India

Four EU sources told reporters that after a meeting on Sunday, EU envoys were on the verge to agree on an 18th package against Russia in response to its full-scale invasion into Ukraine. The sanctions would include a lower cap on Russian crude oil prices. Sources said that all elements of the package have been agreed upon, but one member state has still a technical reservation about the new cap. Sources - who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss confidential discussions - stated that they expected to reach a complete agreement on Monday ahead of the foreign...

A government order stated that India reversed its ten-year-old mandate for the installation of $30 billion in clean-air equipment and lowered sulphur emissions rules at most coal-fired plants. In December, it was reported that the government is reviewing 2015 standards that require nearly 540 coal based power plants to install flue gas desulphurisation systems (FGD), which removes sulphur in the exhaust gases of the plants in phases beginning in 2027. The Federal Environment Ministry issued a gazette notice late Friday that exempted from the 2015 mandate 79% of coal-fired plants outside of a 10-km radius (6 miles) of populated and...

Four industry sources with knowledge of the matter have said that India intends to import about 10% of its domestic cooking gas from the U.S. starting in 2026. This is part of an effort to increase energy purchases and narrow the trade gap between Washington and India. Middle Eastern LPG producers are the world's largest importers and consumers of liquefied gas. In 2024, more than 90% (or 20.5 million tons) of their imports will come from this region. LPG, a mixture of butane and propane used as a cooking fuel, is imported mainly by state retailers Indian Oil Corp. Bharat...

Data from depository institutions showed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who have been buying Indian stocks for three consecutive months, continued to do so in June. Their top choices were financials and oil & gas stocks. FPIs poured 89.46 billion rupees ($1.05 billion) into financials in June - 61.3% of the month's total 145.90 billion-rupee inflows, aided by attractive valuations, a sharper-than-expected 50-basis-points interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India, and a 100 bps reduction in the cash reserve ratio. Since the beginning of the month, foreign funds have invested 456.57 bn rupees into the financial sector. This...

Reliance Industries, owned by Indian billionaire MukeshAmbani, said it would spin off its consumer products unit to create a new company to attract additional investors to the business. Reliance has a consumer business that includes brands like Campa Cola which competes against Coca-Cola and Pepsi. There are also dozens of snacks and confectionery products, such as Mondelez Cadbury chocolates, who fight for shelf space. According to a June 25 order, which was reported for the first time by Indian media, India's National Company Law Tribunal approved the internal restructuring, under which Reliance would transfer its consumer business, from its retail...

State Bank of India has classified the Reliance Communications loan account as fraudulent. The bank cites alleged misappropriation of funds dating back to 2016 in an alleged case. Reliance Communications disclosed the information in a filing of securities that included a letter from SBI dated June 23, detailing the reasons for the lender's decision. According to Indian banking laws once a fraudulent account is reported, the matter will be referred to the enforcement agencies, who can take criminal action. The borrower may not obtain further financing from banks or other financial institutions regulated by the government for a period of...

Harindarpal Singh Banga, a Hong Kong-based investor, and his family plan to sell a stake in Nykaa worth $12.84 billion (US$149.93m) through a group deal, reported news portal NDTV profit on Wednesday. According to the report, people familiar with the situation said that the sale would likely take place at a discount of 4% from Nykaa's market price. Nykaa shares closed at 211.59 Rupees, a 2.2% increase. The company didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. Exchange data revealed that Banga owned 4.97% of Nykaa as of March 2025. He invested in Nykaa prior to its public listing. In...

According to shipping documents and data, Venezuela exported 844,000 barrels of crude oil and fuel per day in June. This is an 8% rise from the previous months, as more cargoes were sent to China to offset the loss of U.S. markets and European ones. Washington terminated in late May a grouping of licenses which had authorized partners, such as Chevron and Repsol of the oil company PDVSA to transport Venezuelan crude for U.S. or European refineries. Since then, the state-owned firm has increased its exports to Asia. It sells its crude oil and fuels through little-known middlemen who make...

A poll on Monday showed that analysts have slightly raised their oil price predictions after the recent flare-up in tensions in the Middle East. However, rising OPEC+ supplies and a tempered outlook for demand continue to weigh down on crude. In a survey conducted by 40 economists and analysts, a June estimate of Brent crude at $67.86 per barrel in 2025 was higher than the $66.98 estimate made in May. U.S. crude, on the other hand, is forecast to average $64.51 per barrel, which is above last month's $63.35 estimate. According to LSEG, prices have averaged around $70.80 and $67.50...

Indian stocks rose for the third consecutive session on Thursday. Gains were driven by shares of Reliance Industries, and sectors like financials and metals. The Nifty 50 gained 1.21%, reaching 25,549; the BSE Sensex rose 1.21%, to 83 755.87. This followed a 1% gain in the two previous sessions, which led to nine-month highs. The two major indexes are now about 3% lower than their previous highs, which were reached in September 2024. The Nifty 50 has risen by about 8% this year and the Sensex is up by 7%. On the day, 11 of the 13 sectors that are...

The government announced on Tuesday that India's thermal power plant coal stock had reached a new record of 58.25 millions tonnes. This is enough to cover 25 days of consumption and boost energy security before the monsoon. Why is it important? The record stockpile occurs as India prepares for the monsoon season, which can disrupt coal mining and transport. CONTEXT India is the second largest coal consumer in the world. To meet increasing power demand, and to reduce dependence on imports, it has increased domestic coal production. The achievement comes as part of a larger push to increase coal-fired power...

China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil, accounting for approximately 13.6% of the purchases made by the world’s biggest crude importer this year. This leaves Beijing exposed to any disruption in supply caused by conflict in the Middle East. Beijing, the world's largest oil importer and buyer from Venezuela, has been able to reduce its import bill by billions of dollars in recent years. How much Iranian oil does China buy? China purchases 90% of the Iranian oil shipped, but this is limited due to U.S. Sanctions aimed at cutting funding for Tehran's Nuclear Programme. According to Kpler, China...

India's Ola Electric forecast improved gross margins in fiscal 2026, after posting a smaller sequential loss for its first quarter. This was helped by the stronger sales of their newer, cost-efficient scooters. After the results, the shares of the company that was listed in August, last year, rose over 14% and were on course to end a five session losing streak. The Bengaluru-based company's loss for the June quarter was lower than the 8.7 Billion rupees of the previous quarter. SoftBank-backed company said it expected gross margins to increase to 35%-40% in the current financial year. This is up from...

The demand for physical gold was sluggish across the major Asian markets this week as volatility in prices weighed on sentiment. Premiums in China remained firm, while discounts in India were narrowing. Dealers in the top consumer China have charged premiums between $10 and $25 per ounce above the global benchmark spot rate, compared to premiums between $4.2-$33 from last week. On Wednesday, spot gold dropped to its lowest levels in more than a week, dropping below the $3300 mark. It then recovered to trade at $3335 by 0520 GMT Friday. In recent days, U.S. president Donald Trump has expanded...

Sources and an analyst have said that India's iron pellet makers have asked the government to curtail a surge of imports via Oman. They claim the products are from Iran, despite U.S. sanction, and warned the cheaper supplies may hurt the local industry. Lalit Ladkat of the London-based CRU Group told us that India is the third largest iron ore producer in terms of metric tonnage. However, imports between 2021-2024 were negligible, Lalit Ladkat said. Ladkat stated that the majority of these pellets were of Iranian origin, and they were shipped via Oman in order to avoid sanctions. Ladkat stated...

India's equity benchmarks dipped on Wednesday, as Reliance Industries losses and metals outweighed gains in consumer stocks. Investors remained on hold amid uncertainty surrounding U.S. trade tariffs. The Nifty 50 dropped 0.18% to 25,476.1, while the BSE Sensex fell 0.21% to 83 536.08. The mid-caps fell 0.1%, while the small-caps gained 0.6%. Reliance Industries, a heavyweight in the Nifty 50, fell by 1.2% following reports that its telecom arm Reliance Jio Platforms will not launch a stock offering this year, as planned. This delayed one of India's biggest anticipated stock offerings. On Tuesday, U.S. president Donald Trump announced that he...

Viceroy Research, a U.S. firm, has taken a short-position against Vedanta Resource, the UK-based parent company of Indian miner Vedanta. Viceroy Research claims that Vedanta is "systematically draining its Indian unit". Vedanta is planning to split up into separate listed entities. Anil Agarwal, Group Chairman of Vedanta, launched the plan to revamp the business in 2023 after an unsuccessful attempt to take Vedanta Private in 2020. Vedanta Resources announced in June 2024 it would seek to reduce its debt by $3 billion over the next three years. Viceroy Research, a short seller, said that the entire group structure was financially...

India announced a number of measures to increase the production of copper, including encouraging foreign companies to establish smelters in India in exchange for investing in state-owned mining operations overseas. India, the second largest refined copper importer in the world, may need to import between 91% and 97% of its copper by 2047. According to the document, despite an estimated 12,2 million metric tonnes of copper resources, only 16% are classified as reserves. This highlights limited domestic availability. The government document stated that the growing demand for imports of concentrates requires diversification in supply and acquisitions of foreign assets. It...

The demand for gold in India has decreased due to lower imports. Indian dealers are offering a discount This week, the official domestic prices will be discounted by up to $14 per ounce, including 6% import duties and 3% sales taxes, compared to last week's up to $18 discount. A Mumbai-based dealer of gold bullion with a private banking firm said that despite a weak demand for jewellery, the low imports of gold in May and early June have led to lower discounts. The price of gold in India was around 97.100 rupees for 10 grams, after reaching a record...

Gold fell 1% on Thursday as stronger-than-expected U.S. payroll data cemented expectations that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates as early as previously anticipated, denting the metal's appeal. As of 1303 GMT spot gold was down 1% at $3,325.48 an ounce, while U.S. futures gold were down 0.7% at $3,336.00. Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Labor Department reported that non-farm payrolls grew by 147,000 last month. Economists surveyed by had predicted payrolls to rise 110,000. A stronger dollar makes bullion more expensive for overseas buyers. The better-than-expected jobs numbers mean we are less likely to see...

The gold price was stuck in a range on Thursday, as investors waited for the non-farm payrolls report from the United States that could affect when Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. By 0801 GMT, spot gold had fallen by 0.1% at $3,352.59 per ounce. U.S. Gold Futures increased 0.1% to $3363.10. Nitesh Nitesh, commodities strategist at WisdomTree, said that gold is searching for new triggers. The non-farm payrolls may be the trigger later. ADP released data showing that private payrolls in the United States fell by 33,000 positions in June. This was the first drop in over two years....

Investors held off on making large bets as they awaited the U.S. Payroll data that would be released later in the day to get a better idea of the Federal Reserve’s policy direction. As of 0211 GMT spot gold fell 0.3% per ounce to $3346.47, while U.S. Gold Futures edged up 0.1% to $3357.20. OANDA Senior Market Analyst Kelvin Wong stated that gold appears to be consolidating in the $3,320-$3,360 range. The market is waiting to see what happens with U.S. Non Farm Payroll data and ISM Services' PMI before taking any significant positions. ADP released data showing that private...

According to an order, India's antitrust agency ordered an investigation of Asian Paints on Tuesday after Aditya Birla Group paints venture claimed that the country’s top paint manufacturer abused its dominant position in the market. According to the order, Asian Paints' initial review by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), showed that it had violated competition laws. Birla claims that Asian Paints abused its dominant position on the market by offering incentives and discounts to dealers, such as travel abroad in exchange for exclusivity. Birla claimed that Asian Paints increased the sales targets for dealers dealing with Birla's products. Birla...

Iron ore has surpassed coal as the top commodity exported by Australia. This is due to the increase in shipments to China of steel raw materials. Gold is now threatening to surpass coal. According to the latest quarterly report of Australia's government commodity forecaster, earnings from precious metal exports are expected to increase to A$56 Billion ($36.6 Billion) in the fiscal period starting July 1. The Department of Industry, Science and Resources released data on Monday that showed this figure was higher than the A$39bn forecast for metallurgical and thermal coal. The combined export earnings of A$67billion for 2025-26 are...