NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened modestly lower Monday, slipping 5.35 points or 0.011% to 49,225.36 in early trading as investors weighed mixed economic signals, persistent geopolitical tensions and anticipation of key inflation data later this week.

The blue-chip index showed limited movement in the first hours of the session, reflecting a wait-and-see approach on Wall Street. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also traded in narrow ranges, with technology shares providing some support while energy and financial stocks lagged.

Monday’s subdued open comes after a strong April for U.S. equities, with the Dow recently hovering near all-time highs. However, traders appeared cautious amid ongoing uncertainty over Federal Reserve policy, Middle East developments and the pace of economic growth.

Market Drivers on Monday

Several factors contributed to the cautious tone. Investors are looking ahead to Wednesday’s release of the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index. Any surprises in the data could influence expectations for interest rate cuts later this year.

Geopolitical risks also weighed on sentiment. Tensions in the Middle East continue to support oil prices, benefiting energy companies but raising concerns about broader inflation. Meanwhile, corporate earnings season enters its final stages, with several major companies set to report this week.

Sector performance was mixed in early trading. Technology stocks edged higher on continued optimism around artificial intelligence, while defensive sectors like utilities and consumer staples showed resilience. Energy shares faced pressure as oil prices pulled back slightly from recent gains.

Broader Economic Context

The U.S. economy has shown remarkable resilience despite higher interest rates, but cracks are beginning to appear in some areas. Consumer spending remains solid but is showing signs of moderation, while business investment has cooled. The labor market continues to add jobs but at a slower pace than in previous years.

Analysts say the Federal Reserve is likely to hold rates steady at its next meeting but could signal openness to cuts if inflation continues trending toward the 2% target. Markets are currently pricing in roughly two rate cuts by the end of 2026.

Global markets offered little clear direction overnight. European stocks traded mixed, while Asian markets closed mostly lower. China’s economic data continued to show a gradual recovery but with persistent challenges in the property sector.

Investor Sentiment and Strategy

Many portfolio managers are adopting a selective approach. Quality stocks with strong balance sheets and consistent earnings growth are favored, while highly valued technology names face increased scrutiny. Dividend-paying stocks and those with exposure to domestic consumption are also attracting interest as hedges against uncertainty.

Volatility remains relatively low, with the VIX — often called Wall Street’s fear gauge — hovering near recent averages. This suggests investors are not overly alarmed but are proceeding with caution.

Corporate News in Focus

Several companies are in the spotlight Monday. Earnings reports from major firms later this week could set the tone for the remainder of the earnings season. Analysts expect overall corporate profits to show moderate growth, though guidance and outlooks will be closely watched.

Merger and acquisition activity also remains a theme, with several large deals rumored in the technology and healthcare sectors. Any breakthroughs could provide a lift to sentiment.

Technical Outlook

From a technical perspective, the Dow Jones remains in a well-established uptrend but is approaching resistance levels near its recent highs. A decisive break above 49,500 could signal further upside, while a drop below recent support around 48,800 might open the door to more significant pullbacks.

Analysts say the index is likely to trade in a range until clearer signals emerge from economic data and corporate earnings.

What to Watch This Week

Beyond Wednesday’s PCE data, investors will also monitor new home sales figures and consumer confidence readings. Any signs of economic softening could boost expectations for Federal Reserve action, while stronger data might reinforce a more patient approach from policymakers.

Earnings from major banks and industrial companies later in the week will provide further insight into the health of the corporate sector.

Longer-Term Perspective

Despite Monday’s modest dip, the Dow Jones Industrial Average remains up significantly year-to-date, reflecting optimism about artificial intelligence, corporate earnings resilience and eventual monetary easing. However, risks remain, including geopolitical flashpoints, persistent inflation in certain sectors and the potential for policy shifts.

For individual investors, financial advisers recommend maintaining diversified portfolios and avoiding reactive decisions based on daily market movements. Long-term fundamentals, rather than short-term noise, should guide investment strategy.

As trading continues Monday, all eyes remain on incoming economic data and corporate developments that could influence the market’s direction in the weeks ahead. The Dow’s slight opening decline reflects caution rather than alarm, with investors carefully positioning themselves ahead of potentially market-moving events later this week.

Even President Trump’s toughest critics should acknowledge his grace and courage under fire. He showed it once again in his presser Saturday night after the shooting at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner.

If I can borrow from my friend Miranda Devine, he praised the Chairman of the Correspondents Association, who has been a severe Trump critic. He was magnanimous about the Secret Service, though they’re going to have to answer some tough questions in the weeks ahead. And he was self-effacing about the likelihood that the shooter was gonna go for him. He said: “it’s always shocking when something like this happens. It’s happened to me a little bit. And, that never changes the fact we’re sitting right next to each other.” Mr. Trump added that “if you take presidents, it’s 5.8 percent and about 8 percent are shot at. So nobody told me this was such a dangerous profession.” He concluded: “It’s dangerous. It’s dangerous stuff, whether it’s here or someplace else. No country is immune.” 

That’s grace under fire. Standing in his formal attire, with his bow tie in place, the president holds an extraordinary news conference. Hat tip to my friends at The New York Sun for pointing this out.

It appeared to be the third assassination attempt in two years. No president has faced that. My former boss, President Reagan was nearly killed by an assassin’s bullet in 1981. And far as I know, there have been no other assassination attempts until Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024.

Mr. Trump had a thought on this as well. Take a listen: “Well, you know, I’ve studied assassinations, and I must tell you, the most impactful people, the people that do the most. You take a look at the people. Abraham Lincoln.” Yet, he added, “the people that do the most, the people that make the biggest impact, they’re the ones that they go after.”

Faith Bottum of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page notes that 8.5 percent of Presidents have died by assassination. Mr. Trump, though, has said time and again, including during his presser Saturday night, that he’s not worried about assassination and in fact wanted the dinner to continue that night before the Secret Service ruled it out. Yet that president has also said many times that he cannot let the criminal class or the political crazies shut down freedom of speech, or any political rallies for that matter. And of course he wanted a redo of the correspondents dinner in 30 days, or whenever it’s possible.

By the way, hat tip to Ms. Bottum for calling Mr. Trump brave and courageous. The Journal’s vaunted editorial page has been especially tough and critical of Mr. Trump. The president called for unity and it’s a great thought, but somehow in this period of our history it just doesn’t seem realistic.

In my lifetime I witnessed the assassination of JFK and then Martin Luther King and then Senator Robert F. Kennedy. These were great national tragedies. There was an assassination attempt against President Ford in 1975. Then the Reagan attempt in 1981 and then the multiple attempts on Mr. Trump. I don’t know what’s happened to the country that I love. I know America can do better. Let us hope that somehow it will.

Adani Total Gas on Monday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 168 crore in the March-ended quarter versus Rs 154 crore in the year ago period, implying a 9% YoY uptick. The company posted a 17% growth in its revenue from operations at Rs 1,695 crore compared to Rs 1,453 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last financial year.

The profit after tax (PAT) grew 6% on a sequential basis versus Rs 159 crore posted in Q3FY26 while the topline grew 3.4% quarter-on-quarter against Rs 1,639 crore in the October-December quarter of FY26.

On a standalone basis, PAT grew 4% in the quarter under review to Rs 156 crore versus Rs 149 crore in the year ago period. The standalone revenue in the January-March quarter of FY26 stood at Rs 1,696 crore, recording a 16% growth over Rs 1,457 crore reported in Q4FY25.

The Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) stood at Rs 310 crore in Q4FY26 versus Rs 274 crore in Q4FY25, implying a 13% rise.

The company said the rise in revenue was due to higher volume.

The cost of natural gas increased 18% YoY to Rs 1,199 crore in the quarter under review versus Rs 1,015 in the year ago period as lower allocation of APM gas to CNG segment, higher HH prices, higher spot prices due to geopolitical tension were major culprits.
During the quarter, APM allocation for the CNG segment reduced to 36% from 41% from last quarter, the balance was met with existing contracts and Spot procurement.ATGL said it took a calibrated approach in passing the higher gas cost to ensure volume growth does not get impacted.

The profit before tax (PBT)increased by 8% to Rs 214 crore.

Management commentary

CEO & Executive Director Suresh P. Manglani said ATGL delivered strong double-digit growth in volumes and revenues, supported by steady EBITDA expansion aided by “resilient execution, underpinned by operational excellence and digital enablement”.

“Despite geopolitical disruptions from West Asia, elevated LNG prices, and currency volatility, our nimble and diversified sourcing strategy ensured uninterrupted gas supply. ATGL’s focus remained on system stability, calibrated expansion with financial prudence, and long‑term sustainability, strengthening consumer confidence and ensuring operational excellence. We continued to scale our clean energy infrastructure across CNG, PNG, and e-mobility, with EV charge points crossed the 5,100 mark. During the period, we strengthened our ESG performance through improved sustainability ratings, reinforcing ATGL’s position among leading ESG performers in its peer group,” Manglani said.

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

Malaysian and ASEAN+3 companies should strategically invest across the region to strengthen trade and FDI linkages. Despite global geopolitical risks, the region grew 4.3% in 2025, with ASEAN+3 now accounting for 28% of global final demand, emerging as the world’s largest market.

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Key Points

• ASEAN+3 now accounts for 28% of global final demand, surpassing the United States
• Region has evolved beyond manufacturing into a major consumer market
• Supply chains have shifted from China-centric to broader ASEAN+3 collaboration involving Japan and South Korea• ASEAN poised to lead in a emerging multipolar world order
• Securities Commission chairman calls for deeper, agile capital markets aligned with regional sustainability and innovation standards to drive future growth

Strategic Regional Investment and Economic Resilience

Domestic companies must adopt a more deliberate, strategic approach to cross-regional investment. According to Allen Ng of AMRO, when local firms invest in foreign-owned groups, they generate foreign direct investment flows that strengthen trade linkages and deepen regional integration. Ng emphasized that Malaysia is actively developing policies to foster a more integrated capital market. Despite significant geopolitical risks, including conflicts in the Middle East, the Asean+3 region demonstrated resilience, expanding by 4.3% in 2025, with growth forecasted at 4% for both 2026 and 2027, even after absorbing two major economic shocks within 12 months.

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Structural Shifts Redefining Asean+3’s Global Role

Asean+3 has undergone transformative structural shifts that have redefined its position in the global economy. Supply chains, once centered predominantly on China, have evolved into a highly integrated network involving China, Japan, and South Korea. More significantly, the Asean region has emerged as a final consumption market, not merely a manufacturing hub. The bloc now accounts for 28% of global final demand, surpassing the United States, signaling a fundamental change in its economic identity. Central banks and policymakers face the critical challenge of managing both supply and demand shocks through carefully targeted fiscal and monetary policies.

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Malaysia’s Opportunity in a Multipolar World

Malaysia is well-positioned amid the global shift toward multipolar power dynamics. Deputy Finance Minister Liew Chin Tong highlighted that as US influence declines, Asean nations must unite strategically, noting that “no country is too small when operating within the Asean context.” He suggested Kuala Lumpur could emerge as a major regional hub, drawing parallels to how Petronas was born from the 1974 oil crisis, turning adversity into opportunity. Securities Commission chairman Mohammad Faiz Azmi reinforced this vision, urging capital markets to be deep, agile, and aligned across borders through harmonized sustainability and cross-border standards, ultimately creating a common capital market greater than the sum of its parts.

Other People are Reading

The unique registered investor base on the National Stock Exchange crossed the 13-crore milestone on Monday, just seven months after surpassing 12 crore in September 2025. Meanwhile, the total number of client codes (accounts) stood at 25.7 crore as of April 25, 2026, after breaching the 25-crore mark earlier in February, reflecting continued expansion in retail participation.

It took 14 years for the exchange to reach its first crore of registered investors after commencing operations, and another 11 years to add the next three crore. Since then, growth has accelerated sharply, with an additional crore investors being added every 6–8 months on average. Over the past five years (FY21–FY26), the investor base has expanded at a CAGR of 26.4%, significantly outpacing the 15.2% CAGR recorded in the preceding five-year period (FY16–FY21).

The investor base has expanded at a markedly faster pace in recent years, signalling deeper retail participation in capital markets. This growth has been driven by wider digital access, improving financial awareness, and sustained efforts by regulators, market infrastructure institutions (MIIs), and the government to enhance inclusivity.

Over the five-year period ended April 24, 2026, the benchmark Nifty 50 and Nifty 500 delivered annualised returns of 10.8% and 13.3%, respectively, according to an NSE release. During the same period, the market capitalisation of NSE-listed companies grew at a CAGR of 18% to Rs 460.6 lakh crore.

Individual investors owned 18.6% of the market (NSE listed companies) as of December 31, 2025 directly and indirectly via mutual funds.

The expansion of the investor base has also been geographically broad-based, now extending across 99.85% of pin codes in the country. As of March 31, 2026, three states had more than one crore unique registered investors each, with Maharashtra leading the pack with 2 crore, followed by Uttar
Pradesh at 1.5 crore and Gujarat at 1.1 crore investors.
Investor participation is increasingly spreading beyond traditional hubs, with states outside the top 10 now accounting for 27% of the base. Smaller and northeastern states have seen multi-fold growth since FY21, highlighting deeper penetration into Tier 2–4 cities.
Indirect participation has also surged, with 7.2 crore new SIP accounts added in FY26 and monthly inflows rising eight-fold over the past decade, reflecting strong retail discipline. This broad-based expansion, driven by digital platforms and a younger investor base, has increased the need for financial education, with NSE ramping up awareness programs and strengthening investor protection measures.

NSE’s Chief Business Development Officer Sriram Krishnan said crossing the 13-crore investor mark underscores the strong and resilient participation in Indian capital markets, with one crore investors added in just seven months despite global uncertainties. He attributed this growth to rising mobile-based trading, simplified KYC processes and sustained investor awareness efforts.

He added that participation is expanding beyond metro cities into Tier 2–4 regions, with investors increasingly diversifying across instruments such as equities, ETFs, REITs, InvITs and bonds, reflecting a more inclusive and broad-based market ecosystem.

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

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Expanding a young tech company into a new region is rarely a snap decision. For Nikesh Panchal, founder and chief executive of Wavee Ai, the choice to bet on Asia Pacific as the next chapter for its residential platform has been a slow build rather than a sudden leap.

Wavee Ai, born in London to tidy up chaotic building group chats and parcel rooms, is now preparing to bring its verified, community-first model to cities across the region, from Singapore to Australia. Panchal has already grown Wavee Ai to a £10 million valuation with its continuous push into one of the world’s most dynamic sectors.

After raising more than £1 million to fund international rollout, its expansion is framed as a response to growing demand for safer, more organised digital communities, supported by a strategy that leans on partnerships, localisation, and brand trust.

Lessons From London for a Region on the Move

Alongside running Wavee Ai, Panchal sits on the board of London Tech Equity Ltd, where he has seen early-stage companies stall after chasing quick wins without the proper governance or metrics in place. That experience has reinforced his preference for a founder-led, long-term strategy over rapid, scattershot expansion and informs how he thinks about entering new markets.

Wavee Ai’s story began in London, where Panchal spent time watching the small frictions that define life in managed buildings: missed deliveries, noisy group chats, anonymous neighbours, and concierge desks buried in paper logs. Wavee Ai was built as a direct response to that jumble, replacing scattered tools with a single, verified platform. Residents use one app, concierges work from one portal, and local businesses connect through one controlled channel into a defined community.

Those early years in London gave Panchal lessons he now intends to carry into Asia, while adapting them to local realities. He stresses the importance of staying small in scope even when ambitions are big. Rather than trying to run every aspect of a building’s operations, the platform focuses on a narrow band: communication, community, and local commerce.

It offers a small set of features, such as parcel tracking, visitor management, a private neighbour feed, and curated local offers. That restraint has helped the company avoid being pulled into custom projects that dilute its core product and has become a cornerstone of its quality-over-speed approach.

Those results underpin another lesson: residents will embrace a new app only if it clearly replaces pain points rather than adding to them. In buildings where Wavee Ai was implemented, concierge staff reported time saved on manual logging, and residents valued having one trusted place for updates instead of chasing information across group chats and noticeboards. Local businesses that aligned their offers with building rhythms found steadier engagement.

Panchal says, “London taught us patterns. We know what tends to work for concierges, what residents respond to, and how local businesses like to plug in. But each city and each building has its own personality. Our job in Asia Pacific is to listen first, then apply what we’ve learned.”

A Founder’s Long-View Strategy

The concrete success of Wavee Ai in London is what Panchal plans to bring into the room with Asia-based stakeholders. In practice, that means entering the region through pilot projects and portfolio-level experiments, listening to how each city and building works, then applying London’s patterns in ways that can be localised and refined on the ground. The basic idea remains straightforward: the app connects residents, concierge teams, and local businesses inside a private, building-verified network, where parcel arrivals, visitor notifications, building announcements, and neighbourhood offers land in one feed, and every resident is authenticated through their building rather than signing up anonymously.

This business model is what Panchal now wants to adopt in apartment-heavy markets across Asia Pacific, where dense living, rising rents, and a growing class of professionally managed buildings are pushing community management to the top of the priority list for owners and residents alike.

These conditions, he believes, echo the pressures that helped Wavee Ai gain traction in London, but on a larger, faster-moving scale. He frames Asia Pacific not only as a growth market, but as a proving ground for how verified, community-first platforms can become part of the fabric of urban living.

Panchal also sees the expansion as an opportunity to bring local shops closer to the people who live above and around them, turning independent cafés, gyms, studios, and specialty retailers into trusted, visible partners in residents’ daily routines.

For residents, that means having reliable options for everyday needs and passions without searching across multiple platforms or travelling far—often just by looking at what is available on the ground floor or around the corner. For local businesses, it offers a direct, accountable route into the vertical communities they have always served but rarely reached in such a focused, building-by-building way.

“I see a win-win opportunity,” Panchal mentions. “We designed Wavee Ai to be scalable so that it can adapt to the needs of different residential communities.”

A Founder’s Bet on How Cities Will Feel

The story of Wavee Ai’s Asia Pacific expansion is, at its core, about how one founder imagines cities will feel in the coming decade. Panchal is betting that verified, community-first platforms will become the norm in dense urban living, and that residents from London to Singapore will increasingly expect their buildings to provide safe, organised digital spaces, just as they provide clean lobbies and working lifts.

In his view, the cultural shift toward secure, accountable online communities aligns closely with how many Asian cities already think about shared living, security, and neighbourhood identity.

In the Asia Pacific, where the living sector is attracting serious investment and attention, Wavee Ai’s arrival is another sign of how quickly expectations are changing. Buildings are no longer just assets; they are communities that need tools to match their complexity.

Panchal’s insistence on partnerships, brand trust, and a measured, quality-first rollout reflects a belief that residential technology should behave more like infrastructure than like a passing trend. If the platform can quietly become part of residents’ routines in Sydney, Singapore, or Tokyo the way it has in parts of London, his bet will look less like a gamble and more like a blueprint for how cities everywhere might choose to live together.