Gold prices have been on an uptrend in the last few months, rising nearly 28 per cent to $2387 per ounce now. This rise in gold price, according to Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, is attributed to the demand from China amid lack of investor euphoria as regards the yellow metal. "Recent developments show a distinct lack of investor euphoria as regards gold, the question remains what is driving the current rally.
A higher-than-expected consumer price inflation (CPI) print for March in the US has dashed hopes of an interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve (US Fed) in June. Analysts now expect the US central bank to start cutting rates in September, provided inflation remains in check and oil prices remain supportive. The markets, analysts believe, partially factored in this possibility.
Fundraising via the initial public offering (IPO) route by companies may touch Rs 1 trillion in financial year 2024-25 (FY25), according to a recent note by Pantomath Group - a mid-market investment bank. During the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), 76 companies tapped the markets through mainboard IPOs, Pantomath said, raising nearly Rs 62,862 crore. This is a 21 per cent rise compared to FY23, the note added.
Mobile wallet adoption is surging in India and swiftly becoming a primary payment option, surpassing traditional methods like cash and cards. Over the next few years, payments via mobile wallets in India are likely to surpass the Rs 531.8 trillion mark in 2028, witnessing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.3 per cent between 2024 and 2028, according to GlobalData - a London-based leading data and analytics company. The value of mobile wallet payments in India, as per a GlobalData report, grew at a CAGR of 72.1 per cent between 2019 and 2023 to reach Rs 202.8 trillion ($2.5 trillion) in 2023.
Analysts remain bullish on the road ahead for the equity markets, but warn against volatility on account of domestic and global cues. The upcoming Lok Sabha elections back home and the interest rate trajectory of the US Federal Reserve, they said, will be the two most important factors that the markets will keep a tab on. That apart, the valuation of the Indian markets, they feel, will also be eyed in context of how global peers are performing.
'Rather than taking a very short-term view on the markets, equity investing should be premised on longer term growth opportunities.'
Rekha Jhunjhunwala's net worth has increased by more than 7 per cent, or Rs 2,865 crore, compared to less than 1 per cent rise in the BSE Sensex.
'More than investors, fund houses, and advisors have raised caution and limited flows on small-and mid-caps.'
'We expect the bull-market phase to still persist, but now led by large-caps which offer better valuation and benefit from FII inflows.'
'We expect continued pressure on midcaps, but any sharp correction looks unlikely from here on.'
Investors' desire for companies to prioritise returning cash to shareholders through share buybacks, dividends or mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is at the highest level since July 2015, said a survey by BofA Securities (BofA). Nearly 30 per cent of respondents wanted companies to do so. As many as 226 respondents with $572 billion worth of assets under management (AUM) participated in the March fund manager survey (FMS), said BofA.
'Given the inherent volatility, investors should take at least a three to five-year view.'
Tracking losses in the broader market that has seen the Nifty Smallcap 250 index and the Nifty Midcap 100 indices slip 9 per cent 6.1 per cent in the last three sessions, the frontline Nifty 50 index has remained resilient and registered a fall of 2.2 per cent during this period. Going ahead, can the nervousness in the mid- and small-cap universe spread to the large-cap peers? Most analysts do not think so. They expect a minor dip and a sharp recovery as investors flock to the large-caps in search of safety and value buying as the mid-and small-caps falter.
Tata Motors is likely to exit the S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 indices once the demerger process of its commercial vehicle (CV) and passenger vehicle (PV) businesses is complete, analysts at Nuvama Institutional Equities said. They have compared the development with Reliance Industries (RIL) and Jio Financial Services, which got listed separately and eventually (in the next few days) got excluded from the domestic indices.
Analysts have given a thumbs up to the Reliance Industries (RIL) and Walt Disney Co. (Disney) proposed a joint venture (JV). The stock of the Mukesh Ambani-controlled company gained nearly 1.5 per cent on Thursday to Rs 2,952 levels as compared to the S&P BSE Sensex that traded marginally weak, down 0.2 per cent to 72,172 levels in intra-day trades.
Nikkei 225 index hit the 40,000 mark for the first time ever on Monday, continuing its bull-run that saw the index reclaim its 1989 peak of 34,000 levels in February. as global investors latched on to Japan's biggest companies on improving shareholder returns, the weaker yen and booming corporate profits. Analysts remain bullish on Japan, mostly aided by gains in technology shares. Adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), according to a note by Morgan Stanley, is likely to benefit Japanese companies, which is almost at par with the US-based companies.
Shares of One97 Communications (OCL), which provides financial services under the brand 'Paytm', and has a banking arm Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL), hit the 5 per cent upper circuit at Rs 428.10 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Monday's (February 26) intraday trade. The up move in the stock on Monday came after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), in post stock market hours, to look into the possibility of migrating PPBL customers, using the UPI handle '@paytm', to four-to-five other banks.
The index is currently trading at 149 per cent of its historical P/B valuation, surpassing its previous peak of 125 per cent made in 2020-21.
Nineteen per cent of global fund managers remain bullish on India, suggests the latest BofA Asia Fund Manager Survey (FMS). A total of 249 panelists with $656 billion worth of assets under management (AUM) participated in the survey between February 2 and 8, BofA said. Two hundred and nine participants with $568 billion AUM responded to the global FMS questions, while 145 participants with $331 billion in AUM responded to the regional fund manager survey (FMS) questions, BofA said.
Notwithstanding the recent sharp decline in the stocks of public sector companies, analysts at Jefferies remain bullish on this segment. State Bank of India, Coal India, and NTPC are their top picks in this space, they said in a recent note. The public sector undertaking (PSU) or state-owned enterprise (SOE) index, with a 70-percentage-point outperformance versus the National Stock Exchange Nifty50 over the past 12 months, comes after a decade of underperformance before 2020.
'Valuations of midcaps and smallcaps have reached very high levels, and hence to that extent leave little margin of safety.'
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