measure of capacity for airlines.The move reflects pressures that analysts say have pushed Air India's network strategy into what one expert calls ‘survival mode’.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Petrol and diesel prices have increased by nearly ₹4 following back-to-back price hikes over the past week. With crude oil prices still above $100 and no end in sight to the conflict in West Asia, at least two independent analysts have said retail fuel prices will have to increase by ₹13-20 per litre to curb the losses of oil companies.Mint explains why more fuel price hikes are probably on the way and what it means for consumers.The simple reason is that oil marketing companies — Indian Oil Corp.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: More than half of IPO-linked capital expenditure in India in the first quarter of 2026 went into technology, cloud and network infrastructure, reflecting a broader shift in how newly listed companies are deploying capital.The trend was visible in the composition of initial public offering (IPO) spending patterns. Data from Uniqus Consultech shows capex accounted for about 30% of the ₹18,778 crore raised across 18 mainboard IPOs in the quarter.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Committed occupancy levels – office spaces where leases have already been signed with tenants but are yet to commence – for key listed real estate investment trusts (Reits) exceeded the 90% mark in FY26. Management executives at Reits are largely upbeat on demand prospects, providing room for occupancy improvement.Embassy Office Parks REIT sees occupancy rising to 92-93% and Brookfield India Real Estate Trust pegs it at 96%.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India Inc’s debate over work-from-home is returning on a call from prime minister Narendra Modi as part of a strategy to deal with the repurcussions of the West Asia war. This comes at a time artificial intelligence is reshaping jobs and productivity expectations, while macroeconomic pressures—from currency weakness to tighter cash visibility—add a new layer of urgency for chief executives.Mint reached out to Dr Ram Charan, feted global advisor to CEOs and boards, for his views on the tough choices CEOs need to make. Dr Charan, formerly a board member at Hindalco Industries, dwelled on work from home, top CEO worries, how AI will reshape the workplace, and how workers can retrain themselves.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: The mutual fund industry may be closing in on a structural fix to a long-running cost problem that weighs on asset manager profitability and makes small investments less viable.The industry is working on creating its own KYC Registration Agency (KRA) through Mutual Fund Utility (MFU), a move that could cut know-your-customer (KYC) expenses by nearly half, according to four people aware of the discussions.If implemented, the shift would directly reduce fixed onboarding costs that AMCs must pay for every new investor, regardless of investment size, these people said.Currently, asset management companies (AMCs) pay around ₹35 to KRA agencies for every new investor onboarded. That cost applies even to very small investments.Take a ₹500 monthly systematic investment plan.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Remember what fund managers were telling you in the last quarter of 2025—that you must have gold in your portfolio? It included even those who had been advising you just a year or two before to sell the ‘unproductive’ gold you had at home and put it all in equities. Indian equity markets did not do well and gold did, so the advice changed. Unfortunately, this change came far too late.Investments from Indian investors into gold funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) peaked in January, even exceeding equity flows.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.To grab hold of the glossy dream of overseas education and eventual global employment, Indian parents have willingly liquidated family assets and taken out hefty education loans — all in the hope that earnings in dollars or euros would wipe out the debt.But in 2026, that fundamental equation stands fractured. With the Indian rupee hitting record lows of ₹96 against the US dollar, the financial math of studying abroad demands a hard reset.The equation has changed.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s insurance sector has found renewed vigour, with two global players ready to expand their market presence and others exploring entry. On Monday, US-based Liberty Mutual Insurance announced a stake increase in its Indian venture Liberty General Insurance to 74% from a bit above 55%.A day earlier, UK-based Prudential said it will buy a 75% stake in Bharti Life Insurance Company. Also, Germany’s Allianz has struck a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with Jio Financial Services.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.For the last few years, Indian companies had a fairly predictable ally on their side: benign input costs. Crude prices stayed manageable, freight rates cooled after the pandemic spike, and commodity inflation largely remained under control.That cushion is beginning to disappear.Crude oil prices have surged sharply in recent months amid escalating tensions in West Asia, pushing India’s wholesale inflation to a 42-month high of 8.3% in April 2026. Fuel and power inflation alone jumped nearly 25%, while prices of crude petroleum, metals and manufactured products also moved up sharply.For India Inc, this creates a familiar problem.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: State-run Oil India Ltd (OIL) plans to raise its exploration and production capital expenditure by over 10% to ₹10,000 crore this fiscal year, chairman and managing director Ranjit Rath said, as the country grapples with an energy shock amid the West Asia war.The Maharatna company, which traces its origin to India’s first commercial crude oil discovery in Digboi (Assam), expects to produce about 4 million tonnes (mt) of crude oil this fiscal, compared with 3.45 mt in FY26. He added that work on the $20-billion Mozambique LNG project has resumed.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Muthoot FinCorp Ltd, one of India's largest gold loan non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), is seeking to raise up to ₹4,000 crore through an initial public offering, even as it attempts to convince investors that it is more than just the business it has spent decades building.Muthoot wants to be read as a diversified, technology-enabled financial services company that can grow through its branch network, app, and a wider product set.That is the tension at the heart of the company’s initial public offering (IPO) pitch. In an interview with Mint, chief executive Shaji Varghese said the company is moving “from a single-product company to a company of a social segment with multiple products".The NBFC, with 3,800 branches, ₹56,185 crore in assets under management (AUM) and over ₹1,640 crore in net profit for FY26, approved the IPO on Saturday, subject to shareholder and regulatory clearances.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Stock market recap: Indian benchmark indices witnessed a highly volatile trading session on 19 May, surrendering strong morning gains to end marginally lower.The BSE Sensex fell 114.19 points, or 0.15%, to close at 75,200.85, while the Nifty 50 retreated from its intraday high of 23,782.30 to settle 31.95 points, or 0.14%, lower at 23,618.The late-session reversal was largely driven by macroeconomic concerns. The Indian rupee weakened to a fresh record low of 96.53 against the US dollar, while rating agency Icra Ltd trimmed India’s FY27 growth forecast amid elevated crude oil prices.Despite the weak close in benchmark indices, the broader market remained relatively resilient.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: India’s largest banks are stepping up cyber defences, hiring, and insurance coverage as concerns grow that advanced AI systems could make cyberattacks faster and harder to contain, exposing gaps in preparedness and protection.The pressure has risen after a finance ministry meeting with top banking executives on 23 April focused on banks’ preparedness for AI-linked cyber threats. The meeting came weeks after Anthropic unveiled Claude Mythos, a frontier AI model the company said could identify vulnerabilities and conduct cyberattacks at unprecedented speed.Concerns around AI-enabled attacks have grown since September last year, when a cloud storage server exposed personal banking data of nearly 300,000 individuals, including loan account details linked to several large banks and non-banking finance companies.India’s largest private lender, HDFC Bank, told Mint it reviews cyber insurance annually and is now widening coverage as risks evolve.“The bank is continuously strengthening its cyber security posture, including hiring highly-skilled talent across security engineering, developer security operations, red-teaming or simulation of cyber attacks, and AI security,” said Ramesh Lakshminarayanan, group head of information technology and chief information officer at HDFC Bank.At Axis Bank, teams participate in programmes such as adversarial AI and ‘red teaming’ to simulate attacks.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s earnings season is sending a clear message to investors: Quarterly earnings beats alone are no longer enough to keep stocks flying.While several companies managed to reverse pre-result declines after reporting stronger revenue and profit growth, most of these gains faded quickly as investors shifted their focus to future guidance, valuation comfort, and earnings sustainability amid volatile market conditions.A Mint analysis of 866 BSE-listed companies that have declared their earnings so far shows that among stocks that declined ahead of results, only a limited set managed to stage a meaningful recovery after their March-quarter earnings announcements. Only companies where relevant information was available were considered.Of the 866 companies analysed, 46.4%, or 402 stocks, declined before their Q4FY26 results.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Stock market recap: India's benchmark equity indices ended little changed on Tuesday as gains in information technology (IT) stocks, aided by a stronger dollar, were offset by weakness in banking shares, while investors awaited greater clarity on the prospects of a US-Iran deal.The Nifty 50 fell 0.14% to close at 23,618, while the BSE Sensex slipped 0.15% to 75,200.85.Nine of the 16 major sectors advanced. Broader markets outperformed, with the small-cap index rising 1.2% and the mid-cap index gaining 0.9%.Best stocks to buy today (All Buy trades are rates of Equity & Sell rates are based on F&O)GSFC: Buy above ₹179, stop ₹168 target ₹198(Multiday)VBL: Buy above ₹518, stop ₹490 target ₹570 (Multiday)POWERGRID: Buy above ₹301, stop ₹285 target ₹337 (Multiday)Indian equities extended their decline on 19 May, as continued selling in metal, oil-linked, PSU bank and realty stocks weighed on sentiment, while persistent rupee weakness added to market pressure.The Sensex fell 160.73 points, or 0.21%, to close at 75,237.99, while the Nifty declined 46.10 points, or 0.19%, to settle at 23,643.50.Market breadth remained weak, with 2,381 shares dclining against 1,631 advances, signalling broad-based pressure across sectors.The Nifty Metal index dropped nearly 2%, while PSU Bank, Realty and Oil & Gas indices also ended sharply lower.