Orienteering Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mumbai/Bengaluru: A stock price plunge and, in some cases, a cash crunch has prompted creditors to take control of shares pledged by promoters of at least 15 small-cap companies over the past six months. Solar project consultant and contactor Gensol Engineering Ltd and payment solutions provider AGS Transact Technologies Ltd, two companies that recently defaulted on loans, are among the small-cap firms that reported invocation of pledged shares, according to Prime Database, a Mumbai-based markets data tracking firm.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The International Monetary Fund in its recent spring meeting abandoned its single global growth forecast. It now presents three scenarios: 3.1% growth with 4.4% inflation, 2.5% growth with 5.4% inflation, or 2% growth with inflation above 6%, depending on how long the Strait of Hormuz stays shut. The International Energy Agency has called the 2026 disruption the worst energy shock the world has ever seen.

Rising tensions between the US and Iran have pushed global energy prices higher, bringing ceramic tile manufacturers under pressure.

Ather unveiled its new EL platform last year in August on which its future scooters will be built.The EL platform allows the company to a suite of products, ranging from family oriented scooters to sporty performance models, over five years.Ola Electric, dealing with losses and slowing sales, is shrinking its network from about 4,000 stores to around 700, it informed investors in February after the release of its December quarter earnings.Ather is set to double store count to 700 this financial year from 350 in fiscal 2025. A target of at least 1,100 by the end of March 2027 suggests that it would have added 750 stores or more in two years.The latest move by Tarun Mehta-led Ather comes after the Bengaluru company overtook crosstown rival Ola Electric in quarterly revenue, volume sales, and market valuation in the last six months.For two consecutive quarters, Q2 and Q3 FY26, Ather’s total revenue of ₹941 crore and ₹996 crore surpassed Ola Electric’s ₹756 crore and ₹504 crore.Since Ather’s listing in May 2025, the company’s shares have surged by 118% while Ola Electric’ shares have fallen by 51%.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The joint statement issued by India and the United States of America on the conclusion of their trade negotiations, which led to a framework for an interim trade agreement, has been read in India in sharply different ways. Many have hailed the strategic thinking and vision behind clinching this agreement soon after the conclusion of the India-EU free trade agreement.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Ever wonder why Germans seek perfection, Japanese pursue miniaturization and waste reduction, Americans are fussy about services and Indians settle for improvisation and what’s good enough? Is it something to do with where you reside? With pervasive technologies, affordable means of communication, maturing labour and capital markets and instant information dissemination, one may think that geography has become history, that who you are trumps where you are. But is it that simple? Or is geography destiny? “Who we are cannot be separated from where we’re from," notes writer Malcolm Gladwell.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. For all the effort Washington made to cut China’s exports to size, it has not altered the Asian manufacturing powerhouse’s basic economic orientation, as its latest trade figures show. Official data released on Wednesday reveal a record trade surplus posted by China in 2025.

₹336 per bag of 50 kg, as per Elara Securities (India).A key drag on the overall pricing trajectory came from the southern region, which registered the steepest sequential drop of 3.9% to ₹304 due to subdued demand. After witnessing the sharpest price hikes of nearly ₹20-45 per bag in April, cement prices in the south have consistently trended downward and ended 2025 on a weak note, said the Elara report dated 30 December.Prices in Tamil Nadu and Kerala fell by around ₹5 per bag, while prices in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were flat month-on-month in December.The problem of the South? The region has been primarily experiencing an oversupply, along with relatively lower demand growth.

Ambuja and Orient have outperformed the broad market index, with 18% and 15% CAGR, respectively, over the last five years. The proposed simplification of organizational structure across Adani’s cement companies should unlock further value for shareholders.The merger ratios approved by the Ambuja board will accord 328 shares of Ambuja Cements for every 100 ACC shares.

MUMBAI: After spending nearly $10 billion over three years to build India’s second-largest cement business, the Adani Group is moving to simplify what has become a sprawling corporate structure.The board of Ambuja Cements Ltd, part of billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate, late on Monday approved a plan to merge ACC Ltd and Orient Cement Ltd into Ambuja. Ambuja currently holds 50.05% in ACC and 72.66% in Orient.

₹5,000 crore into three loss-making and financially weak public sector general insurers—United India Insurance Co. (UIIC), National Insurance Co.

Andry José Hernández Romero, a gay Venezuelan makeup artist, has been sent by the US to a maximum security prison in El Salvador as part of Donald Trump-led administration’s mass deportation campaign. This was majorly due to ‘crown’ tattoos on his wrists that allegedly proved him to be a notorious gang member. The 31-year-old, who fled his home country in a bid to escape persecution for his sexual orientation as well as political beliefs, was detained at the Mexico-US border in August last year when he crossed over to take part in a pre-arranged asylum appointment in San Diego, California, The Guardian reported.

Ashapura Minechem Ltd.(up 3.30%), Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Ltd.(up 3.26%), Aro Granite Industries Ltd.(up 1.99%), The Orissa Minerals Development Company Ltd.(up 0.87%), MOIL Ltd.(up 0.55%), KIOCL Ltd.(up 0.48%), NMDC Ltd.(up 0.32%) and 20 Microns Ltd.(up 0.02%) stood among the top gainers.

Lexus Granito(India)Ltd.(up 2.35%), Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores Ltd.(up 2.19%), Pokarna Ltd.(up 1.55%), The Orissa Minerals Development Company Ltd.(up 1.14%), 20 Microns Ltd.(up 0.94%) and Ashapura Minechem Ltd.(up 0.06%) were among the top gainers.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Global hotel brands are making a beeline for India, signing a flurry of deals with local property owners to expand in one of the world's fastest growing hospitality markets.

These high-performing stocks that rallied more than 10% during the session included, Aegis Logistics(14.90%), Everlon Synth(14.76%), Sharp Investments(14.49%), Garware Tech(13.71%), BEML(13.59%), DRC Systems India(11.93%), STC India(11.63%), GPT Infraproj(10.89%), Investment & Precision Castings(10.77%) and Orient Refractories(10.60%).

«This is pulling back investment and it is likely to have slightly inflationary impacts in the US in particular, which means slightly more elevated interest rates and this is going to impact Asia-Pacific through tighter monetary policy,» says Vishrut Rana, S&P Global Ratings. Let me first up ask you about the tariffs, the impact that this is going to have globally. We have been getting a lot of commentary. At one point in time you think that Trump is going to go all out, all aggressive. This morning you got comments where he said April 2nd is when he will put the reciprocal tariffs, but they will be lenient. How should one read into all of these developments and react to that? Vishrut Rana: Indeed in these highly uncertain times a lot to watch out for. So, the impact of tariffs on the global economy is going to be significant. We think that it is already having an impact in terms of delaying investment plans for firms across the region until there is more clarity in terms of where the trade tensions are going to materialise.

MOIL Ltd.(up 1.57%), Ashapura Minechem Ltd.(up 0.62%), Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Ltd.(up 0.61%), Oriental Trimex Ltd.(up 0.42%), Coal India Ltd.(up 0.34%), KIOCL Ltd.(up 0.20%), Madhav Marbles & Granites Ltd.(up 0.17%), Lexus Granito(India)Ltd.(up 0.15%) and NMDC Ltd.(up 0.09%) were among the top gainers.

Power and Instrumentation(Gujarat)Ltd.(up 5.00%), Kalpataru Projects International Ltd.(up 3.73%), Transformers & Rectifiers(India)Ltd.(up 1.32%) and GE Vernova T&D India Ltd.(up 0.02%) stood among the top gainers.

Lexus Granito(India)Ltd.(up 1.98%), Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores Ltd.(up 0.41%) and Madhav Marbles & Granites Ltd.(up 0.30%) were among the top gainers.

mutual funds (MFs). According to the latest Reserve Bank of India data, investments in MFs more than doubled from ₹62,499 crore in March 2024 to ₹1.41 lakh crore in January 2025. Significantly, these investments have picked up at a time when their core business of lending is slowing down. Banks’ investments in MFs had risen from ₹48,810 crore in March 2023 to ₹81,790 crore in January 2024.