London’s FTSE 100 index closed higher Friday, adding 24.84 points, or 0.24%, to finish the session at 10,497.29, as strong merger-and-acquisition activity involving Vodafone and easyJet helped offset continued pressure from a sharp decline in pharmaceutical heavyweight AstraZeneca and lingering uncertainty tied to the conflict in the Middle East.

The gain reversed a modest 0.16% decline recorded Thursday, which had been driven primarily by weakness in AstraZeneca, and left the UK benchmark on track for a positive close to the trading week even as the index still finished roughly 1.7% to 1.8% lower over the full five-day period, breaking a two-week winning streak. The FTSE 100 opened Friday’s session at 10,471.94, close to Thursday’s closing level of 10,472.45, before climbing to a session high of 10,513.90 and holding within a relatively narrow range through the remainder of the day, ultimately settling well above its session low of 10,462.75.

Vodafone shares led Friday’s gains among individual index constituents, surging nearly 13% after French billionaire Xavier Niel agreed to acquire Emirates Telecommunications Group’s stake in the company, making him Vodafone’s largest single shareholder. That deal helped anchor Friday’s rally in the telecommunications sector and contributed meaningfully to the broader index’s positive session. Betting and gaming group Entain also posted a strong day, rising more than 4%, while retailer Marks & Spencer added just over 2%.

Mining stocks provided additional support to the index Friday, with firm metals prices lifting several major producers. Rio Tinto rose between 0.9% and 1.5% depending on the report cited, while Glencore added roughly 0.5% and Anglo American and Antofagasta each climbed close to 1%.

In the FTSE 250, easyJet emerged as the day’s standout performer, jumping more than 13% after private equity firm Apollo Global Management agreed to acquire the budget airline for £7.15 per share in a deal valued at approximately £5.7 billion. The offer topped a rival bid previously floated by private equity firm Castlelake, positioning Apollo’s proposal as the leading takeover approach for the airline as of Friday’s close.

Not every major constituent shared in the day’s gains. St. James’s Place, the wealth management firm, dropped more than 8% after reports emerged that a major financial advice firm plans to leave the platform, raising broader concerns among investors about the company’s ability to retain advisers going forward. AstraZeneca extended a difficult stretch, falling as much as 3.5% to 6.2% depending on the specific measurement window cited across various reports, continuing losses that began Thursday after the pharmaceutical giant’s gene-silencing heart therapy, Wainua, failed a late-stage clinical trial. Insurer Hiscox also finished the session lower, down roughly 1.6%.

The dominant macro theme shaping Friday’s session across UK and broader European markets remained the ongoing situation between the United States and Iran. Reports throughout the week indicated the two sides would continue technical-level negotiations despite a recent exchange of military strikes, with easing tensions specifically around shipping activity in the Strait of Hormuz contributing to a broader stabilization in global market sentiment as the week drew to a close. Oil prices eased modestly Friday alongside that de-escalation, with crude trading around $71.41 per barrel, down close to 1% on the session, providing some additional relief to energy-sensitive sectors of the market even as the underlying geopolitical situation remained far from fully resolved.

Market analysts characterized Friday’s performance as reflective of a market attempting to balance genuine underlying strength in the FTSE 100’s core energy, financial and mining sectors against a still-unsettled geopolitical backdrop that has continued to inject periodic volatility into global trading throughout the first half of 2026. The index’s comparatively limited exposure to the technology sector, relative to indices such as Germany’s DAX 40 or France’s CAC 40, meant London participated less directly in a broader rebound in chip and artificial intelligence-linked sentiment that characterized much of Friday’s trading session elsewhere in global markets, a compositional difference that has periodically caused the London index to lag more technology-heavy peers during episodes when AI and semiconductor sentiment dominates broader market direction, while also offering a degree of insulation during periods of technology sector weakness.

Broader UK market indicators reflected a similarly cautious tone through the session. The FTSE 250 traded around 23,293, rebounding by approximately 0.2% after declining 1.5% in the previous session, while the FTSE 350 hovered near 5,691 and the FTSE All-Share Index traded around 5,631, both showing only modest intraday fluctuations as investors continued weighing elevated energy prices against continued Middle East tensions.

Trading volumes on Friday remained broadly consistent with recent averages, with the index’s roughly 51-point intraday range reflecting a session in which investors appeared willing to add to positions steadily throughout the day rather than react sharply to any single catalyst. Over the past month, the FTSE 100 has climbed approximately 1.88%, and the index remains up roughly 17.4% compared with the same time last year, according to data from Trading Economics, underscoring the benchmark’s overall resilience through a volatile first half of 2026 even amid the week’s pullback.

For UK-focused investors, Friday’s performance continued to underline the FTSE 100’s role as a relatively defensive component within a globally diversified equity portfolio, particularly during episodes when technology sector volatility has dominated sentiment elsewhere in global markets. The index’s heavier weighting toward energy, financial services, mining, consumer staples and pharmaceutical companies, relative to the technology-driven indices that have seen sharper swings in recent weeks, has repeatedly provided a measure of stability for London-listed equities even as the broader geopolitical and macroeconomic backdrop has remained unsettled through much of the year.

With the situation between the United States and Iran continuing to evolve and further merger activity potentially in the pipeline following Friday’s Vodafone and easyJet developments, investors are expected to remain closely focused on both geopolitical headlines and individual corporate news in the sessions ahead as they assess the durability of the FTSE 100’s recent stabilization.

Council leader Tom Ross on the Wharfside Regeneration Masterplan

A vision to transform Old Trafford into a ‘world class’ place to live, work and visit has now been revealed.

Heralded a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’, the catalyst for the project will be the new 100,000-seater Manchester United Stadium. But the plan goes far beyond that.

Trafford’s Wharfside Regeneration Masterplan promises around 15,000 new homes, 48,000 new jobs, a possible new train station, green spaces and places for a new community to come together to eat, drink, shop and play.

Council leader Tom Ross wants to transform the land around the Old Trafford football grounds into a place where new and existing residents and businesses can thrive. He has lauded the Wharfside regeneration masterplan a ‘foundation’ for ‘future success’ in Trafford.

He said: “What other local authority wouldn’t tear their right arm off to have the opportunity to be able to create something like this? We will make Trafford Wharfside a world-class place to live, visit and work […]

“We want more people to be able to share in our borough’s success. More people able to live in Trafford, work in Trafford and enjoy Trafford. So, what we are doing today is laying down the foundations for future success.

“For future generations to inherit a borough that is better for them. That is greener for them, that is more open, with more jobs and more homes available for them. To live next to the most famous club in the world that has the World Class facilities to match.”

As a resident in the area himself, Coun Ross said this would be a ‘very exciting thing to have on [his] doorstep’. But the council has to ‘make sure it works’ for existing residents, too, he said.

He added: “It isn’t something that stands as an island separated from what’s going on in the rest of the borough. We want to make sure that we’ve got good access to healthcare and education provision.

“Most importantly for me, I want to make sure that the young people have opportunities that come from this regeneration, whether that be through jobs potentially in training or housing, affordable housing to move to when they get older.”

No target has been set at this stage for how many of the new homes will be built as either ‘affordable’ or ‘social’ housing. However, Coun Ross said he wants to see ‘as much as possible’ fall into these categories.

While the masterplan has now been revealed, a lot of details around the scheme are still to be worked out. These include discussions around delivering the services new and current residents will need.

Coun Ross said those discussions are already underway: “They’re the first questions that residents are asking and will be asking and quite right too […] We’ll look at future school places both at a primary and a secondary level and look at what we need to do to work with existing schools to expand or develop new school sites as well.

“In terms of healthcare, we’re already having those discussions with our local NHS partners around what the future looks like with this redevelopment and wider pieces across the north of the borough as well. [We recognise] that people need access to GPs, to dentists, first and foremost, so we’re looking at ways of doing that and working closely now with the local NHS so we get it right in the medium to long-term.”

Getting transport infrastructure right will also be a key challenge when it comes to such a large development. The council is aiming reduce the number of people driving into the area, particularly on game days, with ambitions to improve public transport to the Wharfside area.

Among the potential options is the reopening of the former Manchester United Station. Coun Ross said: “That will clearly serve people coming in to go and watch Manchester United play, but will also serve the new population that lives around that northern part of Trafford and indeed the Quays area as well.

“So that again will involve working with our transport providers, you know, local Transport for Greater Manchester Network to make sure that we can deliver that.”

He added: “I experience getting stuck in traffic on matchdays or seeing people park in front of my house, so anything that reduces that is a benefit.”

The council believes the scheme could create around 48,000 new jobs. These would be across a ‘huge range’ of industries, Coun Ross said.

“You’ve got to look at the design, architecture, construction, road and highway management, public transport management. That’s all part of it. The jobs that will come with the club, the jobs that will come with different businesses that open up in the area.

“There’s a huge range of different jobs that are available. So we’re already working with existing colleges like Trafford College to look at what this can look like in terms of their future courses to make sure that we’re ready for what’s about to happen and we’ll work on a Greater Manchester level as well to make sure that we’ve got the right skills to support what is a massive regeneration project.”

Progressing the vision for the area to this stage has not always been smooth sailing, however. United had originally been in talks with Freightliner to acquire land behind the Stretford End, but those talks stalled, resulting in the club finding a new site for its proposed future stadium.

The council hopes the Freightliner land could still be brought into the development, however. Coun Ross said those conversations will be ongoing, but housing could eventually be built there instead.

He said: “That’s not for now. That’s a longer term conversation that we’ll continue to have with Freightliner. I would say going ahead a few years from now, that’s when we’ll start to see that particular element of land being potentially developed, but that dialogue’s really important with Freightliner still.”

It is not just the Old Trafford area that will benefit from this investment, Coun Ross believes. He said: “There’s a new stadium to look forward to. For people that are looking for jobs and opportunities, there’ll be a huge amount of opportunity available there.

“For people who’ve grown up in Trafford and wish to stay in Trafford, a prospect of affordable housing. For people that enjoy a walk into the city centre along the canal, a much more attractive prospect there.

“For people that like a night out by a riverside or a waterside, more potential in terms of what we do along the waterfront. So there’s loads of ways in which the existing residents of Trafford will benefit from this project.

“It’s a long term project and it won’t be built tomorrow, but each step of the way we want to make sure that we work with our existing residents and businesses.”

While finding funding for the stadium itself is the responsibility of the football club, questions remain over how the rest of the project will be funded.

Coun Ross said grant funding will be key to this, but he believes that will be forthcoming: “There will be grant funding coming through because the government’s priority at the moment is housing. So that means that there will be active conversations with the government, with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with Homes England about how we deliver that.”

A public consultation on the scheme is expected to be launched later this month, with Coun Ross urging residents to get involved and make their thoughts known.

To find all the planning applications, traffic diversions, road layout changes, alcohol licence applications and more in your community, visit the Public Notices Portal.

The four Vedanta Group stocks made their much-awaited debut on stock exchanges on June 15, concluding the mega demerger that marked one of the biggest corporate restructurings in India’s metals and mining space.

Vedanta Iron and Steel share price

Vedanta Iron and Steel shares listed at Rs 20 apiece on June 15. The stock then rapidly jumped 113% in just 13 sessions, before the rally lost steam. The stock tumbled around 23% during the five-session losing streak.

Shares of the company have recovered around 10% in just two sessions. The stock is up nearly 5% today to trade at Rs 36.41 apiece on NSE. Earlier last week, the company reported a 4% YoY rise in saleable iron ore production to 2.6 million DMT in the first quarter of FY27. Sequentially, however, production fell 3% from 2.7 million DMT reported in the fourth quarter of FY26.

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Vedanta Oil and Gas share price
Vedanta Oil and Gas debuted at Rs 38 apiece on June 15. The stock then jumped more than 25% to hit a record high at Rs 47.60 apiece earlier this month. However, it then sharply declined.Vedanta Oil and Gas shares rebounded last week, and the trend continued on Monday. Shares of the company rose around 3% to trade at Rs 39.89 apiece, rising above the listing price. The stock has now gained more than 11% in four consecutive sessions.

Vedanta Power share price

Vedanta Power shares jumped nearly 2% to trade at Rs 42.49 apiece on NSE on Monday. Shares of the company listed at Rs 41.80 apiece on NSE on June 15. The stock has so far only gained nearly 2% since then.

The company earlier this month said power sales grew 38% YoY to 5,225 million units in Q1 FY27 from 3,784 million units in Q1 FY26. Sequentially, however, sales fell 6% from 5,530 million units reported in the fourth quarter of FY26.

Vedanta Aluminium share price

Vedanta Aluminium shares listed as the only largecap stock on the list, debuting at Rs 522 apiece on NSE and surpassing its parent company in terms of market capitalisation in June. Shares of the company jumped around 2% today to trade at Rs 451 apiece. However, the shares have dropped 14% since listing.

The company last week reported its highest-ever quarterly aluminium production of 6.32 lakh tonnes in Q1 FY27, marking a 5% YoY and 3% quarter-on-quarter increase.

Also Read | Nuvama initiates Buy call on Vedanta Aluminium shares, expects profitability to exceed historical average. Here’s why

Brokerages turn bullish on this Vedanta stock

Several brokerages have issued bullish calls for the shares of Vedanta Aluminium Metal. Nuvama Institutional Equities last week initiated coverage on shares of Vedanta Aluminium Metal with a ‘Buy’ rating and a target price of Rs 540 per share, implying an upside potential of nearly 22% from the stock’s previous closing price.

The brokerage highlighted that Vedanta Aluminium Metal is the fastest-expanding primary aluminium company in India, with its EBITDA likely to compound at 29% over FY26–28. Nuvama believes aluminium prices are likely to remain firm until FY28 as supply tightness is likely to loosen in the second half of that year.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services also initiated coverage on the shares of Vedanta Aluminum with a ‘Buy’ rating and a target price of Rs 540 per share, implying an upside potential of around 22% from the stock’s previous closing price, as the domestic brokerage forecast strong earnings growth and cash flow generation over the medium term.

The domestic brokerage in its note called the company India’s largest pure-play primary aluminum company and the third-largest aluminum producer globally, excluding China. It said the company has emerged as one of the most compelling structural stories in the global aluminum space, combining industry-leading scale, extensive backward integration, and a multi-year earnings growth trajectory.

Also Read | Vedanta Aluminum shares to see 22% rally? Motilal Oswal initiates coverage with Buy, lists key tailwinds

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

Wordle players hunting for Monday’s answer can find it here: the solution to puzzle #1850, released July 13, 2026, is STOUT, according to multiple outlets tracking the daily New York Times word game.

The five-letter word carries a double meaning that tripped up some solvers Monday. It can describe something or someone somewhat fat or heavily built, or a quality that is brave, determined and resolute, and it is also most famously used as a noun for a dark, heavy, top-fermented beer style, such as the traditional Irish beer Guinness. Puzzle guides described Monday’s puzzle as balancing between those different meanings, with some solvers reportedly thinking of air travel, geometry or carpentry before ultimately landing on the correct answer once the final tile turned green.

For those working through the puzzle before checking the solution, several structural clues were available. The word begins with the letter S and ends with T, contains exactly two vowels, and features a repeated letter in the form of a doubled consonant sitting in the center of the word, distinguishing it from similarly structured words such as SHOUT or SCOUT. Wordle guide WordSolverX noted that players who opened with a word like TOAST would have secured both the ending and the middle letter early, leaving only the first and third positions left to solve.

According to the New York Times’ companion analysis tool, Wordle Bot, the average player completed Monday’s puzzle in 4.0 moves under easy mode, or 3.9 moves under hard mode rules, reflecting a moderate level of difficulty. One puzzle writer covering the game for Tom’s Guide described the presence of the repeated C in the previous day’s answer, CLACK, as a particular challenge, noting that opening with a word like CLASP could have narrowed the field to just six possible answers by the second guess.

Wordle challenges players to guess a hidden five-letter word within six attempts, using color-coded tile feedback to indicate whether each guessed letter is correct and correctly placed, correct but misplaced, or absent from the word entirely. The game, created by software engineer Josh Wardle in 2021, was acquired by The New York Times the following year after surging in popularity, and has since become a fixture of the paper’s daily games lineup alongside titles such as Connections, Strands and the Mini Crossword.

Puzzle guides offered a familiar set of strategic reminders for players working through Monday’s word or preparing for future puzzles. Common advice includes opening with a word containing frequently used letters such as R, S, T, N and L to quickly surface useful information, testing different vowel placements early in the guessing process, and using elimination logic even from an incorrect guess by paying close attention to which letters turn green, yellow or gray. One guide specifically advised players to “aggression-test” the T position given Monday’s word structure, noting that securing consonant placements early paid off more than scattering guesses across multiple vowels for this particular puzzle.

Players were also reminded not to cling too tightly to an early idea if they found themselves stuck partway through their guesses. “If you get stuck, reset your thinking,” one puzzle guide advised. “Often, the right word is simpler than the brain makes it out to be.”

Looking back across recent puzzles, Monday’s answer continued a stretch that puzzle trackers have described as favoring concrete nouns and physical descriptors over more abstract concepts. Saturday’s puzzle, #1848, carried the answer AVIAN, while Sunday’s puzzle, #1849, carried the answer CLACK, both words tied more directly to tangible objects or physical qualities than some earlier entries in the week’s rotation. One puzzle guide noted that the vowel count across the week’s puzzles had hovered around two for most entries, making three-vowel opening guesses a comparatively riskier strategy heading into Monday’s puzzle specifically.

Beyond the standard daily puzzle, Wordle’s broader ecosystem has continued to expand in recent years, inspiring a range of spinoff and companion games that build on its core mechanics. Puzzle trackers following the New York Times’ broader games offerings also pointed players toward NYT Connections puzzle #1128, NYT Strands puzzle #861 and the daily NYT Spelling Bee, all of which reset alongside Wordle each day and have built their own dedicated followings among daily puzzle solvers.

The puzzle’s continued popularity nearly five years after its original release has been attributed in large part to its simplicity and shareability. Each day brings exactly one new word, with no ads interrupting the format, and players can share their results on social media through a grid of colored squares that reveals their guessing pattern without spoiling the actual answer for others who haven’t yet played. That shareable format helped fuel Wordle’s rapid rise in the early 2020s and has continued to sustain a large, dedicated daily audience in the years since.

Players who did not solve Monday’s puzzle were reminded by tracking outlets that a new Wordle puzzle becomes available every day at midnight in each player’s local time zone, meaning a missed word carries no bearing on future attempts and streak-conscious players can simply pick back up with the next day’s release. The Times has continued to expand its broader portfolio of daily puzzle offerings in recent years, part of a wider strategy aimed at keeping readers returning to its games platform on a consistent basis, with Wordle remaining the most widely recognized entry point into that ecosystem.

Tuesday’s Wordle puzzle is set to reset at midnight local time, continuing the game’s unbroken daily cadence. Players looking for an early head start on hints can typically expect a new round of guides and clues to appear across puzzle-tracking sites shortly after the transition, following the same structural format used for Monday’s reveal.

The IT bellwether reported last week 5% year-on-year (YoY) growth in consolidated net profit to Rs 13,349 crore for the first quarter of the ongoing financial year 2027. The company’s consolidated net profit stood at Rs 12,760 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

The firm’s revenue from operations, meanwhile, rose around 14% YoY to Rs 72,275 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs 63,437 crore in the year-ago period. Its total contract value in Q1 FY27 stood at $9.5 billion.

Along with the Q1 earnings, TCS declared an interim dividend of Rs 12 per share, with a face value of Re 1 apiece. The IT bellwether said that its board of directors declared the dividend, which will be paid by July 31 to the eligible shareholders. The record date to determine the eligibility of shareholders set to receive the payment has been fixed on July 15 (Wednesday).

Also read: TCS Q1 Results | Profit rises 5% YoY to Rs 13,349 crore; co declares Rs 12/share dividend

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“Q1 FY27 reflects continued growth momentum and the strength of our strategic positioning, despite geopolitical and macro-economic headwinds. We delivered a strong order book of $9.5 billion, including a marquee AI-led transformation deal with SKF, while continuing to add clients across key revenue bands and scaling our AI business to a $2.6 billion annualized revenue run rate. As customers accelerate investments in AI, modernization, cybersecurity, sovereign cloud and platform simplification, our strong deal conversion, improving client mining and expanding ecosystem partnerships position TCS well to translate opportunity into sustained growth,” said TCS CEO K Krithivasan.

Should you buy, sell or hold TCS shares?

Morgan Stanley has an ‘Equal weight’ rating on the shares of TCS with a target price of Rs 2,200 apiece, implying more than 6% upside potential from the previous closing price of Rs 2,069 apiece. The international brokerage said the company’s Q1 FY27 performance was in line to slightly ahead of expectations, while management’s commentary for the second quarter was modestly positive.
Citi however has a ‘Sell’ rating on TCS shares, with the international brokerage cutting its target price to Rs 1,825 from Rs 1,965 after the earnings announcement, citing weak growth prospects and subdued international revenue momentum. The latest target price implies a downside potential of about 12%.
Nuvama, Motilal Oswal Financial Services and Dolat Capital meanwhile have ‘Buy’ ratings for the shares of TCS, with target prices implying upside potential of up to 45% from the previous closing price. Emkay has an ‘Add’ rating.

Also read: What are Morgan Stanley, Citi and other brokerages saying after TCS Q1 results?

TCS shares jumped 3% to trade at Rs 2,129 apiece on Monday morning. The shares of the IT major have gained more than 3% in one week, but have fallen around 2% in one month and 34% in 2026 so far.

In the longer term, the shares of TCS have delivered negative returns of 35% in one year, 36% in three years and 33% in five years. The company has a market capitalisation of nearly Rs 7.7 lakh crore.

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

Organising a successful public entertainment event is a remarkable achievement that requires careful planning and execution. From the initial concept to the final applause, there are many elements that contribute to the success of such an event. One important aspect that can significantly elevate the experience is by incorporating unique entertainment options like a casino table hire. But what are the key ingredients that make a public entertainment event successful? Let’s delve into the essential components that event organisers need to consider to ensure success.

Understanding Your Audience

An intimate knowledge of your audience is the bedrock of a successful event. Knowing the demographics, interests, and expectations of the attendees will inform every decision you make, from the choice of venue to the type of entertainment provided. Tailoring the experience to suit the preferences of your audience not only enhances their enjoyment but also increases the likelihood of positive feedback and future attendance.

Selecting the Right Venue

The venue is the physical foundation of your event, and choosing the right one is crucial. Considerations should include capacity, location, accessibility, and facilities. The venue should complement the theme and style of your event. Whether you’re hosting a formal gala or a casual festival, the venue sets the atmosphere and can make or break the attendees’ experience.

Effective Event Promotion

Once you’ve established a clear understanding of your audience and selected the perfect venue, effective promotion is key to drawing in attendees. Utilising a mix of marketing strategies can amplify your reach. This includes social media marketing, partnerships with influencers, traditional advertising, and word-of-mouth. Crafting compelling messages and offering incentives, such as early-bird tickets or exclusive content, can further boost interest and ticket sales.

Engaging Entertainment Options

Entertainment is a critical component that captivates the audience and creates memorable experiences. Whether it’s live music, theatrical performances, or interactive attractions like a casino table hire, the entertainment must resonate with your audience and fit the theme of the event. Engaging entertainers and diversifying the entertainment options can sustain the audience’s interest and encourage them to stay longer.

Attention to Detail in Planning and Execution

Thorough planning and flawless execution are essential. This involves logistics, scheduling, security measures, and on-the-day coordination. Effective communication among the event organisers, staff, and vendors ensures that everyone is aligned towards the same objectives. Additionally, anticipating potential challenges and having contingency plans in place can prevent unexpected issues from overshadowing the event’s success.

In conclusion, the success of a public entertainment event hinges on a combination of understanding your audience, selecting the right venue, effective promotion, engaging entertainment, and meticulous planning. By prioritising these elements, event organisers can not only meet expectations but also create unforgettable experiences that resonate with attendees long after the event has concluded. With a strategic approach and attention to detail, any public entertainment event has the potential to be a remarkable success.

Puzzle fans working through Monday’s New York Times Connections game have their solution: puzzle #1128, released July 13, 2026, sorted 16 words into four groups spanning synonyms for interrogation, everyday objects with a shared physical feature, fictional cats and a clever wordplay category built around hidden kiss-related slang, according to multiple outlets tracking the daily game.

Connections challenges players to organize 16 seemingly unrelated words into four hidden groups of four, with each group linked by a shared theme, color-coded by difficulty from yellow, the easiest, through green, blue and finally purple, traditionally the most difficult and often built around wordplay rather than straightforward meaning. Players select four words at a time and submit a guess, with the game indicating correct groupings by color and offering a “one away” warning when a guess is close but not quite right. Four incorrect guesses end the puzzle.

Monday’s yellow category centered on synonyms for interrogation, grouping the words examine, grill, pump and question, all terms that can describe pressing someone for answers. According to puzzle guide FluentSlang, the category carried a built-in trap, since “grill” evokes an obviously more intense form of questioning, while “pump” for information is a sneakier fit that many players initially set aside, expecting it to belong instead to a category involving physical pumping actions, gym equipment or footwear.

The green group asked players to identify everyday objects that share a physical feature, linking bucket, drawer, mug and umbrella, all items defined by having a handle. FluentSlang described the category as deceptively simple, noting that the word “handle” is never stated outright in any of the four entries, making the connection harder to spot than it might initially appear. The guide also flagged “mug” as a particular trap, since players might expect the word to fit into a category involving faces or slang terms rather than physical objects.

The puzzle’s blue category asked players to identify fictional cats from film and television, connecting Figaro, Puss, Salem and Tom, drawing on characters ranging from Disney’s “Pinocchio” to the “Shrek” franchise, “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “Tom and Jerry.” TechRadar’s Connections columnist admitted to struggling with this particular group, describing making three incorrect guesses before finally landing on the correct combination of fictional felines.

Monday’s purple category, traditionally the trickiest of the four, required players to recognize a hidden word for “kiss” sitting at the start of each entry: bussin, kisser, peckish and smackdown. Each word conceals a different term for a kiss within its opening letters, with “buss” serving as an archaic word for a kiss that fell out of common usage in the 1600s, “kiss” appearing directly within “kisser,” “peck” hidden at the start of “peckish,” and “smack” opening “smackdown.” TechRadar’s columnist noted the surprise of learning that connection only after finishing the puzzle, writing that discovering “buss” as an old-fashioned word for a kiss felt like a word overdue for a comeback.

One puzzle guide covering Monday’s board summarized the overall design as deceptively welcoming at first glance before revealing its true difficulty. “The NYT Connections puzzle for July 13, 2026 looks friendly at first, then quietly bites,” FluentSlang wrote. “You get words that beg to be sorted the obvious way, and every obvious way is wrong.” Other coverage described the puzzle as blending physical actions, clever rearrangements and nostalgic references, noting that the mix of straightforward associations with a more playful wordplay category made for a satisfying solve once every group finally clicked into place.

Connections was developed internally by the Times and rolled out widely in 2023 following a beta testing period, building on the momentum generated by Wordle, which the paper had acquired the previous year. Since its full launch, Connections has become one of the more popular entries in the Times’ expanding games section, which also includes Wordle, Strands, the Mini Crossword, Sudoku and Pips, part of a broader strategy by the paper to build a suite of daily puzzles that keeps readers returning to its platform consistently.

The category names themselves remain hidden from players at the outset of each puzzle, requiring solvers to infer each group’s connecting theme purely from the 16 scrambled words presented on the board. That design choice has made the game notably prone to misdirection, since certain words are often deliberately chosen because they could plausibly fit into more than one category before a puzzle’s true structure becomes clear. Monday’s board illustrated that tendency well, given how many of its words, including “mug,” “pump” and “grill,” carried multiple plausible meanings that could have pointed solvers toward the wrong grouping entirely.

Beyond the standard Connections puzzle, the Times has also continued expanding into sports-specific content through its ownership of The Athletic, with Connections: Sports Edition offering a spinoff format that resets daily at midnight Eastern time alongside the main puzzle, asking players to group 16 sports-related terms into four themed categories drawn from teams, players and league-specific vocabulary.

For players who prefer working through Connections gradually rather than seeing the full solution at once, most puzzle-tracking outlets offer graduated hint systems that follow the game’s own difficulty ladder, presenting clues from the yellow category through purple in ascending order of difficulty. That structure allows players to request a partial nudge, such as a thematic hint for the purple category alone, without necessarily spoiling the remaining groups if they would still like to solve those independently.

Access to the daily Connections puzzle, along with Wordle and the Mini Crossword, remains free through the Times’ games app and website, while the publication’s full puzzle archive, including older Connections boards, requires a Times Games subscription to access. The paper has continued to build out tools surrounding its puzzle offerings in recent years, including performance-tracking features that let players monitor their solving statistics over time, similar in spirit to the Wordle Bot analysis tool available for that game.

Tuesday’s Connections puzzle is scheduled to reset at midnight Eastern time, continuing the game’s daily rotation. Players looking for hints ahead of the next release can typically expect updated guides to appear across puzzle-tracking sites within hours of each new puzzle going live, following the same category-by-category format used to break down Monday’s grid.

Britain’s businesses have stopped hiring and slipped into “survival mode”, with economic output stuttering to a five-year low in June as the Iran war, weak consumer spending and relentless cost increases combine to squeeze firms from every direction.

The warning comes from consultancy BDO, whose index of economic output slid to 91.53 in June from 94.80 the previous month. That is its weakest reading since February 2021, when the UK was still in the grip of a Covid-19 lockdown.

For small business owners, the most sobering finding is on jobs. BDO’s research indicated that hiring appetite is close to a 15-year low, just as firms absorb the largest increase in operating costs in more than three years.

The price of energy, raw materials and other inputs crucial to goods production has risen sharply since the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which followed the initial US-Israeli strikes on Iran at the end of February. Four months on, the downturn has become far more broad-based, with manufacturing and services both suffering a dismal June.

Scott Knight, head of growth at BDO, said: “Business confidence has remained low for 20 consecutive months as businesses are trapped in survival mode. Rebuilding confidence will need to be tackled immediately by the next prime minister if the UK is to return to growth.”

That next prime minister is Andy Burnham, who succeeds Sir Keir Starmer on July 20. The data suggests reviving a stalled economy will need to sit at the top of his in-tray from day one.

Official figures due this Thursday from the Office for National Statistics are expected to show gross domestic product expanded by just 0.1 per cent in May, having contracted by the same degree in April.

The geopolitical picture offers little comfort. Over the past week the US and Iran have traded strikes and President Trump declared the fragile ceasefire between the pair “over”, a move that has already pushed wholesale gas prices sharply higher. Brent crude briefly topped $80 a barrel before settling back at $75 by the end of the week.

The turbulence is feeding through to the cost of money. The yield on the benchmark ten-year UK government bond rose by around 0.10 percentage points to 4.87 per cent over the past five days, and higher gilt yields translate directly into dearer finance for firms refinancing loans, overdrafts and commercial mortgages.

BDO predicted that business confidence is likely to continue to falter thanks to heightened geopolitical tensions.

Analysts are split on whether the Bank of England will lift the base rate from its current 3.75 per cent this year, with markets having already swung towards pricing in a rise since the oil shock began.

Weakness in the labour market is seen as the main reason for the central bank to stay cautious, having left rates unchanged last month. The latest ONS figures showed vacancies dipped to a five-year low over the three months to May, while private sector pay, excluding bonuses, grew by 2.9 per cent, the smallest rise in more than five years.

For SME owners weighing hiring plans, borrowing decisions or energy contracts, the next fixed point in the calendar is July 30, when the Bank’s monetary policy committee meets again.

One of the biggest pain points is the tax deducted at source (TDS), which is often withheld on the entire sale consideration rather than the actual capital gains, resulting in excess tax deductions and lengthy refund timelines.

In this edition of ETMarkets Smart Talk, Himanshu Sinha, Partner – Tax Practice at Trilegal, explains how NRIs can navigate the tax implications of property transactions, avoid unnecessary TDS through a Lower/Nil TDS certificate, and make the most of available exemptions under the Income-tax Act.

He also discusses the latest changes in capital gains taxation, repatriation rules, and common tax mistakes that every NRI investor should avoid. Edited Excerpts –

Q) What are the key tax considerations NRIs should keep in mind before investing in India?

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A) Before an NRI puts money to work in India, the first thing to sort out is residential status. This is governed by Section 6 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (ITA 2025), which took over from the 1961 Act on 1 April 2026 and carries forward the same residency framework rather than rewriting it.Basic conditions for residence, Section 6(1). A person becomes a Resident of India in a given Tax Year if either of two tests is met. The first, often called the 182-day rule, is met simply by being physically present in India for 182 days or more in that year. The second, the 60-day plus 365-day test, applies where someone is in India for 60 days or more in the year and has also clocked up 365 days or more across the preceding four years. Meeting just one of these is enough to trigger residency, and both the arrival and departure dates count as days spent in India.
Relaxation for Indian citizens and PIOs, Section 6(1) proviso. For two groups, the 60-day threshold in the second test is pushed up to 182 days: Indian citizens who leave the country as ship’s crew or for employment abroad, and Indian citizens or Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) who visit India from abroad. In practice, this means that a typical NRI coming home for a family visit only becomes resident by crossing 182 days—short trips alone won’t do it, since the 365-day look-back simply doesn’t apply to them.
Exception for high-income NRIs and PIOs, Section 6(1) second proviso. There’s a catch for those whose Indian-sourced income exceeds ₹15 lakh in the year. For this group, the relief is only partial—the 60-day threshold drops to 120 days rather than 182.

So a high earner who spends 120 days or more in India, and has also been here for 365 days or more over the preceding four years, ends up resident even without crossing 182 days. The ₹15 lakh figure looks only at Indian income, not worldwide income, and it’s worth tracking closely if that number is likely to grow.

Deemed residency, Section 6(7). A separate rule targets Indian citizens based in places like the UAE that don’t tax income at all. Under Section 6(7)—previously Section 6(1A)—an Indian citizen with Indian-sourced income above ₹15 lakh is deemed resident if they aren’t liable to tax anywhere else by virtue of domicile or residence. “Liable to tax” here has a specific meaning: it covers any legal tax liability, even one that’s later been exempted. Anyone caught by this provision is automatically treated as RNOR rather than a full resident, so only Indian income gets taxed and foreign income stays out of reach—even if the person never actually sets foot in India that year. This is squarely aimed at NRIs in zero-tax jurisdictions such as the UAE.

RNOR status, Section 6(13). Even if someone meets a basic residency test, they may still qualify as Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident rather than a full Resident, provided either: they were non-resident in nine or more of the preceding ten years, or their total time in India over the preceding seven years adds up to 729 days or less.

RNOR status limits taxation to Indian-sourced income and business income controlled from India, leaving foreign earnings untouched. It typically acts as a two-to-three-year transition window for NRIs moving back to India, and it applies automatically to anyone caught by the deemed-residency rule above.

Resident and Ordinarily Resident (ROR). Anyone who meets a basic residency test but fails both RNOR conditions becomes a full ROR and gets taxed on worldwide income—foreign salary, rent, capital gains abroad, overseas interest, all of it. The move from RNOR to ROR is the point returning NRIs need to watch most carefully, and it’s worth planning travel days around it in the years just after moving back.

Practical implications for investors. On the ground, the first decision is how to structure bank accounts. NRE and FCNR(B) deposits pay interest that’s fully tax-exempt and freely repatriable, while NRO accounts get hit with 30% TDS on interest under Section 393(2). Parking investible savings in an NRO account rather than NRE or FCNR is a needless drag on returns before any
actual investing happens. A PAN is required for investments, DTAA claims, and refunds.

Because TDS under Section 393(2)—deducted by banks, brokers, mutual funds, and property buyers alike—often exceeds actual tax owed, applying in advance for a Lower/Nil TDS Certificate under Section 395, or simply filing an ITR promptly to claim a refund, matters a great deal. NRIs also can’t buy agricultural land, farmhouses, or plantation property except by inheritance, and every property payment has to go through proper banking channels.

Q) Has the tax treatment of NRI investments changed significantly over the past few years?
A) It has, and the changes over the last three years have added up to quite a lot. The biggest shift came with Budget 2024, effective 23 July 2024, which overhauled capital gains taxation across the board. LTCG on listed equities and equity funds went from 10% to 12.5%, STCG on the same went from 15% to 20%, and LTCG on real estate and other assets was flattened to a uniform 12.5%. Indexation disappeared entirely for transfers after that date.

Unlike resident taxpayers, NRIs got no grandfathering relief, which stings particularly hard for those holding property for a long time.

A year before that, from 1 April 2023, the Finance Act 2023 pulled the LTCG concession on debt mutual funds bought after that date. Funds with under 35% equity exposure are now taxed at slab rates regardless of how long they’re held, putting them on par with NRO fixed deposits from a tax standpoint—a real change in how attractive debt funds are for NRIs in higher brackets.

More recently, Finance Act 2026 simplified TDS compliance for property buyers from 1 October 2026 by allowing PAN in place of TAN in eligible cases. Budget 2026 also tightened the rules on Sovereign Gold Bonds, restricting the tax-free maturity benefit to original subscribers only; anyone who bought SGBs in the secondary market is now fully taxed on redemption.

Another positive development in recent years has been the use of GIFT City IFSC. Some NRIs, instead of going the conventional mutual fund or PMS route, choose to invest through a specified fund set up in the GIFT City IFSC.

The appeal isn’t a special low tax rate—it’s that certain income earned by these funds is carved out of Indian tax altogether under an exemption regime carried over into ITA 2025. But this only works if the fund actually qualifies as a “specified fund” and meets the IFSCA conditions, and even then, the exemption only covers specific kinds of income—gains from particular securities transactions, certain non-resident securities income, and so on.

Whether an NRI actually benefits comes down to how the fund is structured and what it invests in, so it’s best to think of GIFT City as a planning option worth examining case by case, not as a shortcut to low tax across the board.

Q) How can NRIs avoid common tax mistakes while investing in Indian financial assets?
The biggest mistake by far is getting residential status wrong. NRIs who make frequent short trips home should keep an actual day-count log each year. The 120-day rule for high earners means even a small overrun can trigger residency, especially if the 365-day look-back is also satisfied.

The deemed-resident rule under Section 6(7) adds another wrinkle for those in zero-tax jurisdictions like the UAE—Indian income above ₹15 lakh means RNOR status by statute, though it’s worth getting proper advice to confirm exactly how that threshold is being measured.

Another frequent error is treating TDS as if it were the final tax bill rather than an advance payment. TDS under Section 393(2)—30% on NRO interest, 20% on dividends, up to roughly 14.95% on the full sale price for property LTCG—regularly comes in above what’s actually owed, and the only way to get that money back is to file a return.

Better still, apply ahead of time for a Lower TDS Certificate under Section 395 so the over-deduction never happens in the first place.

Skipping DTAA paperwork is another costly slip. Without a valid Tax Residency Certificate and a properly filed Form 41 handed to each Indian payer before the year’s first income event, the payer has no choice but to apply full domestic withholding.

And the foreign tax credit claim—now made through Forms 44 and 45 under ITA 2025, replacing the old Form 67—has to be filed by the ITR due date; miss that window and the credit is gone, no matter how clear-cut the entitlement was.

Q) How do Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) help NRIs, and how should investors make the most of them?
A) DTAAs, now sitting under Section 159 of ITA 2025 (formerly Section 90), are treaties India has with close to a hundred countries to stop the same income being taxed twice over.

They work in three basic ways—handing exclusive taxing rights to one country for certain income types, setting lower withholding rates than India’s domestic rates, and requiring the home country to give credit for tax already paid in India.

Section 159 makes clear that whichever is more favourable, the treaty rate or the domestic rate, is the one that applies, so it’s always worth comparing the two before assuming a rate.

The savings can be substantial. NRO interest that would normally face 30% TDS often drops to 10–15% under a treaty. Dividends taxed at 20% domestically can fall to 10–15% as well. On capital gains, many treaties give taxing rights entirely to the country of residence, which can mean zero Indian tax if that country doesn’t tax capital gains at all.

A March 2025 ruling by the Income Tax Tribunal is a good illustration: it held that a Singapore-based NRI’s gains from Indian mutual funds weren’t taxable in India, since mutual fund units aren’t the same as company shares and Article 13(5) of the India–Singapore treaty gives residual capital gains rights to the residence country.

NRIs in the UAE, which levies no capital gains tax, stand to gain the most from this reasoning, though the ruling hasn’t been tested in higher courts yet.

To actually use a DTAA, an NRI needs a Tax Residency Certificate from their home tax authority, and if that certificate is missing any required field, a Form 41 filed electronically on the Indian portal. Both, along with a self-declaration and PAN copy, need to reach every Indian payer before the year’s first income event. The claim then gets backed up in the ITR filed under Section 159.

Q) How are short-term and long-term capital gains taxed for NRIs investing in Indian equities and mutual funds?
A) For listed equities and equity-oriented funds (at least 65% domestic equity), anything held over 12 months counts as long-term. LTCG here falls under Section 197 (formerly Section 112A) and is taxed at 12.5% on gains above ₹1.25 lakh a year—that exemption limit was bumped up from ₹1 lakh in the July 2024 changes. TDS is deducted at 12.5% when units are redeemed or sold.

Gains on anything held 12 months or less are short-term under Section 196 (formerly Section 111A), taxed flat at 20%, with TDS applied at the same rate—up from 15% before 23 July 2024.

NRIs can’t claim the Section 87A rebate against this. Unlisted equities work differently: the long-term threshold is 24 months, not 12. LTCG there is 12.5% without indexation, while STCG is taxed at slab rates (which can run up to around 30%), with 30% TDS deducted under Section 393(2).

One useful relief brought in by the Finance Act 2025 and carried through into ITA 2025 concerns unlisted equity bought with foreign currency: NRIs can now work out their gain in the original foreign currency and convert to rupees at the applicable rate, rather than being stuck with the historical rupee cost. This stops rupee depreciation alone from artificially inflating the
taxable gain.

Q) How are equity, debt, and hybrid mutual funds taxed for NRIs?
A) Mutual fund taxation for NRIs hinges on how much equity a fund holds, and there’s a sharp line between funds bought before and after 1 April 2023.

Equity-oriented funds, meaning at least 65% domestic equity, follow the same LTCG-at-12.5%-above-₹1.25-lakh and STCG-at-20% pattern as direct equity. ELSS funds and aggressive hybrid funds that stay above the 65% mark fall in this bucket too.

Debt funds and anything under 35% equity—fund-of-funds, international funds, gold-ETF type products—are taxed at slab rates no matter how long they’re held, as long as they were bought on or after 1 April 2023.

This came in with the Finance Act 2023 and did away with the old LTCG break and indexation, which used to make debt funds appealing to NRIs in higher brackets. Units bought before that date still follow the old rules: short-term if held under 36 months (taxed at slab rates), long-term at 12.5% without indexation if held 36 months or more.

Hybrid funds sit in between. Aggressive hybrids with 65% or more equity are treated just like equity funds. Conservative hybrids under 35% equity are treated as debt funds, so post-April-2023 units face slab rates.

Balanced or dynamic funds in the 35–65% band sit in the middle: units bought after April 2023 get LTCG at 12.5% after a 24-month hold, with STCG at slab rates otherwise. Dividends from any of these categories are taxed at slab rates in the investor’s hands, with 20% TDS at source—reducible to 10–15% under a DTAA via Section 159.

Q) How are interest income and capital gains from bonds taxed for NRIs?
A) Bond interest is generally taxed at slab rates for NRIs, with a few carve-outs. The main one is NRE and FCNR(B) deposits, where interest is fully exempt with no TDS at all—these remain the most tax-efficient place to park foreign savings in India.

NRO fixed deposits and corporate bonds are taxed at slab rates with 30% TDS under Section 393(2), though a valid TRC and Form 41 can bring this down to the treaty rate, usually 10–15% depending on the country. Tax-free bonds under the Schedule II exemptions (formerly Section 10(15))—typically issued by infrastructure PSUs—still pay fully exempt interest with no TDS.

Capital gains on bonds work differently depending on whether they’re listed or unlisted. Listed bonds and debentures held over 12 months qualify as LTCG, taxed at 12.5% without indexation under Section 197. Unlisted bonds need a 24-month hold for the same treatment. Anything shorter is short-term and taxed at slab rates in both cases. One thing worth remembering: even tax-free bonds attract capital gains tax if sold before maturity in the secondary market—the exemption only ever covered the coupon, not price appreciation.

Q) What are the tax implications of buying and selling property in India as an NRI?
A) NRIs can buy residential and commercial property freely, but not agricultural land, farmhouses, or plantation property except through inheritance. Payments have to go through NRE, NRO, or FCNR(B) accounts—cash or foreign currency notes aren’t allowed under FEMA.

On the buying side, there’s nothing unusual tax-wise beyond the standard stamp duty and registration costs. Selling is where it gets more involved. The buyer has to deduct TDS under Section 393(2) on the entire sale price, not just the gain.

For LTCG (property held over 24 months), that works out to roughly 14.95% on the full consideration where income crosses ₹50 lakh. Take a ₹3 crore sale where the real LTCG tax might be ₹30–35 lakh: TDS could still come to ₹44–45 lakh, and getting that excess back means filing an ITR and waiting anywhere from 12 to 18 months.

The better route is to apply for a Lower/Nil TDS Certificate on Form 128 under Section 395, ideally 45–60 days before the sale, so TDS is limited to the actual gain. TAN is still needed for the first half of Tax Year 2026-27 (up to 30 September 2026); from 1 October 2026, buyers can use PAN instead in eligible cases under the Finance Act 2026 simplification.

Three exemptions can reduce or wipe out the LTCG liability. Section 82 (formerly Section 54) allows the gain to be reinvested in one residential property within two years of sale, or three years if it’s under construction, capped at ₹10 crore.

Section 86 (formerly Section 54F) allows the entire sale proceeds, not just the gain, to be reinvested in one residential property for full exemption—same cap, and the NRI can’t own more than one other residential property at the time. Section 85 (formerly Section 54EC) allows up to ₹50 lakh to go into specified government bonds within six months of sale.

Once tax is settled, the proceeds can be repatriated abroad under FEMA, up to USD 1 million a year from the NRO account, supported by Form 145 (the new Form 15CA) and Form 146 (the new Form 15CB, a CA’s certificate confirming tax compliance).

For property that was bought rather than inherited, this repatriation route covers the sale of at most two residential properties over the NRI’s lifetime. Inherited property—agricultural land in particular—needs RBI approval before proceeds can be repatriated. And none of this works without filing an ITR for the relevant year reporting the gain and any exemptions claimed, since that’s the only route to recovering excess TDS.

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