Indian stock markets closed sharply lower on Monday as global markets fell due to the Middle East crisis. The BSE Sensex dropped 1,048 points to settle at 80,238. The Nifty 50 fell 312 points to end at 24,865. Both indices had fallen over 2% during the day. Broader markets also declined. Nifty Midcap 150 and Nifty Smallcap 250 lost over 1.5% each. Reliance Industries fell around 2% and was among the top drags. Larsen & Toubro and InterGlobe Aviation were major losers. Brent crude rose to $80 per barrel. The rupee weakened amid higher oil prices. (PC: NDTV)

Indian stock markets suffered a brutal selloff Monday morning as escalating West Asia tensions rattled investor confidence. The Sensex crashed over 2,700 points at open, while Nifty 50 plunged 500-plus points, wiping out over ₹8 lakh crore in investor wealth within minutes. Five key factors drove the crash: US-Iran war fears following Khamenei's killing, crude oil surging over 8% to multi-month highs, the rupee breaching Rs 91 per dollar, aggressive FII selling marking their eighth consecutive month of net equity offloading, and broader geopolitical uncertainty. Analysts warn prolonged conflict could widen India's current account deficit, accelerate inflation, and trigger further foreign capital flight. (PC: Mint)

India and France have updated their 30-year-old tax treaty. The change lowers dividend tax for large French investors. Companies holding at least 10% in an Indian firm will now pay 5% tax, down from 10%. However, investors with less than 10% stake will pay 15%, up from 10%. The new pact also allows India to tax capital gains from share sales in some cases. It removes the most-favoured-nation clause after a 2023 Supreme Court ruling. Both sides said the update will “secure economic activity” and support more investment. The treaty will take effect after legal approvals in both countries. (PC: India Today)

India and Brazil have set a target to raise bilateral trade to $30 billion by 2030. The decision was taken during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in New Delhi. The two sides also signed agreements on rare earth minerals and the steel supply chain. “Our trade is not just a figure, it’s a reflection of trust,” Modi said. Lula said the new mineral pact places “technology in service of inclusive development.” Both leaders also discussed defence, energy and digital cooperation. They agreed to study the impact of recent US tariff developments on global trade. (PC: HT)

Quentin Griffiths, 58, co-founder of British fast-fashion giant ASOS, has died after falling from the 17th floor of an apartment block in Pattaya, Thailand, on February 9. Thai police confirmed initial investigations suggest suicide with no indications of foul play, as CCTV showed no one entering his apartment where he lived alone. A Thai friend told police Griffiths had been stressed over lawsuits from his former Thai wife, with related documents found in his apartment. Griffiths co-founded ASOS alongside Nick Robertson in 2000, serving as marketing director until 2004. Britain's Foreign Office confirmed it is supporting the family. An autopsy has been ordered. The case gained wider attention after The Sun reported it Thursday. (PC: Shutterstock)

Delhi Police have registered an FIR against online grocery delivery platform Blinkit after button knives allegedly used in stabbing incidents in West Delhi's Khyala area were traced to purchases made through the platform. The action follows a murder case in which minor victim Sohail died after being stabbed in the stomach near a community centre in C Block, Khyala. Two juvenile accused disclosed during questioning that the knives were ordered via Blinkit. Police conducted a decoy operation, successfully ordering button knives themselves to verify the claim. Raids on multiple Blinkit dark stores across Delhi recovered over a dozen such knives. A notice will soon be issued to the company seeking its response. (PC: X)

Anthropic's India revenue run-rate has doubled in just four months, CEO Dario Amodei announced Monday in Bengaluru, where the AI firm officially opened its second Asian office. India is now Anthropic's largest market after the United States. Former Microsoft India Managing Director Irina Ghose will lead India operations. Nearly half of Claude's Indian usage involves coding and mathematical tasks, with Air India, CRED, and Cognizant deploying Claude to 350,000 employees globally among key enterprise adopters. Anthropic is improving performance across 10 Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, and Tamil. The Amazon and Alphabet-backed firm, recently valued at $380 billion after raising $30 billion, announced sector partnerships across legal, education, healthcare, and agriculture. (PC: X)

Adani Group will invest $100 billion by 2035 to build green, AI-ready data centres in India. The company said the move will create a sovereign AI backbone. It expects the investment to attract another $150 billion in related sectors. These include servers, cloud platforms and semiconductor systems. Together, this could build a $250 billion AI ecosystem. The group plans to expand its data centre capacity from 2 GW to 5 GW. It has partnered with Google in Visakhapatnam and Microsoft in Noida, Hyderabad and Pune. Shares of Adani Enterprises rose after the announcement.

India will receive zero tariff benefits on certain textile exports to the United States, similar to terms given to Bangladesh, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said. He stated that the proposed India–US trade deal will allow duty-free access for garments made using American cotton yarn. “If raw material is purchased from America… it will be available at zero reciprocal tariff,” he said. Goyal rejected claims that Bangladesh received better terms than India. He said details will be clearer after the interim agreement is finalised. He also said Indian farmers and exporters will gain as shipments to the US and other major markets increase. (PC: NDTV)

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal again avoided a direct reply on US President Donald Trump’s condition that India should not buy Russian oil under the trade deal framework. Speaking to ANI, Goyal said buying crude oil, LNG and LPG from the US is in “India’s own strategic interests” as the country diversifies supply. He said the trade deal will not decide “who will buy what and from where.” He added, “The trade deal ensures that the pathway to trade is smooth and ensures preferential access.” On the Russian oil issue, he said it falls under the Ministry of External Affairs. The MEA repeated that energy purchases depend on market and security needs. (PC: HT)