The general elections in April/May 2024 are expected to add volatility to the Indian markets, keeping investors on their toes.
One of the key factors contributing to the decline in the value of the rupee against the US dollar is the tightening yield spread between the 10-year India government bond and the US government bond. The yield on 10-year Indian government bonds is now only 295 basis points higher than that of US 10-year treasury bonds, the lowest since January 2007. Lower spread means lower incentive for foreign investors to invest in rupee assets, which adversely affects foreign capital inflows into the country and weighs on the rupee-dollar exchange rate.
Very often, 'sentiment' drives prices well beyond what is warranted and it is hard to forecast market sentiment, explains Debashis Basu.
Diana Penty was a kiss from a lotus as a showstopper walking for designer Disha Patil at LFW X FDCI in Mumbai.
In 2022, Rajasthan met for 30 days, Chhattisgarh 18 days, MP and Mizoram for 15 each, and Telangana for 10 days.
It's all eyes on the consumer durables sector during the festival season after a weak Q1FY24 and Q2FY24 was impacted by an erratic monsoon. Traditionally, this period sees the highest number of purchases. Dealers and manufacturers are complaining about low business-to-consumer (B2C) off-take during the first half.
It's always been a struggle for economists and statisticians to forecast India's gross domestic product (GDP) correctly, and say where the economy is headed before the official numbers come out. If estimating the GDP is tough, forecasting it in real time is complicated. It involves looking at tens of indicators, such as industrial production, electricity consumption and exports, to arrive at a number.
The rising goods and services tax (GST) and personal income-tax collections may bolster the Narendra Modi government's ability to announce new schemes or enhance existing ones.
Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) chairman Bibek Debroy on Tuesday said the government was losing revenue due to the GST, which should be revenue neutral with a single rate. Speaking at an event organised by the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata, he however said that GST has led to a lot of simplification. "The ideal GST is one that has a single rate, and it was meant to be revenue neutral.
Women account for 35 per cent of the 860,000 people employed in startups in 2022, compared to 19 per cent in the corporate sector.
'Better hygiene practices could lower a person's immunity and make the person susceptible to auto-immune diseases.'
'Data-dependence means you can raise or drop rates. The present stance is only for raising rates.'
The power sector is always strongly correlated to economic activity and is receiving its share of investor attention as India's post-Covid-19 recovery continues. India's leading integrated power producer, the public sector undertaking (PSU) NTPC controls around 25 per cent of India's power capacity. It continues to increase installed capacity, in thermal as well as renewables (solar, wind, green hydrogen) and hydropower and pumped hydro, and also has backward integration into coal mining, and explored nuclear.
'The top two reasons for the low participation of kids are lack of time and need to focus on studies.'
'A cutback in hiring and compensation growth by IT companies will have a significant impact on consumer demand, especially in the urban sector of the economy.'
Have the markets already played out their dynamics before the economy has even properly taken off? Are we now destined for a period of mediocre returns despite a strong economy? asks Akash Prakash.
Mutual funds (MFs) have stepped up equity purchases after staying on the fence for over two months. Their net equity investments reached a four-month high of Rs 7,700 crore in July, rising for the fourth consecutive month after withdrawing a net of Rs 5,100 crore in April 2023. This trend continued in August, with net investments of Rs 3,400 crore in the first three trading sessions, according to data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
'ESG is actually a concept which cannot be applied effectively in the very short run.'
'The risk is in not being invested and missing out on an upmove.'
After disappointing guidances in the first quarter (Apr-Jun) of the 2023-24 financial year (Q1FY24) and valuation downgrades, the Indian IT sector could see some positive repricing as the bad news for IT maybe easing in Q2FY24. A key negative factor was weaker demand from the US financial sector and from North America in general. The latest GDP (gross domestic product) estimates and sector-specific news suggest that the demand situation may not be quite so bad with a gradual recovery in tech spending in Q2.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday asked the Centre to explain why married men and women cannot be considered for the judge advocate general (JAG) department, the legal arm of the Army, and remarked the policy barring married individuals from applying "does not make any sense".
Renowned oncologist and former chief of the Indian Medical Association's Goa unit Dr Shekhar Salkar said the number of cancer cases is on the rise with the increase in population across the world.
For the first time in a decade, inflows into equity mutual funds (MFs) decoupled from the past performance of the equity market, as investors continued to pour money into the market unperturbed by lacklustre returns.
Over the past year, the National Stock Exchange Nifty FMCG Index, which tracks the market capitalisation of the top 15 companies in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, has surged by 17.3 per cent. In contrast, the Nifty50, a broader market index, has witnessed an 8.8 per cent increase during the same period. The FMCG stocks have also been rally leaders in the current calendar year.
Balanced advantage funds (BAFs) were popular in the later part of 2021 and continued to see good inflows until some months back as investors looked for safer options amid over-valuation concerns. As such concerns ease, investors are turning to riskier funds and shifting from BAFs. Redemptions from the hybrid fund category have exceeded in six of the last seven months, with investors pulling out a net of Rs 3,140 crore during the seven-month period.
rediffGURU Dr Hemalata Arora offers advice on how to improve your overall health and wellness.
Gold burnished its image as the go-to asset class during turbulent times. However, investors seemed to have missed the bus. Net inflows into gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) plunged to a four-year low of Rs 653 crore in 2022-23 (FY23), even as gold emerged as the top-performing asset class.
Women are neither subordinate to men nor do they need to be submissive to anybody, as the Constitution guarantees equal rights to individuals of all genders, the Supreme Court has said in its Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes, while terming as "incorrect" some common stereotypes about the gender roles ascribed to men and women.
'It is like a chicken-and-egg situation.' 'All these product tweaks are innovative, but traders won't move unless there is liquidity.' 'And liquidity cannot be generated until traders move.'
The Allahabad high court on Friday ordered authorities to determine the age of the Shivling-like structure inside the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi using modern technology.
'Looking back, there is every chance that I would not have opted for Kota.'' 'The biggest flaw is that your personality gets blocked.' 'It took me two years to get back to 'being human' again.'
The Supreme Court agreed to hear on Friday a plea challenging the Allahabad high court order of conducting a 'scientific survey', including carbon dating, to determine the age of a 'Shivling' which was said to have been found at the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi.
The onset of the southwest monsoon is being keenly watched this year as it may provide an early sign regarding its progress over the Indian subcontinent, particularly when El Nio is expected to rear its head during the latter half of the season.
The Allahabad high court on May 12 ordered determination of the age of the structure claimed to be 'Shivling' using modern technology.
The reason? Price of open cell panels has gone up 15%. One of the main components in the manufacturing of TV sets, open cells contribute to 60%-65% of the manufacturing cost.
Scaling and polishing can only eliminate external stains. They do not make your teeth whiter, says Dr Shyam Jamalabad.
There is positive correlation between crude oil prices and Indian equities and investors can expect more upside after the recent rally in Brent crude price.
'Pollution acts as an endocrine disruptor.' 'When it acts as an endocrine disruptor it has an effect on the endocrine system of the human body and the effect on the pancreas is an important one.' 'The way you get type two diabetes is due to two defects.' 'One is the pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin.' 'The other physiological defect is insulin resistance.'
The last year has seen public sector undertakings (PSUs) outperforming the Nifty50, albeit by a small degree. But PSU valuations are still, on average, less than half of private sector peers at price-to-equity or PE 8.7x for the Nifty PSU Index versus 20.9x for the Nifty50. There are several reasons for lower valuation.
In the high courts, only 13.2 per cent women occupied the position of judge.
