Kuwait Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) strong order-winning streak stood out as the key positive takeaway from its December quarter (Q3FY26) results. Order inflows in its core projects and manufacturing business rose 18% year-on-year to ₹1.16 trillion in Q3FY26 despite a high base last year.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.DUBAI—The United Arab Emirates has carried out military strikes on Iran, people familiar with the matter said, casting the Gulf monarchy as an active combatant in a war in which it has been Iran’s biggest target.Its military is well-equipped with Western-made jet fighters and surveillance networks. And the attacks suggest the country is now more willing to use them to protect its economic power and growing influence across the Middle East.The strikes, which the U.A.E.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Alliance Fairfax, a towering black and white car-carrier ship that had been stranded in the Persian Gulf for over two months, was finally making a break for it.“You are all set to go,” a U.S. military officer radioed as the ship glided through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and swung around the peninsula at the northern end of Oman. “Safe travels.”Soon after, Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones at commercial ships, at the U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Iraqi militias backed by Iran launched dozens of explosive drones at Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states during more than five weeks of fighting, in what is becoming a shadowy war within a war pushing some of the world’s largest oil producers toward open conflict.According to at least one Saudi assessment described by a person familiar with it, up to half of the nearly 1,000 drone attacks on the kingdom came from inside Iraq. They included strikes on a Saudi refinery in the sensitive Yanbu oil hub on the Red Sea and oil fields in the kingdom’s Eastern Province, people familiar with the matter said.Drones launched from Iraq targeted Kuwait’s only civilian airport.

including the temporary ceasefire in West Asia, have once again shown how quickly sentiment can shift once the immediate risk of escalation eases.History shows that once the contours of a geopolitical crisis become clearer, markets often stabilize and recover.Whenever geopolitical tensions escalate, investors instinctively ask: what is the worst that could happen? Could the conflict spiral into something larger, like a global confrontation? Such fears are not irrational.History offers a useful perspective. Wars, crises and geopolitical rivalries have repeatedly unsettled markets, but they have rarely derailed long-term wealth creation.During the Gulf War in 1990, global equity markets fell sharply when Iraq invaded Kuwait, and oil prices surged.

NEW DELHI: A shortage of refrigerated containers (reefers) caused by the West Asia war is worrying Indian growers of mangoes ahead of the peak export season, according to five people aware of the development.With the war in its second month, key maritime routes, including the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, have been disrupted, leading to container shortages and higher freight costs. Many containers are stuck in transit due to congestion or are being re-routed, leading to longer shipment cycles.This poses a unique problem for India, which produces 20.68 million tonnes, or 44%, of the world's mangoes annually, the most by any country.

“We do blue-collar hiring, mainly in the manufacturing and supply chain sectors, and there, the costs of getting workforce in the metros has gone up by about 15-20% in a month,” said Neeti Sharma, chief executive officer of TeamLease Digital, part of the staffing firm TeamLease Group.Scarcity of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has forced construction and manufacturing sectors' blue-collared workers—scaffolders, plumbers, welders, etc.—back to their hometowns and villages.Radheshyam and four others together iron clothes in south Mumbai. These migrant workers from Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh, together typically use one LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder for a little over a month.

NEW DELHI: Oil prices have been on the boil since the war between the US, Israel and Iran broke out on 28 February. To ease supply concerns and prices of over $100 per barrel, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies including Russia, together known as OPEC+, agreed to increase production in May.

₹800 crore handicrafts industry is seeing orders stall, cash get locked up and livelihoods fray—exposing its deep reliance on export markets.In Eidgah’s Narwara locality, Pashmina weaver Rauf Ahmad Qureshi, 54, keeps one eye on his loom and the other on television updates from the Gulf, where demand for his work is shaped. “We get work through traders, so any crisis impacts us quickly,” he told Mint. “An artisan lives hand to mouth.

sulphur demand of about 4 million tonnes. More than three-quarters of this comes from West Asian countries such as the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman, according to latest available World Bank Data for 2023.sulphur is widely used to produce sulphuric acid for fertilizers, and is also a key input in chemicals, textiles manufacturing, and electric vehicle batteries.The state-run engineering company received orders worth ₹76,930 crore from thermal power plants in FY25, its latest annual report said.

Stock market recap: Indian equity benchmarks, Sensex and the Nifty 50, slumped more than 3% on Thursday in their worst session since June 2024, dragged down by heavyweight HDFC Bank after the abrupt exit of its chairman and by a surge in crude prices following attacks on West Asian energy facilities.The Nifty 50 fell 3.26% to 23,002.15 points, while the BSE Sensex also lost as much to settle at 74,207.24.On the Sensex, Eternal, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Bajaj Finserv were among the major laggards. HDFC Bank dropped 5.13% after its chairman, Atanu Chakraborty, resigned, citing ethical concerns.Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, soared 6.75% to $114.8 per barrel after Iran attacked a key natural gas facility in Qatar as well as two oil refineries in Kuwait.Best stocks to buy today (All Buy trades are rates of Equity & Sell rates are based on F&O)IPCALAB: Buy above ₹1550, stop ₹1500 target ₹1680 (Multiday)GESHIP: Buy above ₹1445, stop ₹1380 target ₹1540 (Multiday)COLPAL: Sell below 1880, stop ₹1940 target ₹1760(Multiday)Indian equity markets suffered a sharp selloff on Thursday, March 19, 2026, as persistent global risk-off sentiment and a surge in crude oil prices triggered broad-based losses.

LPG) at about 62%. Fertilizer imports account for roughly 30% of consumption.That headline number masks wide variation across nutrients.

₹199- ₹2,300, depending on the nature of the flight. With Pakistan airspace already shut for Indian airlines, the disruption in flight routes through West Asia has increased travel time and cost.The financial damage of such disruptions would mount quickly for Indian airlines.

If proof were needed that even after decades of globalization, the world isn’t flat, Iran’s chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz is providing plenty. The opposing view might be summarized in four words, ‘The Revenge of Geography,’ the title of geopolitical analyst Robert Kaplan’s prescient book more than a decade ago.

Escalating tensions in the Middle East have pushed crude prices into the spotlight, making it the single biggest trigger for the recent sell-off in Indian equities.Brent crude prices experienced a sharp spike and a violent reversal on Monday, skyrocketing to nearly $120 per barrel before settling under $100 amid rising tensions in West Asia, supply constraints, and fears of a prolonged conflict.A blockade at the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point that carries about a fifth of global oil, has reignited supply shock fears, lifting crude prices and heightening risks for import-dependent economies such as India’s. Oil and related energy stocks in India have therefore come into sharp focus.Today, we take a closer look at small cap companies in India’s oil industry.

Write to Ian Salisbury at [email protected] U.S.-Israel war against Iran that began on Feb. 28 has investors worried about broader fallout. On Friday, oil prices hit a psychologically important $90 a barrel for the first time in two years as Kuwait cut output.

South Korea’s 16% stock plunge this past week. In the U.S., any inflation uptick could deprive investors of more interest-rate cuts. Or perhaps worse, the Federal Reserve could cut rates later this year, and depending on the circumstances, be judged by the bond market as giving President Donald Trump what he wants, but not necessarily giving the economy what it needs.A quick and tidy exit in Iran is no sure thing.

Mint explores the best- and worst-case scenarios.On Monday the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of Iran’s armed forces, announced that the Strait of Hormuz was closed and attacked a few ships passing through it. The announcement quickly caused panic.

Indian companies with operations in West Asia spent the weekend tracking their employees and gauging the impact on their businesses as the US-Israel strikes on Iran escalated the conflict, freezing movement from outside and within the region.“We are in touch with the client firms. The workers are safe.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India is developing contingency plans for crude oil imports as rising tensions in West Asia push global oil prices higher and raise fears of supply disruptions.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Alarm bells began to ring when US President Donald Trump hinted at direct intervention in what are the deadliest Iranian protests so far, posting “HELP IS ON ITS WAY" on his social media platform, Truth Social, on 13 January. The all-caps threat—Trump’s signature leadership style—urged Iranians to “KEEP PROTESTING", “TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!", and even “MIGA" (Make Iran Great Again).