Shares of PVR Inox rallied more than 4% on Tuesday after it announced that the board of directors will meet on August 31 (Monday) to consider and approve a proposal for the multiplex chain operator’s first ever buyback of the equity shares.

The shares of the company jumped to a fresh 52-week high of Rs 1,231.80 apiece on NSE on Tuesday. In an exchange filing released before market opened on Tuesday, PVR Inox said the board meeting has been scheduled for Monday, where the directors will consider and approve a proposal for buyback of the equity shares of the company, with a face value of Rs 10 each.

A buyback of shares refers to a corporate action where a company repurchases its own shares from existing shareholders. Usually, the company purchases the shares at a higher price than current levels, encouraging investors to participate.

What to watch out for in PVR Inox’s buyback?

The record date to determine the eligibility of shareholders set to participate in PVR Inox’s proposed buyback is yet to be determined. Only those shareholders who own PVR Inox shares in their demat accounts as on the record date will be eligible to participate in the multiplex chain operator’s first ever share buyback.
The company has not yet announced whether the buyback will be done via the tender route or the open market route. Whether promoters and promoter groups will participate in the buyback also remains among the key watches.

Also read | PVR INOX bets on smaller multiplexes as single-screens decline

PVR Inox share price

This comes after PVR Inox shares saw a sharp surge recently amid blockbuster releases, along with the stellar lineup ahead. The stock gained 4% in a week and 17% in a month, hitting a multi-month high of Rs 1,248.20 apiece on NSE yesterday. The stock is close to crossing its 52-week high of Rs 1,249.70 apiece, which it had hit in October 2025.PVR Inox shares have recovered around 38% from their 52-week low of Rs 907 apiece, which they hit in March this year. Overall, the stock is up more than 22% in 2026 so far.

In the longer term, however, the stock has delivered negative returns of 28% in three years and nearly 6% in five years. The company has a market capitalisation of nearly Rs 12,226 crore, with a P/E ratio of around 27x.

Also read | Lights, camera, collections: PVR Inox strikes back with a ‘Dhurandhar’ performance

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

Shares of Ceigall India jumped 4% on Tuesday to hit the day’s high of Rs 336 on the NSE after the company secured a Rs 704.7 crore contract for the Frontier Highway project in Arunachal Pradesh.

According to a filing with the exchange, the company received Letters of Acceptance (LOA) from the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) for the construction of a key section of the Lada-Sarli section of NH913 (Frontier Highway) in Arunachal Pradesh, at a contract value of Rs 704.70 crore, excluding GST.

Also Read | Ceigall India wins Rs 705 crore Arunachal Frontier Highway project

The project will be executed jointly with Sushee Infra & Mining (SIML), with Ceigall India holding a 74% share and SIML holding a 26% share in the joint venture.

The company said that the project involves the construction of the road from km 85.60 to km 168.00 of the Lada-Sarli section of NH-913 (Frontier Highway) to Intermediate Lane standard, and will be undertaken on an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode.

This project carries a 48-month construction period, followed by a five-year maintenance period and will further strengthen Ceigall India’s growing portfolio of road infrastructure projects.
The project reinforces its capabilities in executing large-scale highway projects across challenging geographies. The project forms part of the development of the Frontier Highway network in Arunachal Pradesh, supporting the expansion of critical road connectivity in the region.“We are pleased to receive this Letter of Acceptance from the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways for this important section of the Frontier Highway in Arunachal Pradesh. This project further strengthens our presence in the region and reflects our continued focus on expanding our portfolio of strategically important road infrastructure projects,” said Ramneek Sehgal, Managing Director, Ceigall India.

Sehgal further said that, “Our partnership with Sushee Infra & Mining Limited brings together complementary capabilities, and we remain committed to delivering the project with a strong focus on execution excellence, quality and timely completion. We look forward to contributing to the development of critical highway infrastructure and strengthening connectivity in the region.”

The leading infrastructure development company further said that with this project it will continue to build on its strategy of expanding its geographic footprint and strengthening its presence across key road infrastructure segments.

The company remains focused on leveraging its EPC capabilities to undertake projects that contribute to the development of robust and reliable transport infrastructure across India.

Also Read | Ceigall India JVs secure Rs 2,423-crore MoRTH orders for road construction on NH-913 in Arunachal

On Friday, the company in an exchange filing said that its joint ventures have secured five Letters of Acceptance (LOAs) from the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) worth Rs 2,423.70 crore for road construction on NH-913 (Frontier Highway) in Arunachal Pradesh.

The company has bagged an award for Rs 274.08-crore engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) package covering construction of the road from 17.812 km to 55.377 km of the Bile-Migging section of NH-913, a company statement said.

The project has been awarded to the joint venture between Ceigall India Ltd and Rajinder Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, in which Ceigall India holds a 70% stake and Rajinder Infrastructure holds the remaining 30%.

The project also carries a 48-month construction period, followed by a five-year maintenance period.

The stock has jumped 22.32% in 2026 so far and 34.24% in the last one year. In the last one month, it went down 1.41%.

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

Shares of Afcons Infrastructure gained as much as 4.40% during Tuesday’s trading session, touching an intraday high of Rs 290.90, after the company announced it received a favourable arbitral award worth Rs 335.50 crore.

The company disclosed in a regulatory filing that an Arbitral Tribunal, in proceedings between Afcons Infrastructure Limited and Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), passed the award in favour of Afcons on August 24, 2026.

According to the filing, the award comprises a principal amount of Rs 152.25 crore, along with pre-award and pendente lite interest of Rs 183.25 crore. The interest has been calculated at the SBI Base Rate with quarterly rests for the period from May 1, 2019, to August 24, 2026, taking the total award amount to Rs 335.50 crore.

The company said the award is expected to positively impact its financial position. However, the awarded amount will become payable subject to the counterparty not challenging the arbitral award within the stipulated period prescribed under law.

The development acts as a positive trigger for Afcons Infrastructure shares, with investors reacting to the potential financial benefit from the sizeable arbitration award.

Share price, valuation and technical indicators

Afcons Infrastructure currently commands a market capitalisation of around Rs 10,248 crore, while the stock’s 52-week high stands at Rs 479.40.
From a valuation perspective, the stock is trading at a P/E ratio of 70.99, while its Price-to-Sales (P/S) ratio stands at 0.83 and Price-to-Book (P/B) ratio at 1.88.On the technical front, Afcons Infrastructure’s 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 47.6, indicating that the stock is currently in a neutral zone. Generally, an RSI below 30 indicates oversold conditions, while a reading above 70 signals that a stock may be overbought.

Institutional Holding: The company’s latest June 2026 quarter shareholding pattern shows a marginal reduction in institutional ownership. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) reduced their stake from 12.19% to 12.15%, while Mutual Funds trimmed their holding more noticeably, from 18.60% to 17.78% during the quarter.

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

Mumbai: Corporate India raised more than ₹1.11 lakh crore through mainboard initial public offerings (IPOs), qualified institutional placements and offers for sale through July and August, as domestic liquidity and improving investor sentiment kept the capital markets active despite range-bound movements in key equity gauges.

The two-month fundraising tally is the highest since October-November 2024, when more than ₹1.14 lakh crore was raised through these routes.

Read more: Investors’ equity rush helps SIP assets triple in five years

IPO activity remained particularly strong, garnering more than 40% of the funds raised. So far this month, 20 companies have collected more than ₹20,850 crore, adding on to the ₹28,650 crore raised by 12 companies in July. Listed companies have also stepped up qualified institutional placements (QIP), with four companies raising ₹3,250 crore so far in August, against ₹25,114 crore by eight companies in July.

In the offer for sale (OFS) segment, where existing investors cash out in part, Life Insurance Corp of India raised nearly ₹31,447 crore in August to boost public float in the country’s biggest institutional investor.

Volatility Hit Transactions
Another public-sector major, Cochin Shipyard, raised nearly ₹1,705 crore in July. “The primary market does not necessarily require a sharply rising index; it requires liquidity, reasonable volatility and confidence in individual companies,” said Munish Aggarwal, co-head, investment banking, Equirus Capital.
Companies and shareholders had postponed transactions during extreme volatility in the immediate aftermath of the West Asian war.

They are now using the improved market window to raise growth capital, reduce debt, finance acquisitions, meet regulatory requirements, and provide exits to promoters and private-equity investors, experts said.

The surge in capital-market activity comes even as benchmark indices have remained range-bound. The Sensex and Nifty gained 2.1% and 2.2%, respectively, in July, but have declined 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively, so far in August, as oil prices have hardened yet again.

The Nifty MidCap 150 and Nifty SmallCap 250 gained 1.6% and 1.1%, respectively, in July and have risen 1.2% and 2.8%, respectively, so far in August.

Aggarwal said equity markets have remained range-bound amid multiple headwinds, including the prolonged West Asia conflict, higher crude and logistics costs, and concerns over the sustainability of IT earnings in the AI era.

Domestic institutional and retail flows have provided a counterbalance to uneven overseas purchases, undergirding benchmarks and providing companies with the necessary confidence to tap the capital markets.

Retail contributions through systematic investment plans (SIP) stood at approximately ₹31,961 crore in July, while active equity funds received nearly ₹24,700 crore, providing domestic institutions with significant capital to deploy. The broader 2026 numbers underline the strength of the fundraising cycle.

A drone strike that killed three civilians near a gas station in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, was guided not by a human pilot but by an experimental artificial intelligence system operating entirely on its own, according to Ukrainian military commanders, drone experts and forensic investigators who examined wreckage from the attack, a finding that underscores a significant and troubling shift in how modern warfare is being waged.

The July strike killed 19-year-old student Tetiana Bubynets and two others when a small Russian drone swooped toward a gas station and exploded, according to reporting on the incident. Investigators said the drone had been dispatched by human operators toward the general vicinity of the gas station, but that the aircraft then independently identified and selected its precise target once it arrived near the site, most likely propane tanks positioned at the location, based on the system’s prior training to recognize and strike such objects on its own.

Analysis of debris from that attack and from other strikes in the Zaporizhzhia region found that the drones contained onboard minicomputers, sold commercially by Nvidia, that were responsible for making the aircraft’s targeting decisions, according to the drone experts and military officials who examined the wreckage. Nvidia produces the majority of chips currently powering the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence systems. Investigators said the presence of the Nvidia modules, combined with a notable absence of communication antennas on the recovered drones, led Ukrainian air defense commanders to initially suspect the weapons were operating under fully autonomous AI guidance, a theory subsequently confirmed through further forensic investigation.

The underlying technology behind such systems relies on a form of machine learning commonly referred to as computer vision. Autonomous AI systems used in this category of weapon are typically trained on thousands of images to recognize broad categories of objects, such as “military truck,” “person” or specific infrastructure like fuel storage tanks. Once deployed, self-targeting drones use their onboard cameras to search for and identify these pre-trained categories with a level of precision that developers argue can exceed what a human remote pilot is capable of achieving under battlefield conditions.

The Zaporizhzhia strike is not the first documented instance of AI-guided weaponry appearing on the Ukrainian battlefield. Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence Agency previously disclosed the existence of a Russian attack drone model, designated V2U, that similarly relies on an Nvidia Jetson Orin chip to enable autonomous flight and target selection, according to reporting from Cybernews. That agency noted the V2U drone incorporates a mix of Western-made components, including an Intel wireless adapter, a Sony light sensor and a Swiss microcontroller, alongside numerous Chinese-manufactured parts covering everything from motors to batteries, illustrating how such systems can be assembled from a global supply chain of largely commercially available components rather than specialized military-grade hardware. Ukrainian intelligence assessed that the drone’s reliance on computer vision for navigation, comparing live camera images against pre-loaded terrain photos, likely reflects Russia’s effort to reduce dependence on GPS satellite navigation, given how effectively Ukrainian electronic warfare systems have disrupted GPS-guided weapons throughout the conflict.

A separate autonomous drone platform, designated MS001 and powered by an Nvidia Jetson Orin module capable of performing 67 trillion operations per second, was intercepted by Ukrainian air defense units in the Sumy region, according to Ukrainian Major General Vladyslav Klochkov. Klochkov described the significance of that platform’s capabilities in stark terms in a post on LinkedIn. “This is a digital predator,” he wrote. “It doesn’t carry coordinates, it thinks.” According to reporting on that platform, the drone was found equipped with thermal imaging for night operations, spoof-resistant navigation systems, and communication hardware enabling it to coordinate with other drones as part of a broader swarm, adjusting flight paths dynamically and compensating for the loss of other units within the group.

The shift toward AI-guided targeting reflects a broader tactical response to the escalating electronic warfare battle that has come to define much of the drone conflict in Ukraine. Viktoria Kovalchuk, a spokeswoman for Brave1, a Ukrainian government organization involved in developing AI weapons and other military technology, explained the strategic logic behind reducing a drone’s reliance on continuous operator control. “Drones equipped with AI-assisted targeting modules do not require a connection to the operator during the engagement phase,” Kovalchuk said. “The operator locks onto the target, then the AI takes over the targeting process independently, making it immune to enemy electronic warfare interference.” That resistance to jamming has become an increasingly significant tactical advantage as both sides have deployed extensive radio-frequency jamming systems designed to sever the connection between remotely piloted drones and their human operators, a battle in which Ukrainian pilots have reportedly lost thousands of drones per month to Russian jamming.

Ukraine has also employed autonomous AI-guided targeting in some of its own offensive operations. According to Ukraine’s Security Service, drones used in the country’s large-scale Operation Spiderweb attack on Russian airbases were designed to switch to AI-guided navigation along a pre-planned route if they lost signal connectivity, automatically activating their warheads upon reaching and identifying a designated target. The security service described the approach as combining “artificial intelligence algorithms and manual operator intervention,” reflecting a hybrid model in which human control remains present during most of a mission but can be superseded by autonomous targeting logic under specific circumstances.

Critics and arms-control advocates have raised significant concerns about weapons systems that make lethal targeting decisions without direct human intervention at the final moment of engagement. Opponents of such systems argue that removing human judgment from the final targeting decision increases the risk of mistakes or violations of the laws of armed conflict, including failures to adequately distinguish civilian individuals or infrastructure from legitimate military targets, a concern directly reflected in the circumstances of the fatal July strike that killed Bubynets and two others near the Zaporizhzhia gas station.

As both Russia and Ukraine continue rapidly iterating on drone technology throughout the ongoing conflict, the increasing integration of commercially available AI hardware into weapons systems capable of independently selecting and engaging targets represents what military analysts and drone experts increasingly describe as a significant and largely unregulated turning point in the conduct of modern warfare, one in which the boundary between human-directed and autonomous lethal decision-making continues to blur with limited international legal framework currently in place to govern its use.

The Los Angeles Lakers will open the 2026-27 NBA season without LeBron James for the first time since 2018-19, closing out an eight-year run that included the franchise’s 2020 championship, after James informed the team on June 30 that he intended to sign elsewhere before ultimately joining the Philadelphia 76ers. In his absence, the Lakers have been fully handed over to Luka Doncic, and the question of whether the franchise is genuinely better positioned without its longtime superstar has become one of the most closely debated storylines heading into the coming season.

Rather than attempting to replace James with a single comparable talent, the Lakers’ front office spent the summer rebuilding the roster specifically around Doncic and Austin Reaves, prioritizing size, defense and secondary ball handling over a traditional co-star. According to LakersDaily.com, the Lakers acquired 7-foot-2 center Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz in a sign-and-trade, sending unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, along with first-round swap rights in 2028 and 2030, before signing him to a four-year, $130 million extension. The Lakers also added guard Quentin Grimes on a four-year, $60 million deal and forward Sandro Mamukelashvili on a four-year, $52 million contract, while Collin Sexton and Matisse Thybulle joined as further depth pieces.

In exchange, the roster lost significant experience beyond James alone. According to a July analysis from Kyle Mucerino, Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes all departed, while Rui Hachimura, the team’s most efficient postseason scorer last spring, signed a two-year, $28 million deal with the crosstown Los Angeles Clippers after the Lakers declined to route his exit through a sign-and-trade.

The case for the overhaul centers primarily on structural coherence rather than star power. LakersDaily.com framed the argument directly: “For the first time in the Doncic era, the roster is built around him rather than stapled to an aging co-star.” Kessler gives Doncic the rim-running, rim-protecting center he had reportedly requested, while Grimes and Reaves provide shooting and secondary shot creation, and a deeper bench gives the Lakers defined roles they lacked the previous season. The resulting roster is younger, more athletic, and, in theory, better equipped to withstand the grind of an 82-game season without leaning as heavily on aging, higher-mileage players.

The case against the rebuild is equally direct. As the same analysis put it, “No single addition replaces what James provided in shot creation, gravity and late-game shot-making, and losing Hachimura’s playoff shooting stings more the longer Kuminga stays unsigned.” National analysts have reportedly expressed open skepticism about the overhaul, characterizing the summer’s moves as a talent downgrade dressed up as a youth movement, according to Lakers Daily’s coverage of the offseason reshaping.

Doncic himself enters the season as the unquestioned centerpiece for the first time in his Lakers tenure, after splitting the offensive workload with James for roughly 18 months following his midseason trade to Los Angeles. According to Yardbarker’s NBA Analysis Network, the Lakers no longer have a “big three” structure following James’ departure, leaving Doncic and Reaves to carry the bulk of the offensive burden. Doncic averaged 33.5 points per game last season while Reaves scored 23.3 points per game, and both players may need to produce even more this coming season for the Lakers to remain competitive, with Yardbarker suggesting Doncic could push above a career-high 35 points per game, a mark that would put him firmly in the MVP conversation.

The Lakers’ projected starting lineup, according to Lakers Daily’s most recent depth chart analysis, features Doncic, Reaves, Grimes, Kessler and a fifth spot still being contested in training camp between incumbent forward Jake LaRavia and newer perimeter defenders Thybulle and Ziaire Williams, both signed specifically to address the team’s point-of-attack defense, a role neither Doncic nor Reaves is well-suited to fill for the other.

Kessler’s individual production last season offers a data point supporting optimism about the fit. According to Lakers Daily, Kessler averaged 11.1 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game while leading the league in a defensive category during his time with Utah, statistics that suggest he could meaningfully address the interior defensive and rebounding deficiencies that had periodically plagued the Lakers during the Doncic-James era.

From a fantasy basketball and individual production standpoint, at least, the shift toward a Doncic-centered roster has been broadly framed as a positive development. Athlon Sports described Doncic as “one of the safest picks in fantasy basketball” heading into the new season, while projecting that Reaves “should take another step forward as the unquestioned second option.” The outlet characterized the broader roster shift bluntly: “This isn’t LeBron’s team anymore.”

Whether that shift translates into genuine team-level improvement remains an open and unresolved question that will only be answered once games begin. LakersNation.com framed the central variables shaping the Lakers’ outlook as Doncic’s individual workload, Kessler’s defensive impact, and whether Reaves can thrive in his expanded role, alongside the projected win total for a reshaped roster that head coach JJ Redick must now turn into a team with what the outlet described as “a repeatable identity.” As Lakers Daily summarized the situation heading into training camp, “What it is, unquestionably, is a different one” — leaving the more consequential question, whether different ultimately means better, as one Lakers fans and NBA analysts alike will spend the coming season debating in real time, with genuine, well-supported arguments existing on both sides of the discussion heading into 2027.

Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has dropped proceedings against Max Financial Services, Max Life Insurance Company, Axis Bank and other Axis group entities, concluding that allegations of disclosure lapses and a fraudulent scheme that allegedly caused a ₹3,912-crore loss to Max Financial and its shareholders couldn’t be proved. The market regulator has also cleared Max Financial founder Analjit Singh, besides former and current senior executives named in the proceedings.

The case stems from Sebi’s probe into a series of transactions between Max Financial, Max Life, and Axis entities between FY10 and FY22. The regulator had examined three sets of arrangements-in 2010, 2015 and 2020-relating to the issue, sale and subsequent acquisition of shares in Max Life.

Read more: SoftBank pares nearly 2.6% stake in Lenskart for Rs 2,888 crore
Following the investigation, Sebi issued a show cause notice on October 24, 2024 alleging that the transactions were structured to provide Axis Bank benefits beyond permissible commission limits for its role as a corporate agent. It had also alleged that Max Financial made inadequate and delayed disclosures and that the arrangements formed part of a fraudulent scheme that benefited Axis entities at the expense of Max Financial and its shareholders.
“… the disclosures made by MFSL (Max Financial Services) could undoubtedly have been more comprehensive and, in certain instances, a more cautious and consistent approach to disclosure may have been desirable,” said Sebi whole time member Amarjeet Singh.

SYDNEY — The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 44.2 points, or 0.49%, at 9,103 on Monday, following Wall Street’s lead higher as major mining stocks pushed to record highs, even as banks and insurers weighed on the index by weighting throughout the session.

The benchmark tracked a steady upward path across Monday’s trading day. According to ABC News’ live market coverage, the ASX 200 had climbed 0.6% to 9,110 points by 11 a.m. AEST, extending to 9,118 points, a 0.6% gain, by 12:48 p.m., before settling into its final 0.49% gain at the 4:37 p.m. close. The broader All Ordinaries index posted a similar advance for the session.

Big miners in the materials sector led Monday’s rally, with several names pushing to fresh all-time highs. According to ABC News, BHP gained 3.6% during the session, while Rio Tinto rose 1.5% and Fortescue advanced 1.8%. Uranium miners proved particularly popular with investors, with most major players in that subsector climbing more than 10% on the day. Paladin Energy emerged as the session’s standout performer, according to Investing.com, surging 10.68% to close at $11.71, while IperionX added 10.03% to finish at $3.18 and Ansell rose 9.74% to $38.30.

Banks and insurers served as the primary counterweight to the miners’ strength throughout the session. NIB Holdings suffered the steepest decline among major names, falling 9.12% to close at $6.73, according to Investing.com. Telecommunications infrastructure company Chorus dropped 5.27% to $7.55, while data center operator Megaport shed 5.06% to finish at $17.45.

Ampol delivered one of the day’s most closely watched earnings results, part of a heavy reporting-season calendar that dominated much of Monday’s market commentary. According to Market Index’s live coverage, Ampol reported a record first half driven by global supply disruption, with the company’s replacement cost operating profit EBIT of $1.4 billion up 245% year over year, while its Lytton refinery margin averaged $28.26 a barrel through a period of severe global supply disruption. Ampol chief executive Matt Halliday pointed to drawn-down product stocks across Russia and the Middle East as a key factor shaping the company’s outlook, noting that market tightness is “hard to rebuild quickly” given limited spare global refinery capacity.

Beyond Ampol, several other significant names reported results Monday. According to The Motley Fool Australia, Dan Murphy’s owner Endeavour Group, regional lender Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, lithium producer Pilbara Minerals, and health insurer NIB Holdings all released their latest financial results during the session, with NIB’s sharp decline standing out as the clearest negative market reaction among that group.

Ahead of the session, analysts at Bell Potter had flagged fast-food chain Guzman y Gomez as trading around fair value following its recent rally, downgrading the stock to a hold rating while lifting its price target to $27.30. “While we think GYG is a clear leader in the QSR space after displaying strong comp sales growth, margin expansion, and further network growth opportunities, we see near-term cost headwinds and a consumer slow-down as a risk to FY27 guidance and view the current multiple as fairly valued,” the broker said in its note.

Energy stocks also featured prominently in Monday’s session, buoyed by overnight gains in crude oil prices. According to The Motley Fool Australia, West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.25% to $87.06 a barrel Friday night, while Brent crude climbed 0.65% to $94.39 a barrel, despite reports suggesting the Iranian government was seeking to bring the broader conflict with the United States to an end.

Monday’s advance followed a difficult end to the prior trading week for Australian equities. According to Reuters, cited by Business Recorder, the ASX 200 had closed down 0.3% Friday at 9,058.90 points, with the benchmark shedding 0.6% over the course of that week, extending losses from the previous week amid growing concerns over major banks’ growth prospects following revelations of declining mortgage application volumes. Healthcare stocks paused a strong rally during Friday’s session, falling 1.8% after having posted a 9.2% weekly gain, while Goodman Group led real estate stocks lower.

Regional markets showed a mixed picture Monday alongside the ASX’s gains. According to CNBC, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.74% lower at 65,528.09, while South Korea’s KOSPI tumbled sharply, falling 3.12% to 6,696.96 amid investor disappointment over Samsung Electronics’ newly disclosed shareholder return plan. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 1.84% in late trading Monday, and mainland China’s CSI 300 closed 1.21% lower at 4,563.13.

The Canadian dollar’s decline against the U.S. dollar Monday, following the collapse of trade talks between Ottawa and Washington, added to a broader backdrop of geopolitical and trade-related uncertainty shaping global markets during the session, even as those developments had limited direct impact on Australian trading.

With reporting season continuing through the remainder of the week, investors are likely to remain closely focused on additional earnings releases from major consumer, retail and travel-sector companies, alongside continued monitoring of commodity prices and the ongoing standoff in the Middle East, as the ASX 200 works to build on Monday’s gains heading into the final stretch of August trading.

Thailand’s Department of Business Development (DBD) has introduced new registration requirements aimed at closing loopholes that allow foreigners to control Thai companies through nominee shareholders. Order No. 2/2026 of the Office of the Central Company and Partnership Registration took effect on August 1, 2026, and marks the latest step in a regulatory push that has been building steadily since the beginning of the year.

DBD director-general Poonpong Naiyanapakorn announced the order on July 31, explaining that it sets stricter criteria and documentation requirements for both incorporating partnerships and limited companies and for amending their registrations. The stated goal is to verify that Thai investors genuinely fund and control the shares they hold, rather than acting as fronts for undisclosed foreign owners.

Why the DBD moved again

The department had already rolled out capital-verification checks for high-risk registrations earlier in the year, requiring Thai shareholders to demonstrate traceable sources of funds when foreign nationals held minority stakes or signing authority. According to the DBD, that earlier measure cut nominee registration attempts by roughly two-thirds. But officials say the pattern has simply shifted rather than disappeared: applicants increasingly register companies under structures that fall outside the flagged criteria, clear the initial screening, and only later file amendments to bring in foreign shareholders or directors with signing power.

Order No. 2/2026 is designed to close that sequencing gap. Its central change is to extend scrutiny across the entire lifecycle of a company rather than concentrating it at the point of incorporation, so that later amendments affecting shareholder or director structures face the same level of documentary review as the original registration.

What applicants must now submit

Where a foreign national is a co-investor or holds signing authority, applicants must now provide an investment explanation letter along with three months of bank statements, covering both the Thai investor who supplied the capital and the party receiving the funds. The intent is to let officials assess whether the money behind a Thai shareholding is real and independently sourced, rather than round-tripped from a foreign partner.

The DBD has said it does not expect the added paperwork to burden legitimate operators, framing the order as targeted at concealment rather than foreign investment itself. Thailand continues to welcome foreign capital through its existing ownership and licensing frameworks; the order is aimed specifically at arrangements where a Thai name is used to disguise what is, in substance, foreign ownership or control.

The scale of the exposure

The numbers help explain the department’s urgency. Thailand currently has just over one million active juristic persons on its registry, the large majority of them limited companies. Of these, more than 119,000 have foreign ownership stakes between 0.01 and 49.99 percent, putting them just inside the threshold that preserves Thai juristic-person status while still carrying the DBD’s designated nominee-risk profile.

That population has been under mounting scrutiny for months. Since March, the department has run joint operations with the police, the Department of Special Investigation, and the Anti-Money Laundering Office, and it has increasingly leaned on the Intelligence Business Analytic System, an AI-driven platform launched in October 2025 that cross-references corporate registry filings against other government databases in real time to flag suspected nominee arrangements. Provinces named as ongoing priorities under the new order include Chon Buri, Rayong, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Surat Thani, Phuket, and Krabi, several of which have already seen high-profile nominee cases surface this year, including one linked to a fatal building collapse in Bangkok.

Penalties remain steep

Nominee arrangements are prosecuted under the Foreign Business Act of 1999. Section 36 provides for up to three years’ imprisonment and fines of between 100,000 and one million baht, or both, for Thai nationals who allow their names to be used as nominees. Foreign nationals who operate a business without proper authorisation face the same penalties under Section 37, with courts also empowered to order the business to cease operating. The DBD says it will pursue firm legal action wherever irregular registrations or evasion attempts are identified, working alongside the Royal Thai Police and other agencies as it has in previous enforcement waves.

What it means for foreign investors

For genuine joint ventures, the practical effect of Order No. 2/2026 is more paperwork rather than a change in the underlying ownership rules: the 49 percent foreign equity ceiling under the Foreign Business Act is unchanged, and legitimate structures with real Thai capital contributions remain unaffected. The bigger shift is procedural. Businesses that plan to bring in a foreign co-investor or signatory after incorporation, rather than at the outset, can no longer treat that as a lighter-touch amendment; it will now draw the same financial scrutiny as registering the company in the first place. Foreign investors working through Thai holding structures, particularly in the tourism, real estate, and hospitality sectors that have drawn the heaviest enforcement attention this year, should expect registration and amendment timelines to lengthen as banks statements and investment letters become standard requirements rather than exceptions.