Largecap equities are less volatile than mid- and smallcap stocks, making them suitable for risk-averse investors.
'Allocating 5 to 10 per cent of one's portfolio and staying disciplined through market cycles helps in having a positive investment experience.'
'The momentum is driven by rising affluence, strong demand from HNIs (high net worth individuals) and NRIs (non-resident Indians), an increased appetite for larger, well-located homes by branded developers, and support from the economy.'
Markets regulator Sebi will soon set up a working group to undertake a comprehensive review of short selling and the Securities Lending and Borrowing (SLB) frameworks, its chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Friday. The framework for short selling, introduced in 2007, has largely remained unchanged since its inception.
As deposit growth lags credit expansion, Indian banks face shrinking low-cost Casa inflows, rising funding costs, and structural shifts driven by UPI, e-Kuber, and digital savings trends, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Noting that recent uncertainties created by global tariffs have not impacted the Indian economy severely, Anuradha Thakur, secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, said the central government is hopeful that the recent goods and services tax (GST) rationalisation will ignite the much needed animal spirits in the financial sector.
Axis Bank reported a sharp drop in net profit in the second quarter of financial year 2026 (Q2FY26) on higher provisions and weak operating profit growth while revenue growth was moderate. But loan growth and deposit growth improved to double-digits year-on-year (Y-o-Y) and asset quality also improved with the gross non-performing loan or NPL ratio moving down.
'They are positioned as defensive products and can potentially give marginally higher returns than liquid funds.'
India's corporate bond market, driven by public sector undertaking (PSU) banks and financial institutions last year, is losing momentum since the second quarter of FY26.
ICICI Bank delivered satisfactory results in the second quarter of 2025-26 (Q2FY26), sustaining return on assets (RoA) of around 2.3-2.4 per cent and improving asset quality. Provisions declined 26 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) and 50 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q).
After withdrawing money on a net basis for the past three months, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have turned buyers with a Rs 6,480 crore investment in October so far, driven by strong macroeconomic factors.
Equity market investors would track global trends, foreign fund movement and quarterly earnings in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said. Stock exchanges BSE and NSE will conduct a special Muhurat trading session on Tuesday, October 21.
'We never waste a crisis. There will be learning and the supervisory tools will get better with each episode.'
Amid liquidity tightness in the banking system, certificate of deposit (CD) rates topped 8 per cent for some smaller banks, with rates remaining on the higher side for derivatives loss-hit IndusInd Bank. On Thursday, CSB Bank raised Rs 100 crore via one-year CDs at 8.5 per cent, while Utkarsh Small Finance Bank issued three-month CDs at 8.05 per cent to raise Rs 50 crore.
Banking credit in the economy grew by 11.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in the fortnight ended March 7, while deposits grew at 10.2 per cent during the same period, which is a gap of around 90 basis points (bps), according to the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) $10 billion US dollar-rupee buy-sell swap auction for three years received bids worth $16.23 billion on Friday, reflecting robust demand amid persistent liquidity deficit in the banking system. This was the second swap auction by the central bank after it infused $5 billion via six month-swap on January 31.
'Other sectors that manage the savings pools of Indians are giving tough competition to life insurance companies.'
'Investing in these funds makes sense if their net yield over better-quality funds -- corporate bond funds or banking and PSU funds -- is meaningful.'
Investors can meet cash needs without selling their securities.
Co-working spaces provider WeWork India is aiming for a revenue growth of over 20 per cent for the coming years, even as its initial public offering (IPO) with only an offer for sale (OFS) component gets valued at Rs 3,000 crore at the top of the price band. The IPO opens on October 3, a newspaper advertisement said.
'The pace of gold's ascent is striking, with prices rising from $3,500/oz to $4,000/oz in just 36 days -- far quicker than the historical average of 1,036 days taken to achieve similar $500/oz gains.'
Despite a strong 7.8 per cent growth in the first quarter, the Indian economy is expected to grow at 6.5 per cent in the current financial year as the impact of US tariffs on Indian exports will reduce prospects, particularly in the second half, ADB said on Tuesday.
Public-sector banks (PSBs) are attracting the attention of investors and the PSU Bank Index has gained nearly 10 per cent in the past month. PSBs have seen return on assets (RoA) climbing to 1 per cent in 2024-2025 (FY25) and margins are believed to have moved up further in the first half of this financial year (H1FY26) with asset quality remaining stable.
'Government officials use Gmail and ordinary phones without basic security consciousness.' 'Interoperability, especially in joint exercises with countries like the US, worries me.' 'It often means we open our systems to them, but they don't reciprocate.' 'They could have kill switches in their systems and might even be able to affect ours.'
The liquidity deficit in the banking system crossed Rs 2 trillion again on Monday, despite the second instalment of cash reserve ratio (CRR) reduction coming into effect from December 28.
The Adani Group reported its highest-ever trailing twelve-month EBITDA of Rs 90,572 crore, driven by strong performance in its core infrastructure and clean energy businesses, along with contributions from its emerging airports segment, the conglomerate said on Thursday. The group reported an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of Rs 90,572 crore for the period from July 2024 to June 2025, up from Rs 85,502 crore pre-tax profit in the trailing twelve months ending June 2024, it said in a statement.
'Maintain a balanced approach with a preference for short-to medium-duration funds.'
Mutual funds (MFs) - flush with cash amid record inflows in July - invested heavily in the Rs 25,000-crore qualified institutional placement (QIP) of India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI). Fund managers acquired SBI shares worth Rs 10,200 crore last month, making the lender their biggest buy in July.
While liquidity in the banking system has turned surplus in the last few weeks, it could go back to deficit again, mainly due to corporate advance tax outflows. The net liquidity surplus of the banking system rose to touch Rs 1 trillion on Tuesday on the back of government spending, according to the data released by the Reserve Bank of India.
'Sebi's measures are necessary to align the derivatives market with its underlying cash market, as the current disconnect is unsustainable.'
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Nitin Narkhede your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Tata Steel's consolidated net profit more than doubled to Rs 2,007.36 crore during the June quarter, on account of "increase in net steel realisations and the planned cost-takeouts" across geographies. The Tata Group entity had posted a net profit of Rs 918.57 crore in the year-ago period.
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The net inflow into equity mutual funds surged 24 per cent to Rs 23,587 crore in June, reversing the declining trend of the last five months, driven by strong equity market performance across segments, data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed on Wednesday. Also, the latest fund infusion by investors marks the 52nd consecutive month of net inflows into the segment.
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
For the time being, the RBI is done with the cuts. A cut in October, which many are still predicting, is not certain. Of course, if growth nosedives, the script will be different, expects Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
You can't be the second-most expensive market in the world and deliver just 10 per cent EPS growth, points out Akash Prakash.
Net profit of 19 listed banks is likely to decline by 4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) for the quarter ended March (Q4FY25) mainly due to pressure on net interest margins (NIM) as a result of rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), according to analysts' estimates. Additionally, loan growth is expected to further slowdown amid low demand in certain secured products, stress in the unsecured segment, and a high cost to deposit (CD) ratio across the system.
SEBI's blockbuster reforms are rewriting the rules of mutual fund investing -- faster growth, sharper transparency, and smarter safeguards that put investors first, explains Ramalingam Kalirajan.
Conservative investors seeking equity-like tax benefits with low risk may go for them.
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