UPS Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Indraprastha Gas Ltd’s (IGL) March quarter (Q4FY26) earnings underscored a familiar contradiction for city gas distributors (CGDs)—robust demand growth alongside rising concerns over profitability owing to cost pressures.Volumes rose 6% year-on-year to 9.7 million standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) in Q4, aided by 5% growth in CNG and 9% and 13% increases in industrial/commercial and domestic PNG volumes, respectively. Revenue grew 5.4% to ₹4,163 crore.The company has guided for FY27 exit volumes of 10.6 mmscmd.Tailwinds remain supportive.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The domestic precious metals market is adjusting to a major policy reset. The government has raised import duty on gold and silver by about 9%, including cess.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Remember what fund managers were telling you in the last quarter of 2025—that you must have gold in your portfolio? It included even those who had been advising you just a year or two before to sell the ‘unproductive’ gold you had at home and put it all in equities. Indian equity markets did not do well and gold did, so the advice changed. Unfortunately, this change came far too late.Investments from Indian investors into gold funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) peaked in January, even exceeding equity flows.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Sen. Tim Scott called President Trump on Tuesday with a last-ditch plea.The president was on the verge of publicly endorsing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s tightly contested Republican primary.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s insurance sector has found renewed vigour, with two global players ready to expand their market presence and others exploring entry. On Monday, US-based Liberty Mutual Insurance announced a stake increase in its Indian venture Liberty General Insurance to 74% from a bit above 55%.A day earlier, UK-based Prudential said it will buy a 75% stake in Bharti Life Insurance Company. Also, Germany’s Allianz has struck a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with Jio Financial Services.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A weekslong selloff in government bonds has intensified in recent days, threatening to drive up borrowing costs across the globe and knocking some momentum out of what had been a furious stock rally.With bond prices sliding, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, a key benchmark for mortgage rates and other borrowing costs, reached as high as 4.687% Tuesday, its highest intraday level since January 2025.The yield on the 30-year U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.For the last few years, Indian companies had a fairly predictable ally on their side: benign input costs. Crude prices stayed manageable, freight rates cooled after the pandemic spike, and commodity inflation largely remained under control.That cushion is beginning to disappear.Crude oil prices have surged sharply in recent months amid escalating tensions in West Asia, pushing India’s wholesale inflation to a 42-month high of 8.3% in April 2026. Fuel and power inflation alone jumped nearly 25%, while prices of crude petroleum, metals and manufactured products also moved up sharply.For India Inc, this creates a familiar problem.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI: Standardized valuation, identification of surplus land and norms for the transfer, exchange, lease and commercial sale of land are among the key features of a new framework that the Centre has put in place to unlock public land assets under the second phase of the ₹16.7 trillion National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP 2.0), two government officials said.The Department of Expenditure has issued consolidated guidelines governing the transfer and alienation of Central government land to speed up the monetization, redevelopment and transfer of such assets, replacing the fragmented and decades-old rules followed separately by ministries and departments to support infrastructure creation and mobilize non-tax revenue, they said.Government entities, including the railways, defence establishments, ports and state-run companies hold vast tracts of land across the country, including 2.35 lakh acres of surplus land with loss-making central public sector enterprises.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Muthoot FinCorp Ltd, one of India's largest gold loan non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), is seeking to raise up to ₹4,000 crore through an initial public offering, even as it attempts to convince investors that it is more than just the business it has spent decades building.Muthoot wants to be read as a diversified, technology-enabled financial services company that can grow through its branch network, app, and a wider product set.That is the tension at the heart of the company’s initial public offering (IPO) pitch. In an interview with Mint, chief executive Shaji Varghese said the company is moving “from a single-product company to a company of a social segment with multiple products".The NBFC, with 3,800 branches, ₹56,185 crore in assets under management (AUM) and over ₹1,640 crore in net profit for FY26, approved the IPO on Saturday, subject to shareholder and regulatory clearances.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: India’s largest banks are stepping up cyber defences, hiring, and insurance coverage as concerns grow that advanced AI systems could make cyberattacks faster and harder to contain, exposing gaps in preparedness and protection.The pressure has risen after a finance ministry meeting with top banking executives on 23 April focused on banks’ preparedness for AI-linked cyber threats. The meeting came weeks after Anthropic unveiled Claude Mythos, a frontier AI model the company said could identify vulnerabilities and conduct cyberattacks at unprecedented speed.Concerns around AI-enabled attacks have grown since September last year, when a cloud storage server exposed personal banking data of nearly 300,000 individuals, including loan account details linked to several large banks and non-banking finance companies.India’s largest private lender, HDFC Bank, told Mint it reviews cyber insurance annually and is now widening coverage as risks evolve.“The bank is continuously strengthening its cyber security posture, including hiring highly-skilled talent across security engineering, developer security operations, red-teaming or simulation of cyber attacks, and AI security,” said Ramesh Lakshminarayanan, group head of information technology and chief information officer at HDFC Bank.At Axis Bank, teams participate in programmes such as adversarial AI and ‘red teaming’ to simulate attacks.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Mumbai: The TVS Venu Group has been expanding its financial services operations across multiple segments, including insurance and asset management, and their latest plan to acquire a 10% stake in Jana Small Finance Bank (SFB) marks a strategic extension into banking, giving access to the mass affluent and small-business segments.On Monday, the Chennai-based conglomerate said it will acquire a 9.9% stake in the bank through a combination of primary issuance of warrants and a secondary purchase. This includes acquisition of a 5.64% stake by TVS Venu for ₹317 crore and 4.9% by TVS Motor Company for ₹193 crore.Bengaluru-based Jana SFB has over 12 million customers, and advances and deposits of over ₹35,000 crore each as of 31 March 2026.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.High up in the mountains or deep in the jungles, your smartphone may still stay connected, thanks to direct-to-device (D2D) satellite technology making its way to India. However, the technology has opened up divisions, as telecom operators, satellite service providers and broadband firms spar over customer control, spectrum, and launch timelines.The department of telecommunications (DoT) has proposed a 'wholesale' model for satellite communications like D2D, which is currently under the telecom regulator's consultation process.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.BENGALURU: India’s top engineering and management institutes are no longer content with merely incubating startups. Increasingly, they also want to participate in the upside created by companies emerging from their own ecosystems.Institutions including Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, IIT Madras and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru are setting up venture funds to invest in campus-linked deeptech startups, as rising investor interest in sectors such as semiconductors, defence and spacetech pushes universities to play a larger role in the businesses they help build.But why are they doing this now? How are these funds structured? And what kind of startups are they backing? Mint explains.So far, IIT Bombay and IIT Madras have launched venture funds, while IISc Bengaluru is in the process of setting up one.The funds are being structured through affiliated entities, incubators and alumni-backed networks because IITs and IISc operate as Section 8 entities, or non-profit organisations.IIT Madras, through its research park, has partnered with venture firm Unicorn India Ventures to launch the IITM Unicorn Frontier Fund, a ₹600 crore vehicle with a ₹400 crore green-shoe option.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp has doubled its share buyback programme to $2 billion in 2026, with the flexibility to buy shares worth as much as $3.45 billion as the Nasdaq-listed company looks to instill investors with confidence after its stock was battered this year.The board of directors authorized the increase in the share repurchase target from $1 billion originally planned for 2026, the company said in a statement 18 May. The repurchase is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2026.“Our plan to increase the amount of share repurchases reflects our strong conviction in the long-term opportunity AI creates and our critical role in it as an AI builder,” S Ravi Kumar, chief executive officer of Cognizant, said in the statement.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Electric mobility in India has moved from being an environmental statement to an economic necessity.An expected yet sudden ₹3-per-litre fuel hike, along with government austerity measures such as remote-work mandates to conserve foreign reserves, has intensified the pressure on internal combustion engines. Electric vehicles (EVs) are no longer futuristic alternatives — they are increasingly financial hedges against fuel volatility.But unlocking their full value requires new habits.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: India’s alternative investment fund industry is seeking to widen access to a small but fast-growing pool of wealthy investors, arguing that a cumbersome accreditation system and limited incentives are slowing participation even as the sector scales sharply.The industry has made a representation to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) seeking a simpler accreditation system and stronger regulatory benefits for accredited investors, according to two people aware of the development.“AIFs made a representation to Sebi last month to make the accreditation process more friendly for investors,” one of the people said on condition of anonymity. “Accredited investors also need proper incentives to grow this segment.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.KYIV—Ukraine’s military has wrestled Russia’s much-larger army almost to a halt in recent months, having gained a tactical and technological edge.This summer will test whether it can turn that slender advantage into a strategic turning point.Fast-improving Ukrainian drone capabilities are hurting the invaders’ logistics behind the battlefield, and pounding oil infrastructure and military targets deeper inside Russia.“We are not only holding the line, but we are also increasing pressure,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in April. Russia’s monthly casualties now exceed its army recruitment, he said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.For decades, India’s unorganized sector has remained a mainstay of employment in the economy, even as its share of economic output has declined.Large companies and factories have failed to generate jobs at the pace required to absorb a growing labour force. In that vacuum, the unorganized sector—small shops, workshops, grocery stores, tiny manufacturing units and street vendors—remains the fallback.Yet compiling reliable data on these enterprises has long been a challenge.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A college senior called recently with a practical problem. He had suffered a cardiac episode some years ago and was finding it difficult to now increase his health cover. Every insurer he approached either declined or imposed permanent exclusions on cardiac conditions.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.America has reportedly extended the waiver of its sanctions on purchases of Russian crude oil by another 30 days, just days after it expired. This reduces uncertainty over India’s oil imports from Russia, even as New Delhi has made it clear that India’s oil-buying is not affected by third-party impositions.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) slashed some of their bearish positions in Nifty and Bank Nifty derivatives, while also turning buyers in the cash market, on hopes of a rebound in Indian equities amid elevated oil prices.FPIs were net buyers of shares worth a provisional ₹2,813.69 crore on Monday, according to BSE data, helping the market pivot from deep intraday losses to end in the green.Nifty recovered 333 points from its intraday low of 23,317.10 to close at 23,649.95, up 0.3% from Friday’s close.Alongside FPI inflows, domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹2,682.12 crore, as per provisional exchange figures.The rebound was driven not just by institutional cash buying, but also by FPIs squaring off short index call positions and trimming short hedges in Nifty and Bank Nifty futures on Monday.FPIs cut short call positions by a sharp 42,153 contracts, taking cumulative net shorts to 214,366 contracts — implying expectations among some of a bounce on Tuesday, which coincides with weekly Nifty expiry, per NSE data.Additionally, long-term foreign funds reduced their bearish Nifty and Bank Nifty futures positions by 6,641 contracts to a cumulative 209,866 contracts.On balance, traders sold 134 Nifty puts against 100 Nifty calls expiring Tuesday, up from 97 puts sold against 100 calls on Friday.The higher proportion of puts sold relative to calls indicates optimism about a rally of at least 1% from Monday’s close, according to NSE data.Based on NSE options data, Nifty could test 23,800 on Tuesday.