Trade Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: India’s foodgrain stocks have surged well above its buffer norms, strengthening the country’s cushion against supply shocks and global price swings. Government data shows central pool reserves were at 60.48 million tonnes (mt) as on 1 April—nearly three times the mandate—fanning a debate over how best to manage surplus stocks to benefit both farmers and consumers.The latest data marks a strong recovery from 33.2 mt stock in 2023 and 37.65 mt in 2024, when food grain inventories had tightened.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Wall Street’s favorite new way of making money is selling sophisticated investing strategies to Main Street.JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and other banks are competing to sell programs that systematically execute trades based on preset rules. Hedge funds and others have long deployed such quant-trading strategies, but now pension funds, endowments, family offices and others are embracing them.Asset managers are also seeing a surge in interest in the strategies from wealthy investors.Fueling interest in these trading products, which banks call quantitative investment strategies, or QIS: fear that traditional investment approaches can’t keep up in the age of artificial intelligence.“The speed of the market is increasing, and we don’t have conviction about managers who mainly rely on fundamental analysis,” says Elmer Huh, chief investment officer of the Murdock Trust, a foundation in the Pacific Northwest.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi’s) measures to cool the retail frenzy in options trading appear to have begun yielding results, with small-trader participation declining almost 20% in FY26 from the previous year.Equity options, which comprise index and stock options, are the most widely traded derivative products within the futures and options (F&O) segment. The fall in participation is thus a clear outcome of Sebi’s measures, experts said.According to NSE data, the number of investors trading less than ₹10,000 each on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell by two-fifths to 450,000 in FY26, from 780,000 in FY25, according to data from the stock exchange.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India needs to rethink its power storage options in the light of an energy shock that has exposed the fragility of global supply chains. Since geopolitical conflict and wobbly rules of international engagement are unlikely to relieve us of trade clamps being used as weapons, we must adjust our cost and security calculus accordingly. At particular risk are battery electric storage systems (BESS) that are now increasingly favoured by renewable energy (RE) producers for grid-scale storage.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Low rainfall may hit India’s water reservoir replenishment, raising concerns among farmers and policymakers. Water reservoir levels stand at 44.7% of total capacity as of 9 April, better than last year, but experts warn that weak rainfall could hurt irrigation, fuelling worries over farm output and inflation in Asia’s third-largest economy. Mint explores.As per the Central Water Commission(CWC), water level in 166 key reservoirs stands at 44.7% of total live capacity, higher than last year (38%) and above the normal benchmark of 35%.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.While the market shows some promise and trends are expected to gain momentum, current upward movement is limited. Higher price levels are meeting selling pressure, which is dampening bullish sentiment.Buy above ₹520, stop ₹490, target 575 (multiday)Buy above ₹181, stop ₹168, target ₹205 (multiday)Buy above ₹76, stop ₹71.50, target ₹85 (multiday)On 20 April, Indian equity markets witnessed a volatile session, extending gains for the second consecutive day but ultimately closing flat as global uncertainties weighed on sentiment. The Nifty opened on a mildly positive note and showed strength during the late morning trade, supported by selective buying in banking and metal counters.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India is emerging as a key growth market for champagne as the country's appetite for premium spirits grows. And, if the duty cuts planned under the proposed trade deal with the European Union (EU) kick in, the spirit would get more affordable and usher in new growth in a hugely underpenetrated market.Senior representatives of the Comité Champagne, which represents growers and manufacturing houses in France’s Champagne region, said India’s champagne market has climbed back to pre-pandemic levels, with shipments at about 60,000 bottles in 2025, close to a peak of around 65,000 bottles recorded in 2016.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Utilities plan $1.4 trillion in capital expenditures through 2030, a 21% increase, driven by AI’s rising power demands.Global data center electricity demand is projected to double by 2030 to 945 terawatt-hours, with over 800 new centers in development.AI power infrastructure companies like GE Vernova (up 38%) and Vertiv (up 80%) have strong backlogs and high valuations.Tech is leading the market again as the war in Iran recedes and first-quarter earnings come in strong. It’s a great sign for companies supplying the industry’s insatiable thirst for power generation and infrastructure.Utilities plan to spend $1.4 trillion on capital expenditures through 2030, up 21% from estimates last year, according to the nonprofit PowerLines.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI: The Centre plans to buy 1 million tonnes of chana (gram) to build adequate buffer stocks to manage potential supply shortfalls and ensure steady availability in the open market, two officials said.The purchases through the Price Stabilisation Fund are part of graded measures to keep prices of essential food grains stable and prevent market volatility amid forecasts of a below-normal monsoon this year and the possibility of El Niño, a weather phenomenon that increases the risk of drought and reduced crop yields.“The procurement drive will be carried out under existing price support mechanisms, with agencies stepping in to buy from farmers both to support farm-gate prices and to maintain retail price stability,” one official said.India’s chana production climbed 6.2% to 11.8 million tonnes in FY26, with the yield up 1.6% to 1,238 kg per hectare.“Chana production has improved significantly this crop year compared to last year, largely due to the import duty on chana and yellow peas. This has supported domestic prices and encouraged higher sowing.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A week is a long time in geopolitics. Consider the Hormuz flip in the theatre of economic warfare. Last Monday, after peace talks failed, America sought to choke Iran’s economy with an armed blockade of Iranian ports.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Opportunistic investors who traded for only a single day constituted almost a whopping one-fourth of the 35.8 million active retail investors on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) last fiscal year, data in the bourse's monthly Market Pulse issue showed.Even when aggregated, investors trading up to 10 days constituted 69% of the total active retail base. This reveals a "highly skewed, long-tailed pattern, where bulk of investors trade only a handful of days in a year, while a very small proportion participates regularly," according to NSE's Economic Policy & Research Department (NSE EPR), which prepared the data.In absolute terms, those trading for just one day stood at 8.43 million investors, comprising 24% of the total individual investor base of 35.84 million.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Nifty 50 and Sensex rose over 1% last week, extending gains a week before—their strongest in over five years—but the pace has now moderated. On Friday, both indices closed about 0.65% higher, with the Nifty at 24,353.55 and the Sensex at 78,493.56. With signs of stability emerging, we should look at stock-specific action.IRCON(Cmp ₹154.69)Why it’s recommended: Triveni Turbine (TRITURBINE) is a leading India-based manufacturer of industrial steam turbines up to 100 MW, specialising in design, manufacture, and custom-engineered back-pressure and condensing steam turbines.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Consensus earnings estimates for the fourth quarter of FY26 point to double digit growth, albeit at a lower level than the previous quarter due to the impact of the West Asia war and a high base effect, says Satish Ramanathan, chief investment officer-equity at JM Financial Asset Management Company in an interview. Leading companies may emerge better given superior pricing power.Asked whether it is time for foreign portfolio investors to return to Indian equity markets, Ramanathan reply was: “…we believe Indian equity markets are now reasonable as regards valuations and are poised to benefit from a diversified economy and domestic market.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Intel still has a long way to go to reclaim its former glory. The problem is that investors are acting like that’s already happened.The storied chip maker’s stock price has soared 88% so far this year, and more than tripled over the last 12 months.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Centre is planning to roll back a significant number of quality control orders (QCOs) imposed on input materials, aiming to ease compliance burdens and support manufacturing amid US-Iran war-led disruptions.The exercise, being led by the consumer affairs department, will be completed in phases, and all line ministries have been asked to identify products that could benefit from the removal of quality controls, said two government officials familiar with the discussions.“The proposed rollback is expected to focus on input materials where domestic capacity remains limited or where mandatory certification has disrupted supply chains,” said the first government official, on the condition of anonymity.The move follows a NITI Aayog committee recommendation to ease QCOs to augment manufacturing and ensure the availability of raw materials at affordable rates.“As recommended by NITI Aayog, we have asked line ministries to identify all such QCOs that can be withdrawn without impacting quality and domestic industry,” said the second official, also on the condition of anonymity.This official, however, maintained that some important QCOs will be introduced, if needed, to protect against substandard imports of finished goods or raw materials.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.If you want proof that multilateralism is limping and hobbling, all you have to do is look at the latest ministerial of the World Trade Organization (WTO) held last month. The talks ended without any consensus over a global trade deal, adding yet another episode to years of paused global trade agreements.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Big banks in America have ridden a dealmaking boom that has helped drive demand for corporate loans and pulled record-breaking fees from the wild swings in financial markets. But the most surprising and intriguing news so far in the past week’s earnings parade of the US financial sector was the diverging fortunes of bond traders at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.The war in the West Asia has created a huge amount of uncertainty since the American and Israeli attacks on Iran began at the end of February, but mergers and acquisitions still got done and US commercial and industrial loans jumped by the most in more than three years.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Hostilities in West Asia may have eased, but oil prices remain well above pre-war levels. Though prices have stayed below $100 a barrel since the ceasefire announcement, conflicting signals from the US and Iran are keeping markets volatile.Mint looks at the near-term outlook.Yes.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.From India falling to the sixth rank in the IMF’s GDP rankings to retail inflation rising at a quicker pace in March amid the West Asia war, the moderation in shareholder payouts by TCS to parent Tata Sons, and commercial banks facing fewer penalties from the RBI, indicating improved compliance, here’s a compilation of this week’s news in numbers.India has slipped to the sixth rank globally in gross domestic product (GDP) rankings for 2025 (FY26) and 2026 (FY27), falling behind the UK after holding the fifth spot for three consecutive years, according to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) latest data.The pullback follows a downward revision in the country’s nominal GDP after the base year was updated from 2011-12 to 2022-23, which corrected previous overestimations, Mint reported. Additionally, a sharp depreciation in the rupee has weakened India’s standing in dollar terms.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Friday authorized 17 banks to import precious metals for the period from 1 April to March 2029, according to an official order.Of these, Union Bank of India and Russia- headquartered SBER Bank are authorised to import only gold, while 15 others, including Axis Bank Ltd, State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, and HDFC Bank Ltd, are authorised to import both gold and silver, the order showed. Bank of India, Deutsche Bank, Federal Bank Ltd and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd are also on the list.In FY26, Indian Overseas Bank was authorised to import only gold, which has now been expanded to both precious metals, the order showed.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The artificial-intelligence trade came roaring back to life this week, with the Nasdaq Composite closing at a fresh high on Thursday, marking 12 straight days of gains. Underneath the optimism, however, are some of the same concerns about circular finance that plagued the stocks at the start of the year.Those are valid concerns ahead of a flurry of Big Tech earnings reports due out next week, including Google parent Alphabet, Facebook parent Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Apple.