GIFT Nifty was down more than 150 points on Friday, signalling a weak start for Indian equities after a broad sell-off swept through Asian markets amid heavy profit booking in artificial intelligence (AI)-linked stocks.

The weakness followed sharp declines across Asia, with Japan and South Korea leading the losses. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 4.5%, while South Korea’s Kospi dropped as much as 6.8%, dragged lower by steep losses in semiconductor giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.7%, China’s Shanghai Composite lost 1.4% and Taiwan’s Taiex fell 3.6%. Australia was the lone major market to buck the trend, edging higher.

The sell-off came after investors rushed to lock in gains following the strong rally in AI-related stocks over recent months. Market sentiment also weakened after Wall Street ended mixed overnight, with technology stocks coming under pressure despite better-than-expected earnings from chipmakers Qualcomm and Micron Technology. Apple shares also declined sharply after the company announced price increases across several products.

Technology stocks bore the brunt of the selling in Asia. Samsung Electronics dropped 7%, SK Hynix lost 6.6%, while Japan’s SoftBank Group slumped more than 13% and semiconductor equipment maker Advantest fell nearly 11%.

For Indian markets, investors will also keep an eye on key technical levels after Thursday’s volatile session.

According to Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, the Nifty remains in a positive short-term trend despite failing to break above a falling trendline on the daily chart.
“The Nifty remained volatile during the session amid the BSE F&O expiry as the index failed to break out above the falling trendline on the daily timeframe. However, the overall trend continues to remain positive, with the index sustaining above the 50-day exponential moving average. The RSI remains in a positive crossover, indicating strengthening momentum. The trend is likely to stay positive as long as the index holds above 23,800, while 24,500 remains the immediate upside target,” he said.The sharp decline in GIFT Nifty suggests domestic markets could open lower, tracking weak global cues and continued caution around richly valued technology stocks.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)

Revolut, the fintech that has long worn its remote-first credentials as a badge of difference, has confirmed that its newest recruits will no longer enjoy the same freedom.

From 2027, graduates and interns joining the company will be required to spend at least three days a week in the office, a notable shift for a business that has spent years arguing that results matter more than location.

The change applies only to those at the very start of their careers. Explaining the decision, the company said “the early stages of a career benefit from in-person collaboration and mentoring”, a line of reasoning that will sound familiar to anyone who has followed the steady retreat from fully remote working across the City. For everyone else, Revolut was at pains to stress, “our remote-first policy is unchanged”.

It is a carefully drawn distinction. Until now, graduates were free to choose whether they worked from home or came into the office, and the company’s headline-grabbing perks remain firmly in place. Chief among them is the 120-day “workation”, which lets staff work remotely from abroad, “exploring new cultures while staying productive and connected”. Chief executive Nik Storonsky, who co-founded Revolut in 2015 with Vlad Yatsenko, told staff last year that the firm cared “more about what you do than where you do it”, and insisted the flexible approach would survive as long as productivity held up.

The recalibration arrives at a moment of considerable momentum for the group. Revolut became a fully licensed UK bank earlier this year after a long wait for regulatory approval, and was valued at 75 billion dollars in November 2025, eclipsing several of Britain’s established high street lenders. Founded as an app that let people in the UK and Europe spend abroad at interbank exchange rates, it now serves more than 70 million customers and supports transfers across roughly 160 countries and regions. The company has also signalled that about 40 per cent of its 12,000-strong global workforce, spread across more than 30 countries, will be based in India by the end of this year.

For all the talk of disruption, the policy itself looks rather conventional. Hybrid working is now firmly the British norm: the Office for National Statistics reported in June 2025 that around 28 per cent of workers split their week between home and the office, with the figure rising to nearly half in information and communications businesses. The debate over whether younger staff in particular should be in the room has been running for some time, with voices ranging from JP Morgan’s leadership to Lord Sugar urging young people to get their “bums back into the office”.

Employment lawyers see little to quarrel with. Jo Mackie, employment law partner at national firm Michelmores, said Revolut was “falling into line with most other major employers in making hybrid working the norm, when practical”, adding that “working alongside colleagues is particularly important for junior staff to learn and be mentored”. The sentiment is echoed across the sector, where HR specialists have noted a growing consensus that early-career development is hard to replicate over video calls.

The wider message for Revolut watchers is one of maturation. A company built on doing things differently is, in this corner at least, beginning to look a little more like the institutions it set out to challenge.

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The Midlands has overtaken every other part of Britain outside the capital for foreign direct investment (FDI) employment, creating almost 6,000 jobs last year even as investment into the UK slumped to a ten-year low.

According to the EY 2026 UK Attractiveness Survey, the region generated 5,970 FDI-related jobs in 2025, more than Scotland and Wales combined and equivalent to roughly one in five of all such jobs created across the UK. That makes it the leading location for overseas-backed employment outside London, a notable result in a year when global investors turned cautious.

The region also landed 102 FDI projects, ranking it behind only Greater London and Scotland for the volume of inward investment won. The figure represents 14 per cent of all UK projects, the Midlands’ third-highest share in a decade.

Investor sentiment, meanwhile, is pointing upwards. Among companies planning to invest, the West Midlands is now seen as the third most attractive UK region, and Birmingham ranks as the second most sought-after city outside the capital, despite the reputational knocks the city has absorbed over the past year.

The headline numbers are all the more striking given the wider backdrop. Project numbers across Europe fell by 6.6 per cent in 2025, while the UK recorded a sharper 14.4 per cent decline, securing 730 projects nationally, the lowest tally in ten years.

Only three parts of the UK bucked the trend on project numbers: Greater London, up 5 per cent, Northern Ireland, up 65 per cent, and Wales, up 56 per cent. The South West held flat, and every other region went backwards. The Midlands itself was not immune, with projects down 16.4 per cent year on year and FDI jobs off 29.3 per cent, from the 122 projects and 8,439 jobs it banked in 2024.

Even so, holding on to the top regional spot for jobs and a podium position for projects, while the national market shrank, underlines the region’s pull for international capital. As one recent analysis of regional investment trends has noted, the competition between UK regions for overseas money has intensified, making the Midlands’ staying power more meaningful than the raw decline might suggest.

Business and professional services emerged as the standout sector for the Midlands, drawing 18 projects, a sharp jump from just five in 2024. Transportation manufacturers and suppliers came second with 16 projects, while software and IT services climbed to third with 14, up from nine the year before.

The United States remained the single largest source of investment, accounting for 14.7 per cent of projects. Germany, India and France followed, each delivering 10 projects apiece.

That momentum builds on a longer run of form. The region was recently named the UK’s top regional destination for foreign investment, and has previously been recognised as one of Europe’s strongest performers for inward investment strategy, finishing second in the continent at a major European investment awards.

Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said his economic strategy was beginning to bear fruit. “My Growth Plan is clear in targeting international markets to get our economy firing on all cylinders. And it’s an approach that’s working. More jobs are now being created by global companies in the region than in any UK location outside of London,” he said.

“My recent trade missions to India and China, alongside the Prime Minister, have opened even more doors for our businesses, universities and other investors. Getting more deals over the line with some of the world’s biggest players will help deliver my number one priority as Mayor, a stronger economy with more high-quality jobs for local people and more money in their pockets.”

Claire Ward, Mayor of the East Midlands, said the figures reflected confidence in the wider region. “These figures underline the Midlands’ continued strength as a destination for international investment in a highly competitive global market, and demonstrates sustained investor confidence in our people, businesses and places,” she said. “For the East Midlands, international investment creates high-quality jobs, strengthens local supply chains, and expands opportunity in communities across our region.”

Neil Rami, chief executive of the West Midlands Growth Company, struck a more cautionary note on what it will take to keep the momentum going. “Our unmatched scale, connected innovation ecosystem and deep talent pool make the region a compelling proposition for international investors,” he said. “However, in an increasingly competitive global market, investment does not simply follow economic fundamentals. Sustaining growth will require continued targeted intervention, strong international partnerships and a clear, market-led proposition that aligns investor demand with local opportunities.”

The picture is reinforced by separate official data. The Department for Business and Trade’s inward investment results for 2025/26 show the West Midlands attracted more FDI jobs, 18,036, over the past three years than any UK location outside London. The region secured 10 per cent of all UK projects and 18 per cent of projects and jobs created outside the capital, with its 25 per cent fall in projects broadly mirroring a 26 per cent national decline.

Behind the statistics sit a string of concrete wins. Networking and security giant Cisco has chosen STEAMhouse in Birmingham’s Knowledge Quarter, part of the West Midlands Investment Zone, as the home of new office space.

Adele Every, managing director, public sector at Cisco UK and Ireland, said the city’s assets made the decision straightforward. “Top tech talent, world-class innovation infrastructure and a collaborative ecosystem are key to our mission of powering an inclusive future for all. Birmingham’s strengths in these areas were clear to see, making it the obvious location for our new regional hub.”

Other arrivals span fintech, fashion and software. Islamic property finance provider Offa has invested in new offices in Solihull, where executive chairman Sultan Choudhury said the firm’s team had doubled in size over the past year. Australian fashion brand Hello Molly has opened an e-commerce warehouse in Dudley, with operations director Ena Eaton praising the region’s “excellent transport and logistics infrastructure”. Software provider Target Integration has set up in Coventry through the West Midlands Global Growth Programme, with chief executive Rohit Thakral citing the city’s proximity to the West Midlands tech sector and the University of Warwick Science Park.

The Growth Programme, which offers tailored support to help international businesses navigate the UK investment process, is now accepting applications for 2026.

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A dayslong tech selloff raised new questions about whether America’s artificial-intelligence boom could continue at its breakneck pace. On Wednesday, Micron Technology MU 15.74%increase; up pointing triangle answered.

The memory maker blew past analyst expectations for its May quarter and projected revenue and profit that also topped Wall Street’s forecast. Its shares jumped 14% in after-hours trading, propelling a rally in Nasdaq futures.

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