Walmart-backed digital payments company PhonePe has deferred its planned public offering as geopolitical tensions and falling equity markets weigh on investor sentiment.

The Bengaluru-based firm confirmed on Monday that it has temporarily halted preparations for its stock market debut and will restart the process once global capital markets stabilise.

The move follows rising volatility in financial markets linked to escalating conflict in the Middle East.

PhonePe had been preparing for an initial share sale that could have raised up to $1.5 billion.

PhonePe pauses IPO amid market volatility

PhonePe said it chose to delay the offering as global financial markets have become increasingly unstable.

The company said it remains committed to a public listing in India and will move ahead once market conditions improve.

The fintech firm had secured approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India earlier this year for the public issue.

Earlier reports said the proposed offering could raise around $1.3 billion through an offer for sale and value the company at roughly $10 billion.

India’s Nifty 50 Index has fallen more than 7% so far this month, putting it on track for its worst monthly performance since March 2020.

The decline has been linked to rising geopolitical tensions involving Iran, Israel and the United States.

Walmart stake and IPO structure

PhonePe is backed by US retail giant Walmart, which owns about 71.77% of the company.

Under the proposed listing plan, Walmart was expected to sell up to 45.9 million shares, representing roughly 9% of PhonePe’s share capital.

The IPO had drawn attention because it would have been among the largest fintech listings in India in recent years.

However, recent market turbulence has prompted companies to reassess fundraising timelines.

Dominance in India’s UPI payments network

PhonePe remains the largest participant in India’s Unified Payments Interface ecosystem.

The platform handles nearly half of all transactions on the network.

The company holds around 45% share of UPI transactions, ahead of rival Google Pay, which has roughly 35%.

UPI has become the backbone of India’s digital payments landscape and now accounts for more than 85 percent of the country’s digital transactions.

PhonePe alone processes close to 10 billion transactions every month with a combined value exceeding about $145 billion.

Revenue growth and expanding financial services

The company has been expanding its financial services offerings beyond payments.

Its products include stockbroking through Share.Market, along with lending, insurance distribution and wealth management tools.

PhonePe reported revenue from operations of about $857 million in FY25, compared with about 610 million dollars in FY24.

The firm also recorded gains of about $62 million from financial assets, taking total income to about $919 million in FY25 from about $689 million a year earlier.

Payment processing charges remained a major cost item at about $203 million during the year. Advertising and sales promotion expenses fell 21.6% to about $65 million.

PhonePe reported a net loss of about $208 million in FY25, narrowing from about $240 million in FY24.

Excluding ESOP costs, the company would have reported a profit of about $76 million.

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Micron stock (NASDAQ:MU) was on track for a strong open on Monday as investors leaned into a familiar but increasingly powerful theme.

The MU stock surged over 4% in the pre-market trading on 16th March, a strong move which comes days ahead of the company’s fiscal second-quarter report on March 18.

The development came as the company announced plans to build a second manufacturing plant in Taiwan at the Tongluo site it recently acquired from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing.

Micron stock: Sold-out HBM supply sharpens the bull case

At the heart of Monday’s move is Micron’s unusually strong visibility into its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) business.

HBM is a premium segment tied directly to AI servers and accelerators.

Recently, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said the company has “completed agreements on price and volume for our entire calendar 2026 HBM supply, including Micron’s industry-leading HBM4.”

That matters because HBM is one of the highest-value products in the memory stack.

Micron has also said the overall HBM market could grow from about $35 billion in 2025 to roughly $100 billion by 2028.

The numbers reinforce the view that the current AI memory cycle is not just a short-lived inventory bounce but a multi-year structural expansion.

This context is the backbone of the bulls’ optimism as Micron is no longer being valued only on conventional DRAM and NAND swings, but increasingly on its position inside the AI supply chain.

Analysts are getting louder before earnings

Wall Street has been reinforcing that narrative in recent days with another round of target hikes.

Wells Fargo raised its price target on Micron stock to $470 from $410 while maintaining a positive stance, and Citi analysts reiterated a Buy rating while lifting his target to $430 from $385.

The Citi analyst further emphasized that a “powerful combination of surging AI demand and supply bottlenecks linked to new chip fabrication capacity” could extend the current cycle.

Morgan Stanley’s analyst pointed to “tightening supply conditions in the industry” and said Micron could earn as much as $52 per share in 2026.

The next near-term catalyst is the company’s earnings report on March 18, which will either validate or complicate the fast-building optimism around the stock.

Analysts expect Micron to post about $19.10 billion in fiscal second-quarter revenue and normalized earnings per share of $8.59.

Wells Fargo’s bullish framework also assumes the company can sustain gross margins near 68% as higher-value HBM shipments scale and broader memory pricing improves.

In other words, Monday’s rally is not being driven by a vague AI halo alone.

It is being driven by a very specific combination of contractually sold-out HBM supply, fresh analyst target increases, bullish earnings expectations, and growing confidence that Micron has entered a more profitable phase of the AI cycle.

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Companies are restructuring operations around automation tools and AI agents capable of performing routine tasks.

A report from RationalFX shows that 45,363 technology jobs have been cut worldwide since January 2026.

Around one fifth of those layoffs are linked directly to artificial intelligence adoption and organisational restructuring tied to automation.

Tech layoffs tied to AI automation

Some of the largest job cuts have occurred at companies openly linking layoffs to artificial intelligence systems.

Block announced the biggest reduction, eliminating 4,000 jobs. Chief executive Jack Dorsey said the move was not financially driven.

The company is replacing several functions previously carried out by employees with automated AI tools.

The layoffs will reduce Block’s workforce from about 10,000 employees to roughly 6,000.

Other technology companies have also trimmed staff as automation becomes more widely deployed. WiseTech Global cut 2,000 roles.

Meanwhile, eBay eliminated 800 jobs, and Pinterest reduced its workforce by 15%.

These reductions reflect how companies are reorganising work as AI agents handle more operational and analytical tasks.

Entry-level jobs face growing pressure

Industry executives warn that younger workers could face the biggest disruption as AI systems absorb routine entry-level responsibilities.

According to an expert, automation is rapidly reshaping hiring patterns across technology companies.

Unemployment among new college graduates could climb into the mid-30% range within the next few years as AI agents replace work traditionally assigned to junior employees.

Recent labour market data suggests early warning signs are already visible.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported unemployment among recent graduates reached about 5.7% at the end of 2025.

The underemployment rate stood at 42.5%, the highest level since 2020.

AI skills becoming a critical advantage

While automation is eliminating certain roles, industry leaders say the technology is also changing how employees compete in the job market.

An expert states that every profession will feel the effects of artificial intelligence almost immediately.

Workers will not lose jobs directly to AI systems but to people who use AI tools more effectively.

Investor Naval Ravikant said on X that the real divide in the workforce will emerge between people who can work with AI systems and those who cannot.

According to an analysis by PwC, workers with artificial intelligence skills can earn as much as 56% more than peers who lack those capabilities.

Governments and companies push reskilling

Technology leaders are also calling for broader efforts to prepare workers for changes triggered by artificial intelligence.

Another expert states that workforce preparation cannot fall solely on individuals.

They argued that governments, educational institutions, and private companies must collaborate to develop large scale reskilling programmes.

Despite the disruption, projections suggest artificial intelligence will also generate new opportunities.

The World Economic Forum estimates AI could create around 170 million new roles globally by 2030.

However, those roles are expected to favour workers who adapt quickly to the technology.

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Artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping how modern wars are fought.

In recent US military operations linked to the conflict involving Iran, Washington said it struck more than 2,000 targets in just four days.

That pace would have been difficult to sustain in earlier conflicts, when military intelligence had to be reviewed manually across multiple command levels.

Today, battlefield software can process vast volumes of intelligence in minutes.

Data from drones, satellites, and other sensors is analysed by algorithms that highlight potential targets and organise information for commanders.

Such tools are helping the US military move through the battlefield “kill chain” far faster than in previous wars.

What the military “kill chain” means

The “kill chain” describes the sequence of steps that move from identifying a target to launching a strike.

In earlier military operations, the process could take hours or even days.

Intelligence had to be gathered, verified, analysed, and passed through several levels of command before an attack was authorised.

Artificial intelligence systems are designed to compress that timeline.

Software can rapidly scan intelligence feeds, flag potential targets, and prioritise them for review by commanders.

This faster decision cycle is especially important in conflicts where targets such as missile launchers or mobile equipment can quickly disappear.

The software behind AI battlefield targeting

A key part of this shift is the Maven Smart System, developed with the data analytics company Palantir Technologies.

The platform builds on Project Maven, a Pentagon initiative launched in 2017 to apply machine learning to military intelligence analysis.

The system integrates data from drones, satellites, and other surveillance sources into a single operational dashboard.

Analysts and commanders can view intelligence reports, potential targets, and operational options in one place.

Reporting on the Iran conflict has described how AI-driven targeting platforms help process large volumes of battlefield data and generate lists of possible targets that require human assessment.

Expanding use of AI across the military

The US Department of Defense has steadily expanded the use of AI systems across its forces.

By 2025, the Maven platform had more than 20,000 users across multiple military units. The technology is also being adopted by NATO allies.

Artificial intelligence now plays several roles in military operations.

Computer vision systems can analyse drone footage to identify vehicles or equipment. Algorithms scan satellite imagery for patterns that may signal military activity.

These tools have already appeared in conflicts such as Ukraine and Gaza, where drone surveillance and digital intelligence analysis are central to modern warfare.

Why AI warfare raises concerns

Despite the speed advantages, the growing role of AI in warfare has raised concerns about oversight and accountability.

One issue is whether faster automated systems allow enough time for careful human judgment.

When software generates large numbers of potential targets quickly, commanders may face pressure to act rapidly.

Recent events in Iran have intensified these concerns.

Investigations into a strike that hit a girls’ school in the city of Minab raised questions about how targeting decisions were made and whether outdated intelligence contributed to the incident.

A Reuters investigation reported that the school had a long public online presence, prompting questions about how the site was classified as a military target.

Experts say the broader challenge is accountability.

AI systems can analyse vast datasets and produce recommendations quickly, but understanding exactly how those recommendations are generated can be difficult.

As warfare becomes more data-driven, balancing technological speed with human responsibility is likely to remain a central debate.

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As the conflict in the Middle East continues to roil global markets, investors are searching for signs of a turnaround.

However, today on CNBC, Altaf Kassam – EMEA Head of Investment Strategy and Research at State Street Global Advisors – provided a sobering reality check.

While historical precedents suggest that markets often rally before a conflict officially concludes, Kassam warned that the current geopolitical and economic landscape – defined by a direct military confrontation with Iran – may not follow the traditional “snap-back” script.

Instead, a persistent “risk premium” is expected to hang over US stocks long after the guns fall silent.

The ‘fear tax’ on US stocks to stick around

Kassam said financial markets are inherently forward-looking – often pricing in the conclusion of a war well before the final ceasefire.

“In previous conflicts, what we’ve seen is that markets discount the end of the war well before any military conflict has ended,” he noted, adding this phenomenon could repeat if investors see a clear diplomatic path forward.

Kassam specifically highlighted the role of the White House, saying, “it seems clear that President Trump is preparing some off-ramp, and when he says the war is over, the markets might start to have some relief rally.”

However, he cautioned that while a celebratory headline rally is possible, it should not be confused with a return to the low-volatility environment seen in previous years.

Kassam doesn’t see a V-shaped recovery ahead

One of the most striking aspects of Kassam’s analysis is the belief that the “risk premium” currently embedded in US stock prices will not simply evaporate once hostilities cease.

Unlike the “V-shaped” recoveries typical of the last decade, State Street anticipates a much stickier environment for risk in 2026.

“What we believe is that the risk premium that has started to be baked in will stay there,” Kassam explained, adding that “markets won’t snap back as quickly as they fell, and we won’t see a clean mean reversion.”

What this means is: the structural damage to global energy supply chains and the heightened threat of asymmetric retaliation have fundamentally shifted the floor for valuations, leaving investors to grapple with higher costs of capital and lower price-to-earnings multiples for the foreseeable future

The looming shadow of stagflation

The most notable threat to the long-term health of the stock market, according to Kassam, is the potential for a “regime change” in the global economy toward stagflation.

As oil prices hover near $100 per barrel and the Strait of Hormuz remains a flashpoint, the twin pressures of stagnant growth and rising prices create a toxic cocktail for “risky assets.”

Kassam warned that “the worst-case scenario… is stagflation, low growth and increasing inflation.” If the global economy enters this regime, the era of easy gains through passive index investing may be over.

“It’ll be a much tougher market to trade,” he concluded, signalling that active management and a focus on defensive sectors like energy-intensive alternatives or aerospace may be the only way to navigate this complex new reality.

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The S&P 500 Index remained under pressure last week, falling to its lowest level since November 2025. It dropped to $6,632 on Friday, down sharply from the year-to-date high of $7,700. This article explores some of the top catalysts for the S&P 500 Index and its ETFs like VOO and SPY.

S&P 500 Index to react to Federal Reserve interest rate decision 

A major catalyst for the S&P 500 Index and its ETFs this week will come out on Wednesday when the Federal Reserve delivers its interest rate decision on Wednesday.

Economists expect the central bank to leave interest rates unchanged between 3.50% and 3.75%. Officials will also send a signal on what to expect this year now that the US has moved into a stagflation.

Data released this month showed that the labor market weakened in February, with the economy losing over 92,000 jobs. The unemployment rate rose from 4.3% in January to 4.4% in February.

Another report showed that the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose in February. It rose 2.4% in February, while the core inflation rose 2.5%.

Therefore, analysts expect that the bank will maintain interest rates unchanged in the foreseeable future.

Top corporate earnings 

The S&P 500 Index has retreated after the recent earnings season, which was highly positive. Data compiled by FactSet showed that the average earnings growth rose by over 13% in the fourth quarter of last year, with most companies, including popular names like Nvidia and Apple.

More smaller companies will publish their financial results this week but the impact on the S&P 500 Index will be limited. Dollar Tree and Aramark will publish their financial results before the markets open on Monday. 

Elbit Systems, Lululemon, DocuSign, and Okta will release their numbers on Tuesday, while Micron, Jabil, Williams-Sonoma, and General Mills will release on Wednesday. The other top companies to publish their numbers are Accenture, FedEx, Darden, and Planet Labs will release their numbers later this week.

Iran war continues, pushing crude oil prices higher 

The S&P 500 Index will react to the ongoing Iran war that has continued in the past few weeks. This war has pushed crude oil prices to the highest level in years, with Brent and the West Texas Intermediate moving to $100. 

Natural gas, heating oil, and other energy prices have jumped. Similarly, fertilizer prices have soared, leading to a surge in fertilizer stocks like Nutrien and Mosaic.

Signs that the war is accelerating will lead to more S&P 500 Index downside. On the other hand, signs that the war is ending will be bullish for the stock market.

S&P 500 Index technical analysis 

The daily timeframe chart shows that the S&P 500 Index has come under pressure in the past few weeks as the stock market has moved from one crisis to the other, including the woes in the private credit sector.

It has moved from a high of $7,000 in February to $6,630. As a result, the index has moved below the 50-day and 25-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMA).

The stock has formed a rounded top, a common bearish continuation sign in technical analysis. It remains slightly above the 23.6% Fibonacci Retracement level at $6,495. 

Top oscillators have continued falling, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and the Percentage Price Oscillator (PPO) have continued falling in the past few months.

Therefore, the index will likely continue falling, with the next key target being the 38.2% Fibonacci Retracement level at $6,178. 

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BigBear.ai Holdings (NYSE: BBAI) stock plunged nearly 3% on Friday and is trading around $3.95 at press time.

The stock sliced through its intraday support at $4.00, on blistering volume that dwarfed its three-month average by nearly 70%.

The drop left shares nursing losses from a brief post-earnings surge earlier this week, as investors digested fresh concerns over execution risks in the company’s AI defense pivot.

BBAI stock: The selloff mechanics

BBAI stock opened at $4.075 on Friday, peaked at $4.19, then accelerated lower to a session low of $3.91 amid broad small-cap selling pressure.  

That’s a far cry from the $9.39 52-week high, with the stock now 58% off those levels and hugging its 50-day moving average of $4.98.

Interestingly, the significant volatility had no discernible reason apart from the broader market weakness resulting from geopolitical tensions.

It looks like classic profit-taking layered atop technical fatigue.

BigBear.ai’s Q4 2025 results on March 2 showed revenue cratering 38% year-over-year to $27.3 million.

Adjusted EPS eked out a penny beat at -$0.01 versus consensus -$0.06, but the top-line contraction spooked momentum chasers who’d piled in on backlog hype.

Fundamentals vs market reality

Full-year 2025 revenue came in at $127 million, down 19%, while the company reported a trailing loss of $0.82 per share.

The figures underscored that the turnaround is still a work in progress.

Even so, there were some brighter spots. Management said the company now has its strongest balance sheet to date, ending the year with $462 million in cash and investments.

In January, it also converted $125 million of 2029 convertible notes into equity, a move that reduces debt obligations and lowers default risk.

Meanwhile, the company’s backlog surged more than threefold to over $400 million, supported by several multi-year contract wins, including participation in the FAA’s $2.4 billion vehicle procurement program.

The company expects 2026 revenue to land between $135 million and $165 million.

The numbers imply mid-teens growth as recent acquisitions, including Ask Sage, begin to contribute more meaningfully.

Friday’s surge in trading volume, the highest since early February’s dilution scare, may signal that some institutional investors are rotating out of the stock.

Options activity also leaned bearish, with heavy put trading tied to the March 13 $4.50 strike, suggesting traders are positioning for further downside.

The stock carries a beta of about 3.46, highlighting its volatility.

The broader market backdrop didn’t help either. The Russell 2000 slipped, though some AI-focused peers such as C3.ai held up better.

Analysts’ views on the stock remain mixed.

HC Wainwright maintains a Buy rating with an $8 price target, while the broader consensus is more cautious, leaning toward Hold with an average target near $6.

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US stocks closed red on Friday, despite showing some recovery and optimism after the opening bell.

The benchmark S&P 500 index slipped 0.61%, leaving it about 5% below its most recent peak.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.93%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 119 points, or 0.25%.

Rising oil prices tied to geopolitical tensions have weighed on market sentiment, keeping investors cautious.

Volume picked up late as bargain hunters nibbled after Thursday’s bloodbath, but traders kept one eye on crude’s volatile swing and President Trump’s stark reminder that the Iran conflict shows no signs of abating.

Utilities lead S&P 500 gains

Six of the S&P 500’s 11 sectors were trading higher on Friday, with utilities leading the gains.

The sector rose about 1.4%, comfortably ahead of energy, which was the second-best performer with an advance of roughly 0.8%.

Meanwhile, five sectors were in negative territory: information technology, communication services, materials, consumer discretionary, and industrials.

Technology and communication services were both down around 1.1% on the day.

For the week, utilities were up close to 1%, while energy was the only other sector on track for gains, climbing about 2.5% over the same period.

Among individual stocks, the tech sector showed considerable weakness with giants Nvidia, AMD, and Tesla ending the day in the red.

Shares of the beauty retailer Ulta Beauty dropped about 12% after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings.

For the fourth quarter, Ulta posted earnings of $8.01 per share, slightly below analysts’ expectations of $8.03 per share, according to LSEG.

Revenue came in at $3.9 billion, topping the Street’s estimate of $3.8 billion.

Judge blocks Powell subpoena

A federal judge on Friday rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to subpoena Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, delivering a significant legal victory for the central bank.

US District Judge James Boasberg ruled that the subpoenas issued by US Attorney Jeanine Pirro were improper and appeared to be politically motivated.

In his decision, Boasberg said the court found the effort was aimed at pressuring Powell amid President Donald Trump’s ongoing criticism of the Federal Reserve and its interest rate policies.

The ruling comes ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve’s high-stakes meeting, where investors are expecting the central bank to hold rates.

“The Court finds that the subpoenas were not issued for a legitimate purpose,” Boasberg wrote.

He added that the evidence suggested the primary goal was to harass Powell and push him either to comply with the president’s demands for lower interest rates or step aside so a new Fed chair could be appointed.

The development comes as a boost for the investors as it provides some certainty around the independence of the Federal Reserve amid the economic crisis.

Mortgage rates climb to 6.41%

Mortgage rates climbed to their highest level since September on Friday as bond yields rose amid escalating tensions related to the war in Iran.

According to Mortgage News Daily, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage reached 6.41%.

Mortgage rates tend to track movements in the 10-year US Treasury yield, which moved higher again on Friday, contributing to the latest increase in borrowing costs.

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Microsoft’s quality rating reached a new high this week, even as the stock’s price momentum remains weak.

At the same time, the company is moving to secure major artificial intelligence infrastructure in Abilene, Texas, as part of a broader effort to expand Azure AI capacity.

The quality score rose week over week from 89.96, while Microsoft’s momentum score stands at 20.40.

Despite improving fundamentals, the stock continues to trend lower across short-, medium-, and long-term timeframes.

Quality score rises, price momentum lags

Microsoft ranks in the top tier for financial health and operational efficiency following the latest improvement in its quality score to 89.96.

However, the momentum score of 20.40 suggests the market has yet to reflect those stronger fundamentals in the company’s share price.

The stock remains under pressure across multiple time horizons, indicating that investor sentiment has yet to shift despite the improvement in underlying quality metrics.

Texas buildout centers on power and scale

Microsoft is pursuing a roughly 1,000-acre data center complex in Abilene tied to the “Stargate Project.”

The campus could ultimately scale to about 2 gigawatts of capacity, a level viewed as critical for powering increasingly energy-intensive AI workloads.

The project reflects a proactive effort to secure the power and physical space needed to support Azure’s expanding AI ecosystem.

If completed as planned, the Abilene site would provide substantial additional capacity for both training and inference as demand for compute continues to grow.

Legal and geopolitical risks surface

Microsoft has also entered the legal debate around artificial intelligence supply chains, filing an amicus brief in support of Anthropic against a proposed “supply chain risk” designation by the Department of War.

The company warned that such a designation could trigger costly disruptions to defense-related contracts.

At the same time, rising tensions in the Middle East have increased concerns about infrastructure-focused cyber threats, with large technology platforms viewed as potential targets.

These risks introduce additional uncertainty at a time when large-scale AI deployments depend on stable supply chains and secure infrastructure.

Stock performance snapshot

Despite the improvement in quality metrics, Microsoft shares remain under pressure.

The stock is down 16.91% so far this year and has fallen 21.19% over the past six months, though it is still up 4.85% over the past year.

What to watch next

Microsoft is doubling down on large-scale AI infrastructure even as it navigates legal and geopolitical challenges.

The gap between stronger quality indicators and weak price momentum will keep investor attention focused on the company’s execution in Abilene and on policy developments that could influence contracts and critical technology supply chains.

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Tesla’s China-made electric vehicle sales increased sharply at the start of 2026, recovering part of the ground it had lost to domestic rival BYD in the world’s largest car market.

Data released by the China Passenger Car Association showed that Tesla delivered significantly more vehicles from its Shanghai factory during the first two months of the year compared with the same period in 2025.

The improvement came despite a seasonal slowdown tied to the Chinese New Year holiday in February.

While Tesla’s shipments grew strongly, competition across China’s electric vehicle sector has intensified, with local manufacturers expanding product lines, introducing new technologies, and pushing deeper into overseas markets.

Tesla China sales growth

Tesla delivered 127,728 China-made electric vehicles in January and February combined, according to data published Thursday by the China Passenger Car Association.

The figure represents a rise of more than 35% from the 93,926 vehicles recorded during the same period a year earlier.

The industry body adjusted the figures to account for the two-week Chinese New Year holiday that took place in mid-February, which typically slows production and consumer activity across multiple industries.

Vehicles produced at Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory include the Model 3 sedan and the Model Y sport utility vehicle.

The plant supplies the domestic Chinese market and export destinations such as Europe and the Asia Pacific region.

BYD maintains EV leadership

Despite Tesla’s rebound, China’s BYD continues to hold a strong lead in the global electric vehicle market.

The Shenzhen based automaker overtook Tesla in 2025 to become the world’s largest EV seller on a calendar year basis.

During the first two months of 2026, BYD reported a 36% decline in deliveries compared with the previous year.

Even so, the company still remained ahead of Tesla in overall volumes.

Tesla’s sales performance remained notable.

Shipments of its China-made vehicles were more than double those of Leapmotor, the next closest competitor behind the two industry leaders.

Chinese automakers intensify competition

Competition within China’s electric vehicle sector continues to grow as domestic manufacturers roll out new technologies and models aimed at attracting buyers.

BYD recently introduced an upgraded Blade battery and charging system that can charge from 10% to 97% in around nine minutes.

The development has drawn attention for addressing concerns about battery range and charging times.

The company has also expanded its overseas presence.

Export shipments surpassed domestic sales for the first time in February.

New models reshape China EV market

Other Chinese automakers are gaining ground by offering vehicles with advanced features at lower prices.

According to data from Autohome, Geely’s Xingyuan became the best selling car model in China during February, surpassing offerings from both companies.

In the previous month, Xiaomi’s YU7 sport utility vehicle replaced Tesla’s Model Y as the country’s top selling car.

The China Passenger Car Association said March sales figures may provide a clearer view of the market as production and retail activity typically rebound after the Spring Festival holiday and seasonal factory shutdowns.

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