Experts Financial News

Russian crude suppliers are now offering Indian refiners a higher discount of up to $8 a barrel, doubling since October after sanctions were announced on Rosneft and Lukoil, according to three people aware of the development. That could increase oil shipments from the non-sanctioned oil suppliers from the Eurasian nation, experts said.The discounts on Urals crude hovered around $2-4 a barrel after the 23 October US decision to impose sanctions on the two largest Russian crude suppliers, according to data from Finnish think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

AI superpowers can engage in constructive risk management even as they compete vigorously for AI leadership.Moreover, diplomats and experts from our two countries had also met earlier in 2024, in Geneva, for an extended session dedicated to AI risks. It was the first meeting of its kind, and though it didn’t produce any significant results, the very fact that it occurred was an important step, and both sides did manage to identify critical areas of risk that required further work.Now, as the momentum behind AI development and deployment, both civil and military, gathers pace, the US and China need to build on this foundation by pursuing sustained, senior-level diplomacy on AI risks, even as each strives for the lead in the AI race.

thematic funds can provide targeted exposure to long-term structural trends that may not be adequately captured by diversified equity portfolios. In the right market environment, a well-timed sectoral allocation can enhance portfolio returns.However, experts caution that such gains come with elevated risks.

Mumbai: Top investment bankers are likely licking their chops at the prospect of lucrative bonuses, after 2025 delivered record fees on the back of buoyant equity capital markets (ECM) and hectic private-market dealmaking.Data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) shows that investment banking fees for 2025 totalled $1.5 billion, of which $651.8 million came from equity deals, $391.3 million from M&A deals, $232.5 million from bond deals, and $227 million from loan syndications.Comparatively, investment banking fees in the previous two years were $1.36 billion (in 2024) and $1.33 billion (2023). In 2024, bonus payouts to investment bankers were an estimated ₹1,000 crore, according to industry experts and headhunters.The bonuses for 2025 deals are expected to be higher.

Homegrown carmakers JSW Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) are open to adopting range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs) if India’s policy framework expands incentives beyond pure electric vehicles, even as experts warn against equating the technology with battery-electric cars.REEVs, also called REX (range extender) hybrids, are always driven by an electric motor but carry a small internal combustion engine (ICE) whose sole role is to generate electricity when the battery charge runs low. Comparatively, strong hybrids have both an electric battery and a powerful ICE engine, both of which can run the vehicle.To be sure, no carmaker in India manufactures or sells REEVs currently.

Veteran filmmakers who had been missing from active moviemaking will attempt a comeback this year to meet the need for commercial, mass-market storytelling in the smaller towns and markets. Priyadarshan, Rajkumar Santoshi and David Dhawan, primarily known for hits in the 1990s and early 2000s, are among those with new films slated for release in 2026.The urban market has reached saturation point as viewers in the metros have entertainment options including OTT and multiplexes.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. is exploring gig-like hiring arrangements for hard-to-retain specialists in certain roles, signalling a shift as India’s $283 billion offshoring sector grapples with a talent crunch amid uncertainty caused by artificial intelligence.India’s largest information technology (IT) services company will consider allowing data architects and data scientists to log in for a few hours with the option to work elsewhere, according to a senior executive at the company, who didn’t want to be identified as the information is not yet public.“For instance, data architects do not need to work for 8 hours; their work often gets done in four hours, and then why should they not be allowed to work somewhere else? We will look at these sorts of gig options for skilled employees, and that will be the future of the workplace,” the executive said.The contours of this plan are still being finalised, and the company will have to factor in data privacy and client confidentiality concerns, the executive said.India’s software services providers mostly hire full-time employees.

Mint illustrated how stock picks by experts and well-known financial institutions did worse over the years than the average stock. You are literally better off throwing darts at a board.Bloomberg analysed annual US index projections over several decades from all well-known banks and Wall Street firms and found them to be off by an average of 15 percentage points—meaning they were not worth the paper they were written on.However, for this year, there is something that gives me a pointer to what may happen in Indian markets.

Mint looks at how the world’s largest economy has defied expectations and stayed resilient in 2025 despite multiple challenges. Will this dream run continue in 2026?Yes.

pharmaceutical sector, a major global supplier of generic medicines.The revised Schedule M GMP had been earlier extended from the previous 1 January 2025 cutoff. The proposed extension for MSMEs, which have revenue of ₹250 crore or less, comes in the backdrop of less than a third of them submitting their upgrade plans, with the remaining units risking immediate closure and penalties.There are a total of 10,500 drug manufacturing units in India, of which 8,500 fall under the MSME category.

New Delhi: Companies must recognize the impact of the new labour codes in their December-quarter profit and loss statements, even as a new financial reporting format and lower compliance requirements for unlisted subsidiaries are in the pipeline, according to the head of the accounting profession’s self-regulator.Businesses are required to reflect any additional gratuity liability arising from the labour codes upfront in their December-quarter results, Charanjot Singh Nanda, president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), said in an interview, citing a guidance note issued by the accounting rule-maker.The labour codes mandate that at least 50% of an employee's total remuneration must be treated as wages, the basis for gratuity calculation. This is expected to increase gratuity and leave benefit liabilities for many employers who currently compute gratuity on a smaller base because of allowances accounting for a larger share.The guidance note, reviewed by Mint, says that any increase in gratuity liability due to application of the new labour codes is ‘past service cost’ as it results in benefits payable.

Hindi language films stood at 33 in 2023, 34 in 2024 and 39 in 2025.Experts say sentiments around high-risk titles have remained soft, and in many cases, filmmakers have struggled to convince top stars to forego unreasonably high fees.“Everyone is worried and cautious at the moment. Over-the-top (OTT) content platforms are no longer buying films as they used to and linking rights to the box office, which remains unpredictable.

Investor money has swung decisively towards flexi-cap funds in recent months. From May to November 2025, flexi-cap schemes accounted for 28.7% of total net inflows into diversified equity mutual fund categories.The timing of this surge is telling.

After a two-year run of stellar gains, US traders are signalling far more modest returns for gold and silver in 2026, possibly driven by lower central bank purchases, a stronger dollar, and moderating safe-haven demand, according to experts.Analysts and financial planners are warning domestic investors to brace for bouts of volatility next year, with corrections in silver likely to be sharper, even though expectations could shift with changes in global macro conditions—such as interest rate moves or rising economic uncertainty.Trader bets on Comex, the world's most diverse derivatives marketplace, show they expect the most liquid gold futures contractto rise 3.4% and silver 3% by December 2026 from Wednesday’s (24 December’s) closing of $4,503 and $71.68 per troy ounce (31.10 gm), respectively, per Bloomberg data.In 2025, Comex generic gold and silver futures rose 67.8% and 127%, respectively, from 1 January to 24 December, the data showed.Indian gold and silver prices tend to mirror international prices as most domestic demand for both metals is met through imports.Even as the Nifty 50 gave 12% returns in the current fiscal year (FY26) through 19 December, gold ETF (exchange-traded funds) prices surged 45% to ₹11,400 per gm while silver doubled to ₹200 per gm in the same period, based on the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) formula for ETFs using global benchmark London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) prices, excluding GST.In the previous fiscal, gold and silver ETFs gave 35% returns, while the Nifty returned just 5%.Sensing the warning signs, analysts and financial planners have called for caution, especially as Indian investors continue to diversify portfolios through gold and silver ETFs.Amol

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected] struggled to protect farmers as the country’s agrarian distress worsened in 2025.Severe monsoon rains caused devastating floods in Punjab, inundating almost 200,000 hectares of farmland, besides damaging crops in Haryana and Maharashtra, notably the Marathwada region.

Mint explains why the rule is being enforced now, who it affects, and what changes brands must make.The FSSAI has clarified that under the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, “tea”—including variants such as Kangra tea, green tea and instant tea—must be obtained exclusively from the plant Camellia sinensis. Any infusion or blend made from other plants, flowers or herbs does not meet this legal standard and therefore cannot be named or marketed as “tea”.The decision flows from the Labelling and Display Regulations, 2020, which require every food package to clearly indicate the “true nature” of the product.

Following years of aggressive hoarding, Indian corporations are starting to dip into their cash reserves to fund dividend payouts and acquisitions, but not capital expenditure (capex).According to a Mint analysis of data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the pace of cash accumulation hit an eight-year low by September 2025.The analysis of CMIE data for a common sample of nearly 2,000 listed firms, excluding banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) companies, showed that cash and bank balances rose just 1% year-on-year to about ₹5.4 trillion by September. The pace is a far cry from the pandemic period, when heightened uncertainty pushed median cash balances up by nearly 15% annually between September 2020 and September 2024.Companies are now sitting on a cash pile equivalent to nearly 5% of their total assets, up from 3.5% in September 2017 and 4% in September 2020, the analysis showed.

Sebi)—moves that suggest growing institutional and promoter confidence in the sector.However, experts caution that rich valuations, lumpy growth and cash-flow risks mean only a handful of companies may be able to outperform the broader market from here. While sentiment around the defence theme has cooled, conviction in the sector’s long-term growth story remains intact.The key question, then, is whether there are enough cues for defence stocks to deliver market-beating returns.The prevailing view among market participants is that defence stocks may not deliver market-beating performance in the near to medium term.

$100 and 120 million at a $500-550 million valuation. The latter, which first raised $2 million in May, is in talks to raise another round of funding, according to news website Moneycontrol.com.While more of these companies are likely to appear in 2026 and secure funding, they remain largely similar, with investors focused primarily on the size and disruptive potential of the market.In a business burdened by high customer acquisition costs, the core challenge lies in cracking unit economics.

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected] hits and mid-budget flicks alike lit up Indian cinemas in 2025, proving that viewers flock to theatres regardless of scale or star value, and raising hopes of an encore in the coming year.While trade experts expect 2025 to close with collections of ₹13,000-13,500 crore across languages, about 10-14% higher than the previous year, the failure of films such as War 2 and Sikandar featuring big stars, and franchise films like Thamma, signals that big names alone aren't enough.That said, surprise hits such as Chhaava, Saiyaara and Tere Ishk Mein, along with the breakout numbers of industries like Gujarati, Marathi and Malayalam, underscore the growing space for all kinds of content in theatres, unlike the perception built immediately after the pandemic when only larger-than-life titles were finding draw in cinemas.Devang Sampat, managing director of Cinepolis India, identified three highlights of the year.

Sensex is on track to end December marginally in the red, extending last year’s weak finish and marking the sixth time in close to a decade that the benchmark index has closed the holiday month with losses.A Mint analysis shows the index headed for a modest decline of about 0.2% in December, following a 2% fall in December 2024. The only worse December in recent years was 2022, when the Sensex dropped almost 4%.