The Sensex witnessed a sharp rally of more than 1,300 points on Thursday after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on trade tariffs for most countries, including India.

The announcement lifted investor sentiment in the country, even as some Asian markets remained under pressure due to renewed trade war tensions between the US and China.

The Sensex jumped 1,310.11 points, or 1.77 per cent, to close at 75,157.26. During the day, the index touched an intra-day high of 75,467.33, while it slipped up to 74,762.84.

The Nifty also surged by 429.40 points, or 1.92 per cent, to settle at 22,828.55.

Ajmera Realty and Infra India Limited on Friday reported a 13 per cent drop in its sales value at Rs 250 crore in the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY25, compared to Rs 287 crore in Q4 FY24.

The real estate company’s collections for the quarter also fell to Rs 182 crore -- an 8 per cent decline from Rs 197 crore during the same period last year, according to its stock exchange filing.

However, the company delivered a steady performance for the full financial year. Ajmera Realty achieved total sales of Rs 1,080 crore in FY25, a 6 per cent increase from Rs 1,017 crore in FY24.

Collections for the year also rose by 13 per cent to Rs 646 crore, up from Rs 570 crore in the previous financial year.

India's natural gas consumption is likely to rise by close to 60 per cent by 2030 as the country seeks to reduce dependence on oil imports and switch to cleaner fuels for running vehicles, cooking in household kitchens and industrial use, according to a study by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).

The demand has been considered for fertiliser, power, refineries, petrochemical, other industrial and commercial establishments, households as well as Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as transport fuel in the energy basket through 2030 and 2040, the report said.

Consumption of natural gas is expected to rise from 188 million standard cubic metres per day in 2023-24 to 297 mmscmd by 2030 under the 'Good-to-Go' scenario, which assumes moderate growth and developments based on current trends and commitments, the report observed.

Worldwide semiconductor revenue reached $655.9 billion in 2024, up 21 per cent from $542.1 billion in 2023, according to a report released on Friday.

According to final results by market intelligence firm Gartner, Nvidia climbed to the No 1 position, overtaking Samsung Electronics and Intel for the first time.

“The position shift among the top 10 semiconductor vendor revenue ranking is due to large demand for AI infrastructure buildout and an increase of 73.4 per cent in memory revenue,” said Gaurav Gupta, VP Analyst at Gartner.

Nvidia moved to the No. 1 spot as a result of a marked increase in demand for its discrete graphic processing units (GPUs) that served as the primary choice for AI workloads in data centres, he added.

Samsung Electronics retained the No 2 spot, driven by gains in both DRAM and flash memory as prices rebounded sharply in response to an imbalance in supply and demand.

Payments through mobile phones in India recorded a 41 per cent jump in transaction volume to 88.54 billion and a 30 per cent rise in value to Rs 197.69 lakh crore in the second half of 2024.

India’s digital payments ecosystem witnessed a significant surge in the second half of 2024, driven by Unified Payments Interface (UPI), mobile payments and cards, according to Worldline India’s Digital Payments Report 2H 2024.

This was possible due to the robust growth in digital payments infrastructure. The UPI QR (Quick Response) codes through which users conduct their digital transactions using their mobile phones touched 63.34 crore at the end of December 2024, while PoS terminals increased by 23 per cent to 10 million during this period, the report states.

UPI saw strong growth in both person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) payments. P2P transactions increased by 30 per cent, rising from 27.04 billion in the second half of 2023 to 35.21 billion in the same period of 2024. The total value of these transactions also grew 26 per cent, reaching Rs 93.84 lakh crore.

South Korean auto parts suppliers are scrambling to respond to new US tariffs on imported vehicles and automotive parts, industry insiders said on Friday, arguing the tariffs not only pose a serious challenge to automakers, including local industry leader Hyundai Motor Group, but also threaten to disrupt the broader industry supply chain.

The United States' Donald Trump administration began imposing a 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles last week and is set to extend the same rate to auto parts beginning May 3, a move that has disrupted production planning and investment strategies across the sector, reports news agency.

While much of the recent attention has focused on finished vehicle exports, South Korea's parts suppliers are also grappling with mounting uncertainties and risks, according to industry officials.

Mercedes-Benz India on Thursday reported its highest-ever annual sales in the country in the financial year 2024-25 (FY25) as the luxury carmaker sold 18,928 vehicles during the year.

This was a 4 per cent increase compared to the previous fiscal year (FY24), according to the company’s statement.

The growth was mainly driven by strong demand for top-end luxury cars, rising interest in electric vehicles (EVs), and consistent performance from its core models.

However, the company saw a dip in its sales in the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 FY25). It sold 4,775 cars during this period, which is nearly 12 per cent lower than the same quarter last year (Q1 FY24).

US-based leading asset manager BlackRock is the largest investor in $750 million private bond issuance by the Indian behemoth Adani Group, informed sources said on Thursday.

According to people close to the matter, BlackRock's move marks its first private placement in India's infrastructure sector. BlackRock's involvement also signals that it does not anticipate any significant operational disruptions for the conglomerate stemming from the legal proceedings in the US.

BlackRock, which oversees $12 trillion in assets globally, has apparently taken on one-third of the $750 million issuance, which carries a tenure of 3-5 years.

Apart from BlackRock, five other institutional investors also participated in the Adani Group's latest capital raise.

The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) on Thursday said that the 90-day relief in US reciprocal tariffs will bring short-term respite to the Indian textile and apparel exporters, who were bracing for higher tariff barriers, urging the government to introduce an interim Textile Exports Protection Scheme.

US President Donald Trump has announced on a 90-day 'pause' on reciprocal tariffs for all but China. During this period, a substantially lower reciprocal tariff of 10 per cent, over and above the existing duties, fees, taxes, exactions or charges applicable, will be in place.

"The temporary relief will bring short-term respite to Indian textile and apparel exporters, who were bracing for higher tariff barriers. However, this measure is only a stopgap. It is crucial that the government of India intensifies its engagement with US counterparts to arrive at a more sustainable and mutually beneficial solution," CITI Chairman Rakesh Mehra said.

India’s largest IT services company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), on Thursday reported a 1.68 per cent fall in its consolidated net profit at Rs 12,293 crore for the March quarter (Q4 FY25).

The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 12,502 crore in the same quarter last year (Q4 FY24). On a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, the company’s net profit was down 1.3 per cent, according to its stock exchange filing.

However, TCS announced a final dividend of Rs 30 per equity share for FY25. This adds to the Rs 96 the company had already paid earlier in the fiscal year through three interim dividends and one special dividend.

“With this, the total shareholder payout for FY25 stands at a massive Rs 44,962 crore,” the company said in its filing.

“The Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of Rs 30 per equity share of face value Rs 1 each. The dividend, subject to shareholder approval at the 30th Annual General Meeting, will be paid or dispatched within five days after the AGM concludes,” TCS said in its filing.