Yukta Baid

The Council is expected to review how the GST rate changes have been implemented over the past year, rather than undertake another broad-based round of rate cuts.

The issue is still at the consultation stage, but experts discussing the proposals highlighted a mismatch between what is currently paid out through distribution and what policyholders receive in terms of suitability, service and claims support.

Karan Taurani, Executive Vice President at Elara Capital, estimates that even if PVR INOX absorbs the entire increase, the annualised EBITDA impact would be around Rs 7.4 crore, or about 0.8% of Elara's FY27 EBITDA estimate.

The regulator had suggested a five-year glide path to cap company-level Expenses of Management (EoM), along with mandatory cost audits and public disclosure.

HSBC said coal stocks at power plants had fallen to less than eight days of availability as of September 23, down from already low levels in August. Around 40% of thermal plants were operating with critically low stocks of less than 25% of required inventory.

The proposed reforms, which include tighter commission structures and caps, are expected to put pressure on insurance distribution economics. The proposals remain at the consultation stage and could change after stakeholder feedback.

Shares of PB Fintech, the parent of Policybazaar, plunged as much as 34% on Thursday, hitting a fresh 52-week low, as investors assessed the potential hit to distributor economics.

Brent crude fell toward $106 a barrel after rising more than 7% over the previous two sessions, while West Texas Intermediate was below $94.

William Lee says markets should focus less on Brent crude and more on diesel, gasoline, jet fuel and crack spreads to gauge the real energy shock.

For L&T Finance specifically, UBS expects faster personal-loan growth and return on assets (ROA) to improve towards around 3%.

Geoffrey Hinton questions Jensen Huang's zero-risk AI view and cites financial incentives, as rogue-agent incidents fuel calls for tighter AI oversight.

UBS maintains Buy ratings on Poonawalla Fincorp, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance and Shriram Finance, while remaining Neutral on HDB Financial Services, SBI Cards and M&M Financial Services.

HSBC said crossing 90% ownership could open the possibility of pursuing a squeeze-out of remaining minority shareholders under German law.

Brent crude slipped toward $98 a barrel on Wednesday, extending its decline to a sixth straight session and taking losses over the six-day run to more than 9%. West Texas Intermediate futures fell below $90.

In a statement published on X on Tuesday, Pawar said the Tata Group's ownership structure was deliberately designed around philanthropy, with Tata Trusts holding about 66% of Tata Sons.

KP Group has over 2.5 GWh of BESS orders in hand and is expanding into battery production, green data centres and overseas renewable opportunities.

Subbaraman also expects the RBI to raise interest rates going forward, with Nomura forecasting hikes in both October and December.

Morgan Stanley prefers Marico and Tata Consumer among staples, Titan in discretionary and sees near-term upside potential in Nestle India.

Bernstein upgrades NTPC Green Energy to Market-Perform from Underperform, saying execution misses are priced in while low-cost debt and grid access remain strengths.

Brent crude held around $100 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate remained below $96 after both benchmarks fell to their lowest levels since early September.