The number of daily Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions in the country rose to 596 million in April, up from 590 million in March, according to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) figures released on Thursday.

Transactions worth Rs 24 lakh crore were carried out in April, down from Rs 24.8 lakh crore in the previous month. This is the 12th consecutive month to record payments above Rs 20 lakh crore.

The pace of growth remained healthy at 34.5 per cent, despite a 50.7 per cent annualised increase in volumes in April 2024. The value of transactions rose 21.9 per cent from the year-ago period.

Daily transaction volumes were also higher for FASTag payments, used for parking and toll collection, at 12.75 million compared with 12.2 million in the previous month, reflecting the growth in the economic activity of the country.

Despite geopolitical tensions and the global economic slowdown, Mumbai scaled an all-time high of 52,896 new property registrations in January-April this year, which represents an 8 per cent rise over the 48,819 properties registered during the same four months in 2024, according to a report released by real estate consultancy Anarock on Thursday.

An analysis of the data of the Inspector General of Registration (IGR), Maharashtra, reveals that the overall revenue collected from property registrations in Mumbai stands at around Rs 4,633 crore in the first four months of 2025. This is 21 per cent more than the same period (January - April 2024) last year, when the revenue collected was Rs 3,836 crore.

“Further analysis of the property registrations data and demand trends from January to April shows that the average ticket price of sold homes was Rs 1.57 crore, reminiscent of 2023 and 2024, when it was Rs 1.56 crore,” Anarock chairman Anuj Puri said.

In a crackdown on Iranian exports, the US has sanctioned four United Arab Emirates-based companies that have trade links with Indian companies for allegedly trading in Iranian petroleum products.

"So long as Iran attempts to generate oil and petrochemical revenues to fund its destabilising activities and support its terrorist activities and proxies, the United States will take steps to hold both Iran and all its partners engaged in sanctions evasion accountable," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday.

The State Department said that it was imposing sanctions on those companies "for knowingly engaging in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of petrochemical products from Iran."

It said the four companies "generated hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit funds for Iran's destabilising activities" by exporting Iranian products to third countries, which it did not name.

Exide Industries on Wednesday reported an 11 per cent decline in its net profit for the March quarter (Q4 FY25), with the figure standing at Rs 254.60 crore compared to Rs 283.75 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

The fall in profit came despite a modest 4 per cent increase in revenue from operations, which rose to Rs 4,159.42 crore from Rs 4,009.39 crore in the year-ago period, according to the company's exchange filing.

The company said its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) for the quarter came in at Rs 467 crore, lower than Rs 516 crore reported in the same quarter of the previous financial year.

The EBITDA margin slipped to 11.2 per cent due to rising raw material costs, particularly antimony, which significantly impacted margins over the past six months.

For the full financial year ending March 2025, Exide reported a 3 per cent increase in profit after tax to Rs 1,077 crore.

State-run Indian Oil Corporation on Wednesday reported a net profit of Rs 7,264.85 crore for the January-March quarter of 2024-25, which represents a 50 per cent year-on-year increase over the corresponding figure of Rs 4,837.69 crore in the same period of the previous year.

The oil giant’s net profit more than doubled on quarter-on-quarter basis to Rs 7,265 crore, compared to Rs 2,874 crore in Q3FY25. The strong rebound was supported by improved refining margins, inventory gains, and better operational efficiencies.

Indian Oil’s Board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 3 per equity share of face value Rs 10 each for the financial year 2024-25.

The oil giant’s Gross Refining Margins (GRMs) or the difference between the total value of petroleum products coming out of a refinery and the price of raw materials, stood at $8 per barrel. Indian Oil had reported GRMs of $2.9 per barrel in the previous quarter.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (SFB) on Wednesday reported a 74.7 per cent sharp decline in its net profit at Rs 83.4 crore for the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY25, compared to Rs 329.6 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

This decline in earnings was mainly due to increased provisioning and a slowdown in interest income, caused by changes in the bank’s business mix.

In the fourth quarter, Ujjivan SFB’s Net Interest Income (NII) came in at Rs 864.4 crore, down 7.4 per cent from Rs 933.5 crore in the same period a year ago.

However, the bank's asset quality showed improvement on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, as per its stock exchange filing.

Occupier and investor demand for commercial real estate remains solid, with office space absorption continuing across key markets such as India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report on the Asia-Pacific region, released on Wednesday.

Net absorption of office space across Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the first quarter of 2025 recorded a robust 20 per cent increase to 26 million square feet (msf) from 22 msf in the same quarter last year, the report states.

U.S. dollar strength and relatively attractive yields are driving increased global capital inflows into APAC real estate, particularly into stable sectors like logistics, data centres, and multifamily.

The downward trajectory in interest rates will also boost investments into the commercial real estate sector, according to the report.

Government incentives and infrastructure investments are boosting local electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing and a range of policy measures and infrastructure developments are underway to help bridge the gap and push the market closer to the 2030 goal, a report showed on Wednesday.

India’s passenger vehicle (PV) sales grew 4.6 per cent in 2024 (year-on-year), surpassing 4.3 million units. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 2.5 per cent of total PV sales, marking a 16 per cent YoY increase, according to Counterpoint’s latest ‘India Passenger Vehicle Model Sales Tracker’.

The increase in passenger BEV sales can be attributed to the launch of several new models, including the Tata Curvv.ev, MG Windsor, BYD Seal, BYD eMax 7 and the Tata Punch.ev refresh, among others.

India’s government has set ambitious targets for EV adoption. It aims to achieve 30 per cent EV penetration in the passenger vehicle segment, 80 per cent in the combined two-wheeler and three-wheeler segment and 70 per cent in the commercial vehicle segment by 2030.

Samsung Electronics said on Wednesday its first-quarter net profit rose more than 20 percent from a year earlier, driven by strong sales of its new Galaxy S series smartphones, but its flagship semiconductor business remained sluggish.

In a regulatory filing, the company posted a net income of 8.22 trillion won ($5.7 billion) for the January-March period, up 21.7 percent from 6.75 trillion won a year earlier.

The earnings exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 5.17 trillion won, according to a survey by News Agency.

Operating profit stood at 6.68 trillion won, up 1.2 percent from a year ago, while revenue rose 10 percent to 79.14 trillion won, marking an all-time quarterly high.

Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc picked 3-42, while Vipraj Nigam and captain Axar Patel took two wickets each as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) posted 204/9 in their 20 overs against Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Tuesday.

On a pitch that didn’t offer much grip and was good to bat on, KKR had their batters producing quick knocks at a great strike rate and were also aided by DC conceding 15 extras. But they lost their way in the middle overs against DC’s spin troika and then made only 45 in the last five overs.

It would be interesting to see if DC, after pulling things back in the post-powerplay phase, chase down the total, especially if dew comes into the picture. They also need to see if Axar can bat after hurting his left hand while fielding.

KKR began with a bang as Rahmanullah Gurbaz drilled Starc for boundaries through mid-off and cover-point. Sunil Narine took a liking to Dushmantha Chameera dishing out fuller balls and on pads to take him for two sixes and a four, with the one-handed maximum being the standout, as 25 runs came off the second over