Cycling Financial News

HDFC Bank episode shows, ADRs remain a flashing alarm bell for FPI sentiment.In the early 2000s, Indian markets were marked by sharp information asymmetry, and remained relatively isolated from their global peers. For foreign investors at the time, these US dollar-denominated certificates traded in American exchanges opened a critical but often congested lane connecting to Dalal Street.Switch to present—the landscape has transformed.

₹500/tonne and ₹450/tonne to ₹5,300 and ₹4,500, respectively, barely a month after increases ₹100 and ₹50 implemented on 6 March.Markets cheered the move, interpreting it as a signal that pricing power may be returning to the ferrous cycle amid strong domestic steel demand and firm global prices.Morgan Stanley also flagged restocking activity amid rising prices. Seaborne iron-ore prices have risen about 8% since the end of February, partly aided by the West Asia war.Interestingly, brokers are divided over how profitability turned out for NMDC during Q4FY26, with Nuvama Institutional Equities estimating a 5% reduction in Ebitda per tonne, while Kotak Institutional Equities expects an 11% year-on-year increase in the metric.Against this backdrop, the latest price hike is a welcome relief, sending shares soaring this week.

Cycle Pure Agarbatti is sharpening its push into digital channels and associated product categories as it looks to evolve beyond its traditional incense business. As part of this strategy, the company has acquired a majority stake in Satvik Spirituals Pvt Ltd, a company that built its business of spiritual and lifestyle offerings through e-commerce."E-commerce is still relatively new for us and Satvik is a digital-first brand and understands consumer behaviour online,” Arjun Ranga, managing director of N.

pension funds, and large asset managers, allocation decisions are not driven solely by nominal yield spreads.The calculus is more rigorous: risk-adjusted returns in dollar terms. A US Treasury at 4.28% offers a risk-free, USD-denominated return.

Advent-backed digital lender KreditBee has raised about $280 million in a Series E funding round, valuing the company at around $1.5 billion and marking its entry into the unicorn club.The round, which makes KreditBee the third unicorn of 2026 and the first in the new fiscal year, was led by Motilal Oswal Alternates, Hornbill Capital, and MUFG-backed Dragon Funds, with participation from WhiteOak Capital, A.P. Moller Holding, and existing investors including Premji Invest and Advent International.

Aditya B Chatterjee is managing director at Equifax IndiaCatch all the Instant Personal Loan, Business Loan, Business News, Money news, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint.

In 2026, India’s banking sector remains a primary economic catalyst, underpinned by robust credit appetite, accelerated digitalization, and resilient asset quality. Having moved past the peak NPA cycle, banks are now characterized by stronger capital buffers, operational efficiency, and a digital-first approach.A key trend shaping the industry is rapid digital adoption.

India’s record-breaking initial public offering (IPO) run is beginning to show signs of fatigue. Even as companies raised an all-time high ₹1.78 trillion in 2025-26—surpassing the previous peak of ₹1.62 trillion—investor enthusiasm, particularly among retail participants, has started to wane.The shift comes against a volatile backdrop.

₹9,000 crore to become the country’s fourth-largest paint company, sees stronger growth potential in industrial coatings than in the decorative segment, Parth Jindal managing director of JSW Paints and chairman of JSW Dulux, the erstwhile AkzoNobel India, told Mint.“We have global R&D capabilities after we acquired Akzo Nobel and particularly in the absence of Birla Opus in the industrial paints space we see less competition,” Jindal said. He added that a potential shift towards electric vehicles (EVs), driven by the West Asia conflict, could further boost demand.The conflict has already started influencing the EV market.

war in West Asia rocked global sentiment.Fresh project announcements slipped 13% to ₹44 trillion in the financial year 2025-26 (FY26), according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). It almost erased 16% growth seen in the previous fiscal.The slowdown was primarily driven by a 58% collapse in the government-led capex announcements, which had jumped 54% in the previous year.

Mint that the compliance requirement is especially important for digital personal loans, buy now, pay later (BNPL), and other frequently disbursed unsecured products, where borrowing patterns can shift within days rather than months.“In a traditional monthly reporting cycle, the lifecycle of a 15-day BNPL transaction or a 30-day micro-loan is essentially a blind spot…it begins and ends before the data ever reaches the bureau,” said Aditya B. Chatterjee, managing director of credit bureau Equifax India.And borrowers “used to exploit this particular window of a blind spot in the (bureau reporting) system”, said Sugandh Saxena, chief executive of self-regulatory organization Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE), adding that “fintechs would greatly benefit” from fresher bureau data.That is because digital NBFCs dominate the personal-loan market by volume, accounting for 78% of sanctioned loans in the first nine months of 2025-26, even though their share by value was only 19%, according to FACE data.Credit data from banks, NBFCs, and fintech lenders used to be updated with bureaus on a monthly cycle, but in practice, taking 30-45 days from disbursal to reflection in a borrower’s file.

Banks in India got a jolt late on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) capped their net open positions in the forex market at $100 million. Many have been sitting on large long-dollar positions, which they’ll now be forced to unwind by RBI’s deadline at a loss. Bank stocks, of course, slid on Monday.RBI’s apparent aim is to increase dollar supplies in support of the rupee.

For foreign investors backing Indian equities, the financial year 2026 was one they would rather forget. It was a period dotted with global disruptions, starting with US-led tariff uncertainties and ending amid the US-Israel-Iran war.

₹5,191.06 crore redemption, small-cap funds saw inflows of ₹3,881.06 crore in February, prompting fund houses to launch new schemes and reopen existing ones.The opportunity is real, but so are the risks. Experts warn that low liquidity, stretched valuations, and governance weaknesses can turn potential gains into sharp losses.“The runway is huge and positive, but the interim perils are also real,” remarked Harsh Gupta Madhusudan, fund manager-PIPE, Ionic Asset.Following this renewed interest, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund reopened subscriptions to its Small Cap Fund in January, Groww Mutual Fund launched a new small-cap scheme around the same time.

Bengaluru: In the real estate boom cycle, the flight to quality and premiumization have been defining trends. In a panel discussion on ‘Premiumization in real estate: opportunities and risks,’ at the recent Mint India Investment Summit (MIIS), experts spoke about what homebuyers, investors and occupiers want when they are buying an apartment or renting an office space.“The premiumization that is being talked about is really a quality correction that is happening in real estate.

₹9.15 trillion transmission network investment roadmap spanning 2023 to 2032.Buoyed by this outlay, overall transformer demand is projected to grow at a robust 18-22% CAGR through FY28. This expansion is further supported by India's goal to reach 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by FY30.

The 19th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) begins this weekend, where all eyes will be on the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who clinched their first ever win last year. Meanwhile, there are big-name investors, including Temasek, EQT, Premji Invest, Adar Poonawalla and a couple of US-based sports investors, vying for stake in the Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers teams.

Asset allocation is essential because no single asset class consistently outperforms across market cycles. Equities may lead during periods of economic growth, while debt provides stability during downturns, and gold acts as a hedge against inflation and currency risks.

Five major central banks—the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the Reserve Bank of Australia, and the Bank of Japan—met this week to deliver their rate decisions. Four of the five opted to pause and continue with existing policy rates.

One way or the other, an extended West Asia war will impact earnings growth, said Ajay Tyagi, senior executive vice president and head of Equity at UTI Asset Management Co.He believes, “If markets remain flat or correct further, leading to poor two-three year returns, SIP (systematic investment plan) flows may slow down”.Tyagi, who directly manages about ₹2.5 trillion worth of assets, explained that while the structural shift of household savings into markets remains strong, it will see ebbs and flows rather than move in a straight line.He said that SIP inflows, currently around $3 billion, will have their own cycles and are unlikely to keep rising indefinitely.Edited excerpts:For large caps, the correction is mostly over, as they have reached a fair valuation zone. While not yet ‘cheap’, which would mean falling below long-term averages, they are close enough to offer comfort.

₹100 crore.“This season our sales have declined by 25-30%,” Salam told Mint. “Fruit growers are hesitant to plant trees in dry soil.”Apples dominate Kashmir’s horticulture economy, with production estimated at about 2.05 million tonnes in the 2025 season, a slight decline of 0.4% from 2024, according to official data.The 2026 harvest season is still around six months away.The region produces roughly 75% of India’s apples, making it the country’s primary supplier.