Key Takeaways
May 2, 2026 · 2 min read · By Rishabh Bhardwaj
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AI-assisted, human-reviewed · Our editorial standards
Friday, April 25 brings a busy round of quarterly earnings, with two mid-sized private lenders, Axis Bank and IDFC First Bank, headlining a slate of more than a dozen companies reporting January-to-March results.
Axis Bank is the most closely watched name on the list. Investors will be scanning for signs of margin pressure as deposit costs remain elevated across the banking sector, along with any updates on loan growth, asset quality, and slippages in retail and SME books. Axis has been working to stabilise its net interest margin after a period of rapid loan expansion, making this quarter's numbers a useful checkpoint.
IDFC First Bank draws attention for different reasons. The lender has been scaling its retail franchise aggressively and investors will want to see whether that growth is coming with acceptable credit costs, especially given broader concerns about stress in unsecured consumer lending.
RBL Bank and UCO Bank are also on the results calendar. RBL has been navigating a recovery story after turbulence in its credit card and microfinance segments, so slippage data and provision levels will matter. UCO Bank, a public-sector lender, offers a read on state-owned bank trends including deposit mobilisation and credit offtake in its core markets.
India Cements rounds out the notable reporters. The cement sector has been dealing with a squeeze between input cost relief and pricing pressure as competition intensifies, particularly in South India where India Cements operates. Volume numbers and realisations per tonne will signal whether the sector-wide margin recovery has legs.
Across the banking names, the key variables are net interest margins, gross non-performing asset ratios, and management commentary on credit demand heading into the new financial year. A softer margin print at Axis or IDFC First would add to evidence that the rate cycle is biting into bank profitability more broadly.
For India Cements, the result lands at a strategically sensitive moment: UltraTech Cement has been acquiring a stake in the company, so any deterioration in financials could affect deal optics and minority shareholder sentiment.
Markets will digest these prints in the context of an already cautious earnings season, where guidance and forward commentary often move stocks more than the headline numbers themselves.
Indian startups raised $5.2 billion across 501 deals in H1 2026, down 9% in value but up 7% in deal count year-on-year, per the Inc42 Indian Tech Startup Funding Report. The drop is driven by fewer mega-rounds, while AI funding surged 317% and growth-stage deal activity hit a multi-year high.
The BSE Sensex fell 893 points and the Nifty 50 shed 279 points on June 30, 2026, wiping out roughly Rs 6 lakh crore in investor wealth in a single session. Both indices dropped 1.16%, closing at 76,200.68 and 23,824.10 respectively.
Kotak Mahindra Bank shares fell nearly 3% to Rs 397.6 after CEO Ashok Vaswani announced plans to exit the bank. Investor concern now centres on succession timing and whether the bank's ongoing digital and deposit-growth strategy will stay on track.
South Korea's Kospi dropped 3% at Monday's open while Japan's Nikkei fell 1%, as escalating US-Iran conflict triggered a broad risk-off move across Asian markets. South Korea's heavy reliance on Middle East oil imports makes it especially vulnerable to geopolitical shocks of this kind.