Largecap equity funds remain suitable for conservative and moderate risk-taking investors seeking relatively stable returns.
Foreign investors fled Indian equities in 2025 at a scale never seen before, pulling out a record Rs 1.6 lakh crore (USD 18 billion) as volatile currency movements, global trade tensions, especially potential US tariffs, and stretched valuations eroded risk appetite, though flows are expected to turn sustainably positive in 2026.
Largecap equities are less volatile than mid- and smallcap stocks, making them suitable for risk-averse investors.
Global trends, trading activity of foreign investors and news flow on tariffs are expected to influence movement in the equity market in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said. Equity markets would remain closed on Wednesday for 'Mahashivratri'.
Investors became richer by nearly Rs 8 lakh crore on Wednesday as benchmark BSE Sensex surged by 740 points amid value buying in utilities and power shares and a strong trend in global markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex surged by 740.30 points or 1.01 per cent to close at 73,730.23.
SBI Mutual Fund recently launched the SBI Quant Fund. Its new fund offer (NFO) opened on December 4, 2024, and will close on December 18, 2024. Currently, 11 fund houses manage quant funds with assets worth Rs 9,013.6 crore.
Fundraising momentum is expected to accelerate further in the New Year, potentially surpassing 2024's record figures
'Asset allocation should be driven much more by long-term factors rather than the market scenario at any particular point in time.'
'Future market gains will likely depend primarily on earnings growth.'
The primary market will remain abuzz with more than half a dozen companies, including Hyundai Motor India, Swiggy, and NTPC Green Energy, lined up initial public offerings over the next two months to raise around Rs 60,000 crore, merchant bankers said. Apart from these three firms, Afcons Infrastructure, Waaree Energies, Niva Bupa Health Insurance, One Mobikwik Systems, and Garuda Construction are among the companies planning to launch initial public offerings (IPOs) during October-November, they added. Together, these firms are looking to raise Rs 60,000 crore through their IPOs.
'Despite the current uncertainties, the long-term outlook remains constructive due to strong fundamentals, government initiatives, and a stable banking sector.'
The IPO market will be bustling next week, with four companies, including Bajaj Housing Finance, set to launch their initial share-sale to raise a total of Rs 8,390 crore. Besides these four main-board IPOs, nine SMEs are preparing to debut with their maiden public issues next week, targeting to collect Rs 254 crore. Together, these 13 firms are looking to raise Rs 8,644 crore through IPO.
A day after facing massive erosion from their wealth, equity investors became richer by Rs 13.22 lakh crore on Wednesday with markets making a strong comeback. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 2,303.19 points, or 3.20 per cent, to settle at 74,382.24. During the day, it rallied 2,455.77 points, or 3.40 per cent, to 74,534.82.
Quant funds are a unique offering in the MF space as the investment decisions are driven by a blend of active and passive strategies.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, Larsen & Toubro, Power Grid, NTPC, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank were the biggest laggards. Sun Pharma and Nestle were the only gainers.
The cash pile within smallcap mutual fund (MF) schemes has grown over the past few months amid a relentless rally in stocks in this space. While fund managers usually don't make cash calls, incessant inflows and valuation discomfort have forced their hand. At the end of January, the top 10 schemes had over Rs 12,160 crore in cash, compared to Rs 8,700 crore in August 2023.
The benchmark Nifty and Sensex could see another 8-10 per cent from the current levels, said HDFC Securities in its outlook for equity markets in 2024. The brokerage said that the market movement in the next year will not be linear, and there will be more volatility. When asked about the market reaction to the General Elections in 2024, Dhiraj Relli, managing director and CEO of HDFC Securities, said more than the outcome of the elections, the market movement in the next three to four months will decide the market trajectory post elections.
Find out whether the fund is equity, debt, or hybrid oriented. 'Understand the portfolio composition and whether it suits your risk appetite and horizon.'
The fees charged by investment banks to manage initial public offerings (IPOs) have increased to an average 3.23 per cent of the issue size this calendar year, the highest since 2020. The average fee is up 8 per cent compared to last year, when it stood at 2.99 per cent. The investment banking fees have increased as the average IPO size has shrunk this year.
'Especially if their investment horizon is over two years.'
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the group's biggest cash generator, overtook Vedanta to become the highest dividend payer in India in FY23. The IT services major paid Rs 42,090 crore for FY23, up 167.4 per cent from Rs 15,738 crore for FY22. The 10 biggest payers together shelled out Rs 2.06 trillion for FY23, more than double the Rs 98,371 crore for FY22.
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty bounced back on Thursday to close higher by nearly 1 per cent on gains in banking, IT and auto shares amid mixed global trends. The 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 443.19 points or 0.86 per cent to settle at 52,265.72. During the day, it rallied 694.26 points or 1.33 per cent to 52,516.79. The NSE Nifty advanced 143.35 points or 0.93 per cent to 15,556.65.
Markets continued to fall on Monday, with the Sensex declining 94 points as investors remained cautious amid unabated selling by foreign funds and elevated crude oil prices ahead of the RBI's policy decision later this week. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 93.91 points or 0.17 per cent to end at 55,675.32. During the day, it tanked 473.49 points or 0.84 per cent to 55,295.74.
Stock market investors are expecting a balanced Budget with a focus on job creation, increased spending on infrastructure, reigning in the deficit, and bringing the economy back on track, experts said on Wednesday. Stock markets have been subdued in the run-up to the Union Budget with BSE's benchmark Sensex is almost flat so far this month. Even the corporate earning season failed to excite the markets, while some indices like IT and bankex have seen some positive movements.
After turning net buyers last month, foreign investors have become aggressive shoppers of Indian equities and have invested Rs 22,452 crore in the first two weeks of August amid softening inflation concerns. This was way higher than a net investment of nearly Rs 5,000 crore by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in the entire month of July, data with depositories showed. FPIs had turned net buyers for the first time in July, after nine straight months of massive net outflows, which started in October last year.
PowerGrid was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 4 per cent, followed by ITC, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, NTPC and Tech Mahindra. NSE Nifty advanced 117.15 points to 17,072.60.
'The idea is to invest where there is opportunity.'
Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3 per cent, followed by Infosys, Titan, Reliance Industries and HCL Tech. NSE Nifty rose 27 points to 17,248.40.
Equity investors became poorer by over Rs 9.75 lakh crore in two days of heavy decline in the equity market, with the Sensex plunging 1,457 points on Monday. The 30-share BSE benchmark tanked 1,456.74 points or 2.68 per cent to settle at 52,846.70 on Monday. It had ended 1,016.84 points or 1.84 per cent lower at 54,303.44 on Friday.
SBI was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance and Axis Bank. Nifty fell 143.60 points to 17,873.60.
Tata Steel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, jumping over 6 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, L&T, M&M, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finserv, TCS and Infosys. On the other hand, Wipro, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank and HCL Tech were among the laggards.
ICICI Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, soaring nearly 11 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's, SBI, M&M and Tech Mahindra. NSE Nifty advanced 10.50 points to 18,125.40.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pulled out Rs 17,696 crore from the Indian markets in December so far amid uncertainty due to a new coronavirus strain, Omicron, and expectations of faster tapering by the US Federal Reserve. According to the depositories data, FPIs took out Rs 13,470 crore from equities, Rs 4,066 crore from the debt segment and Rs 160 crore from hybrid instruments between December 1-17. In November, FPIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 2,521 crore in Indian markets.
Equity benchmark Sensex on Monday crashed about 1,546 points to sink below the 58,000-level due to across-the-board selloff tracking sluggish global markets. Besides, persistent foreign capital outflows continued to affect the market sentiment, traders said. Benchmark indices started the session on a weaker note and the selling intensified during afternoon trade, with almost all sectoral indices ending in the red. The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 1,545.67 points or 2.62 per cent lower at 57,491.51.
Continuing its heavy selling spree for the eighth consecutive month, foreign investors pulled out nearly Rs 40,000 crore from the Indian equity market in May on fears of an aggressive rate hike by US Federal Reserve that dented investor sentiments. With this, net outflow by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) from equities reached at Rs 1.69 lakh crore so far in 2022, data with depositories showed. Going ahead, FPI flows will remain volatile in the emerging markets on account of rising geo-political risk, rising inflation, tightening of monetary policy by central banks, among others, Shrikant Chouhan, Head - Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities said.
IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, soaring over 7 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra and Dr Reddy's.
Tech Mahindra was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, followed by Dr Reddy's, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank and M&M. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, Maruti and Bharti Airtel were among the laggards.
Equity benchmark Sensex rallied 478 points on Monday after gains in index majors HDFC, Infosys and Kotak Bank despite a negative trend in the global markets.
Ultratech Cement was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging nearly 3 per cent, followed by M&M, Maruti, Tata Steel, TCS, L&T, SBI and HUL. NSE Nifty advanced 52.35 points to 18,308.10.
Continuing their massive selling spree for the ninth consecutive month, foreign investors dumped Indian shares worth Rs 50,203 crore in June -- the highest net outflow in over two years -- amid aggressive rate hike by the US Federal Reserve, elevated inflation and relatively higher valuation of domestic equities. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have now pulled out around Rs 2.2 lakh crore from domestic equities in the first six months of 2022 -- the highest-ever net withdrawal by them. Before that, FPIs withdrew Rs 52,987 crore in the entire 2008, data with depositories showed.