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Russia says immune to new US oil sanctions

2 days 16 hours ago
Russia said Thursday that new US sanctions on its oil industry risked hurting diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine war, and that it had developed a "strong immunity" to them.US President Donald Trump announced new sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies on Wednesday, complaining that his peace talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin were not going "anywhere".Trump held off introducing new restrictions against Russia for months, but his patience snapped after plans for a fresh summit with Putin in Budapest collapsed."We view this step as being entirely counterproductive, including in terms of signalling the need to achieve meaningful negotiated solutions to the Ukrainian conflict," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing."Our country has developed a strong immunity to Western restrictions and will continue to confidently develop its economic potential, including its energy potential," she added.

Tesla shares fall 4% as margin pressures mount despite record sales

2 days 17 hours ago
Tesla shares fell 4.4% on Thursday after the Elon Musk-led electric vehicle maker extended its streak of profit misses to a fourth quarter, even as sales hit record highs.Rising costs and declining revenue from highly profitable regulatory credits strained Tesla's margins, underscoring that even the EV maker is feeling the cost pressures rippling through the auto industry as President Donald Trump overhauls U.S. policy.Despite the near-term margin squeeze, Tesla's hefty valuation still rests on investor expectations that future growth will come from robotics and artificial intelligence, even though vehicle sales continue to generate most of its revenue.In the third quarter, the company's costs rose sharply, including more than $400 million in tariffs on auto parts due to Trump's trade policies, said CFO Vaibhav Taneja."The margin compression is the real concern. Higher operating expenses, increased tariffs and lower regulatory credit revenue all hit at once," said Farhan Badami, market analyst at eToro."Tesla is navigating near-term headwinds by cutting costs and managing inventory, but the long-term value story hinges on products that are still some time away from commercial payoff."Musk's ongoing pivot to position Tesla as a company focused on robotics and self-driving technology has helped restore some investor optimism.The company is set to lose more than $60 billion of its $1.47 trillion valuation, the largest for an automaker globally, if the losses hold.The stock was trading at more than 200 times the company's profit expectations, significantly higher than Big Tech and other megacap stocks.Tesla's stock has experienced sharp swings in 2025. The shares dropped as much as 39% through March amid weak demand and political backlash tied to Musk's ties with the Trump administration, which led to boycott calls.The stock turned positive this year after Tesla's board laid out a $1 trillion CEO compensation plan last month for shareholder approval, hoping to incentivize Musk to focus on the company's growth.The shares have gained nearly 9% so far this year, although it remains one of the weaker performers among the "Magnificent 7", a group of megacap technology companies.Record electric vehicle deliveries helped Tesla beat third-quarter revenue forecasts, driven by a rush among U.S. buyers to secure tax incentives before they expire. However, demand for EVs is expected to fall in the coming quarters as key credits phase out.To stimulate sales, Tesla recently introduced lower-cost "Standard" versions of its Model Y and Model 3, which cost up to $5,500 less than the "Premium" versions.

'India Inc revenue expands modestly in Q2'

2 days 19 hours ago
India Inc's revenue is likely to have grown by up to 6 per cent in the September quarter, a report said on Thursday. However, the operating profit margins compressed by up to 0.60 per cent during the July-September period as compared to a year ago, the report by an arm of domestic rating agency Crisil said. "Corporate revenue is expected to have grown a modest 5-6 per cent on-year in the July-September quarter, following underwhelming performance of the power, coal, information technology (IT) services and steel sectors," it said. The agency, which analysed performance of 600 companies, said companies in the sectors posting slower growth account for a third of the overall revenue. It added that sequentially, the revenue growth during July-September period will be one percentage point higher than the preceding June quarter. From a profitability perspective, it said companies struggled to fully pass on incremental costs in the automobile, pharmaceuticals and aluminium sectors, and the operating profit margin likely fell 0.50-1 per cent in Q2. Continuing geopolitical uncertainties weighed on the IT services sector, with project deferrals likely limiting revenue growth to 1 per cent, while in the steel sector revenue is expected to have grown a moderate 4 per cent on-year despite having a volume growth of 9 per cent due to decline in steel prices. The power sector's revenue likely grew a mere 1 per cent, affected by a surge in hydro-generation because of monsoon being 108 per cent of the long-period average and a 10 per cent rise in renewable energy generation, which led to reduced demand for coal generation. As a result, the coal sector's revenue growth was likely flat, it said. "The rationalisation of goods and services tax rates created anticipation of new stock with lower prices, causing a temporary disruption in segments such as passenger vehicles and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). As a result, retailers and distributors delayed FMCG purchases, while high inventory levels and sluggish retail sales affected demand for passenger vehicles in Q2," Crisil Intelligence's director Pushan Sharma said. Sharma said the rural economy got a boost from a copious monsoon and farmer sentiment also improved after the government announcement of higher minimum support prices for kharif crops, which drove up sales of tractors and two-wheelers. Revenue of tractor makers likely surged 36 per cent driven by a 31 per cent increase in volume, while two-wheeler revenue is expected to have grown 9 per cent led by a 6 per cent increase in volume, Sharma added. The cement sector likely rebounded with 8 per cent revenue growth following a 6-7 per cent on-year increase in volume over a low base and pre-festival demand, it said, adding the pharmaceutical sector is expected to have grown 8 per cent on export demand and stable domestic market conditions. Telecom services revenue likely grew 7 per cent in Q2 because of higher realisations on account of costlier subscription plans, even as subscriber growth was flat, it said. Elaborating on its profitability compression expectations, the agency said the automobile sector's margins are expected to have contracted 1.50-2 per cent on-year owing to the continual rise in aluminium prices, which grew by 11 per cent. Margins for the aluminium sector likely moderated 1-1.5 per cent on lower export realisations on account of lower regional premiums. In the pharmaceutical sector, margins are expected to have contracted 1.5-2 per cent owing to pricing pressure on existing products, which faced higher competition in export markets compared with newly launched products.Cement, steel and telecom services sectors are likely to have expanded profit margins during the quarter, the report said.
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