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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The third gulf war should, in theory, be a huge blessing for big oil. In January most analysts had expected Brent crude, the global oil-price benchmark, to average $60 a barrel in 2026. It ended the first quarter at $118; refined products have risen faster still.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Caution is returning to small-, and mid-cap stocks after last month’s sharp rally, with experts warning that stretched valuations could leave the segment vulnerable to even minor macroeconomic and earnings shocksThe BSE Smallcap index rose nearly 20% in April, while the BSE Midcap index gained almost 14%, their strongest monthly performances since May 2014. In comparison, the Sensex rose 7%.But the rebound has been uneven.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.President Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on European cars is a warning for investors and U.S. trading partners that the Iran war hasn’t dissuaded him from his trade agenda or his willingness to strong-arm allies through economic pressure.Trump said Friday that the U.S. would increase tariffs on European cars and trucks to 25% from the 15% level that was agreed to as part of a preliminary trade deal last summer.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Representatives of the Association of NSE Members of India (ANMI) met with central bank officials on Wednesday, seeking a relaxation of an imminent regulatory restriction on lenders funding capital market proprietary traders, arguing that not all such trades are speculative, according to a person aware of the discussions.While Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials heard out the ANMI delegation, they offered no commitment , he said, requesting anonymity.While confirming the meeting, an ANMI official said, "A lot of things get discussed. It's unfair to be point-wise and specific about what is discussed or not." "With due respect, everything discussed in a closed room is not open to transmission everywhere," the official added.The meeting, requested for by the brokers' body, came after the central bank on 30 March deferred its 13 February circular on banks' capital markets exposure for three months through 1 July.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: India is tapping alternate trade routes to facilitate movement of cargoes—exports as well as energy imports—moving shipping lines at some of the West Asian ports not affected by the Strait of Hormuz blockade amid the ongoing US-Iran war, said a government official on Wednesday.Speaking to reporters, Opesh Kumar Sharma, director in the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways, said India and West Asian countries are taking these options to ensure least interruption in trade between the Gulf region and India, including fuel shipments, at a time when the Strait of Hormuz, a key channel for 20% of global oil and gas trade, remains largely closed.Alternate shipping services have been operationalized in the backdrop of the West Asia crisis, he said, with shipping lines including CMA CGM (Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement - Compagnie Générale Maritime), Unifeeder and AP Moller-Maersk connecting Indian ports such as Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, Mundra and Hazira to Sohar (Oman), Fujairah (UAE), and Khorfakkan (UAE) in West Asia."So, there are many places which have been activated. The cargo is moving,” he said.The industry and the government have noted issues related to trade routes, and the reduction in congestion at the ports indicated “normalization”, Sharma said.West Asia and North Africa (Wana) is a key region for India for energy imports and non-oil exports.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The rupee closed at a record low of 95.29 on Tuesday as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to sell and crude prices stayed above $100 per barrel. Costlier oil is pushing up India’s import bill, while weak foreign inflows are limiting any recovery, said market participants.The rupee will see a meaningful recovery only once Brent crude falls below $100 and capital flows turn supportive again, market experts said, adding that against some emerging market peers, the rupee is beginning to look undervalued.Yet, the overall bias remains weak, with the rupee consistently facing selling pressure on rebounds.“In the near term, 94.70 is likely to act as resistance, while 95.50 is seen as immediate support, with markets closely tracking US non-farm payrolls and unemployment data this week for further direction," said Jateen Trivedi, vice-president and research analyst for commodity and currency at LKP Securities.Over the past year, the rupee has weakened by nearly 11%, with over 4% of that decline coming since the war broke out.Even as earnings improve and nominal growth normalizes, the rupee remains under pressure from higher crude prices this year and continued FPI selling after last year's trade tensions, said Harsh Gupta Madhusudan, fund manager, PIPE, Ionic Asset.The last one to two years have been the perfect storm for India with gold imports remaining strong, India not having any clear AI play, and post-2024 elections macro tightness filtering through with a lag, which is now being reversed.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Representatives of the Association of NSE Members of India (Anmi) are scheduled to meet Reserve Bank of India officials on Wednesday to seek a relaxation on recent measures which effectively bar banks from funding proprietary traders for capital markets trades, two people aware of the matter said.The meeting, requested for by ANMI, comes after the central bank on 30 March deferred its 13 February circular on banks' capital markets exposure for three months through 1 July. Prop traders are brokers who trade for themselves."There will be a meeting between three to four members of Anmi and relevant RBI officials," the first person said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Stock market recap: Indian equity markets ended Tuesday’s session on a cautious note, with the Nifty 50 declining 0.36% to settle at 24,032.80. The index saw volatile consolidation through the day, moving between an intraday low of 23,882.05 and a high of 24,081.70.Market breadth was mildly negative, with 1,604 stocks advancing against 1,680 declining, indicating a broadly balanced but slightly bearish undertone.Sectoral performance was mixed.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Stock market recap: Frontline indices, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, ended in the negative territory on Tuesday, largely due to profit booking in select banking and financial heavyweights.The 30-share pack Sensex closed 252 points, or 0.33%, lower at 77,017.79, while the NSE barometer Nifty 50 ended at 24,032.80, down 87 points, or 0.36%.Amid a series of upcoming events set to shape market sentiment, markets navigate an environment clouded with uncertainty.Three stocks to trade, recommended by NeoTrader’s Raja Venkatraman:ABCAPITAL (Cmp ₹360.85)ABCAPITAL: Buy above ₹363, stop ₹340 target ₹405 (Multiday)AUROPHARMA (Cmp ₹1428.10)AUROPHARMA: Buy above ₹1430, stop ₹1390 target ₹1550 (Multiday) FINCABLES (Cmp ₹1054.95)FINCABLES: Buy above ₹1060, stop ₹1020 target ₹1150 (Multiday)Stock Market RecapOn 5 May 2026, Indian equities ended lower in a volatile session ahead of the Nifty weekly F&O expiry. The Sensex slipped 251.61 points or 0.33% to close at 77,017.79, while the Nifty fell 86.5 points or 0.36% to settle at 24,032.80.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: The Centre's reliance on small savings to finance its budget deficit increased in the previous financial year, with collections under the National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) rising to ₹2.19 trillion in the 11 months to February 2026, said two government officials aware of the matter.The overall mobilization from these long-term, lock-in-based savings schemes such as Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Savings Certificate (NSC), and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana helped reduce pressure on market borrowing, even though monthly inflows remained uneven, the officials cited earlier said on the condition of anonymity.According to department of expenditure data reviewed by Mint, NSSF collections during the first 11 months of FY26 were nearly ₹30,000 crore higher than ₹1.89 trillion recorded in the same period of FY25.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.With the government planning to roll out E-PRAAPTI, an Aadhaar-linked portal by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), subscribers will soon be able to trace and access dormant or unclaimed provident fund accounts with minimal effort. The platform is designed to let users identify legacy accounts, link them to their Universal Account Number (UAN), update KYC details and reactivate balances through a fully digital process.The shift marks a move from an employer-dependent system to a member-led model, where individuals can manage PF accounts directly using digital authentication.Mint explores how the portal could help unlock dormant provident fund accounts and what the shift to a member-led system means for subscribers.India has a large number of inactive provident fund (PF) accounts, largely due to job changes, incomplete KYC, or accounts created before UAN became universal.Over time, EPFO has acknowledged that a significant portion of its total accounts are inactive or inoperative—many of them small-value balances that workers have lost track of.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd’s (BHEL) shares have gained about 8% in the past two trading sessions, and also hit an all-time high of ₹399 apiece on Monday, surpassing the previous all-time high of ₹390 seen on 7 November 2007. Not without reason.The state-owned equipment manufacturer’s consolidated Ebitda jumped 111% year-on-year to ₹1,753 crore for the March quarter (Q4FY26).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the licence of Paytm Payments Bank, culminating a series of supervisory actions that began with a halt on new customer onboarding in March 2022 and subsequent stringent business restrictions.While the action may appear rooted in regulatory non-compliance, it has reignited a broader debate over the viability of payments banks. Conceived to serve the unbanked, their relevance is now being questioned amid near-universal account ownership driven by Jan Dhan Yojana and intensifying competition from fintech platforms, most notably UPI.With a key player exiting, concerns are mounting over the sustainability of India’s differentiated banking model.Payments banks were set up to advance financial inclusion by offering small savings accounts and digital payment services to migrant workers, small businesses and low-income households in the unorganized sector.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.With critical triggers like state election results and Q4 earnings converging, investors are navigating a landscape defined by high uncertainty. Strategic clarity remains elusive, making it difficult for traders to act decisively.Buy above ₹415, stop ₹395, target ₹460 (multiday)Buy above ₹930, stop ₹890, target ₹1025 (multiday)Buy above ₹1025, stop ₹960, target ₹1125 (multiday)Indian equity markets staged a strong rebound on 4 May, with both benchmark indices closing higher after Thursday’s sharp sell-off.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.There is a discomforting paradox at the heart of India’s current macroeconomic situation. By almost every conventional measure of sovereign economic health—growth, inflation, fiscal trajectory, external vulnerability and investor confidence in the real economy—India’s fundamentals are among the strongest of any large emerging market. Yet the rupee has depreciated by over 13% against the dollar in the past two years and by more than 15% since January 2023.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted not just oil and gas supplies, but caused a global fertilizer shock as well. Of the world’s traded fertilizers, more than 40% of urea and 20-30% of potassic and phosphatic fertilizers—as well as 45% of the sulphur that goes into fertilizer manufacture—are shipped from Gulf countries via that vital waterway.The blocked region also accounted for a fifth of all traded liquefied natural gas (LNG), some of which was feedstock for urea, before traffic through the strait came to halt. A shortage of all these products threatens food production and signals higher food prices globally, with hunger a distinct likelihood in countries that rely on imports for nutrition.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.John Pederson, 33, couldn’t work. The former Outback Steakhouse line cook was recovering from a car crash and running out of money. Kalshi, the prediction market, promised a quick way to fix that.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s power prices on electricity exchange hit zero for the first time on Friday, 1 May, raising concerns for investors and developers as the country moves towards its target 500 giga watt (GW) non-fossil capacity by 2030.Data from the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) showed power prices were at zero in two blocks of 15 minutes each on Friday, as demand dipped due to easing temperatures and low industrial demand but power supply — especially solar power — climbed, bringing prices down.The dip in demand came from partly cloudy skies, light rains, and gusty winds in northern India and Delhi-NCR, and heavy rainfall in parts of eastern India. Similar weather was witnessed on Saturday, 2 May.To be sure, power prices on the real time market (RTM) platform of the IEX had dropped to near-zero twice earlier—on the afternoon of 5 April, and on 25 May last year, under similar circumstances.In a LinkedIn post on on Friday, IEX said: “Cooler weather, record solar generation (~57.5 GW), and inflexible thermal supply are leading to ample sell-side availability on the Exchange.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Once seen as competition to mutual funds, portfolio management services (PMS) providers are increasingly using them as building blocks. They are offering curated mutual fund (MF) portfolios to high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) who want the simplicity of MFs combined with professional, end-to-end portfolio management and execution.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Shortly after Charles Schwab announced in April that it would soon allow investors to trade crypto directly on its platform, financial advisor Jeff Judge received a question from a 68-year-old client who had always dismissed Bitcoin: Was he “missing something?” the client asked Judge.The client ended up investing $125,000—some 5% of his $2.5 million portfolio—in a crypto exchanged-traded fund (ETF).“Institutional credibility moved the needle in a way that price performance never did,” said Judge, managing partner at Chesapeake Financial Planners in the Baltimore area. “When Fidelity, BlackRock and now Schwab put their name on it, older investors interpret that as a green light, or at least a sign they should ask the question.”Crypto has surged to a $2.6 trillion market cap, up more than 1,000% from April 2020 as retail investors and institutional ones alike have taken an interest in digital currency.Bitcoin’s price jumped from roughly $8,000 per coin in early 2020 to as high as $126,000 per coin in October of last year.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.From India and New Zealand formally signing a free trade agreement (FTA) to India once again becoming a net exporter of finished steel, the index of industrial production (IIP) easing to a five-month low in March, freshers facing disruptions in job offers,and gender disparity in India’s boardrooms — here is a compilation of this week's news in numbers.India and New Zealand formally signed a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) on Monday after completing the negotiations in just nine months in December 2025, making this one of the fastest trade deals ever concluded. The deal carries a $20 billion investment commitment from Wellington over the next 15 years, commerce minister Piyush Goyal said.The FTA will grant duty-free access to all Indian exports to New Zealand, spanning 100% of tariff lines.