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).
In a first, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it will conduct daily variable rate repo (VRR) auctions on all working days in Mumbai, until further notice. The daily auctions, aimed at easing the current liquidity tightness in the banking system, will begin on Friday, with a notified amount of Rs 50,000 crore.
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.
While the economy will wait for a rate cut in December, the banking industry should be happy with the wave of liberalisation -- a big push for growth in bank credit, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
With average returns of 18 per cent over the past year, listed real estate investment trusts (Reits) have clearly outperformed both the Nifty Realty index and the Sensex. Over the same period, Nifty Realty fell 15.5 per cent, while the benchmark index was largely unchanged. Steady office leasing, the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) decision to reclassify Reits as equity instruments, and ongoing portfolio expansion have strengthened the sector's appeal.
Mixed views were expressed by top economists on the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) decision to hold the repo rate at 5.5% and maintain a neutral stance. While some say the decision was as expected and one more rate reduction is expected this fiscal, there is also a view that rate cut by MPC was warranted given the evolving global situation.
Retail inflation slipped to 1.54 per cent in September from 2.07 per cent in the preceding month mainly due to subdued prices of food items, including vegetables and pulses, according to government data released on Monday. The consumer price index (CPI) based inflation was 5.49 per cent in September 2024.
The rupee continued to face pressure in the first half of the current financial year (FY26), hitting fresh lows against the dollar, due to strengthening of the greenback, rising crude oil prices, and foreign outflows. Rupee has depreciated by 3.7 per cent so far in the current financial year after starting at a good note in April.
'They are positioned as defensive products and can potentially give marginally higher returns than liquid funds.'
Indian government's decision to cut GST rates on various products will increase purchasing power of consumers and boost demand for residential properties in the upcoming festive season, according to realtors' body CREDAI. The association, which has a 13,000 members from across India, said the construction cost is expected to come down because of reduction in GST rates on cement and few other building materials.
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday decided to keep the policy rate unchanged for the ninth time in a row, saying food inflation remains stubborn. The rate increase cycle was paused in April last year after six consecutive rate hikes, aggregating to 250 basis points since May 2022.
'Given the lag in transmission, further softening of lending rates may happen in the coming months.'
Home purchase affordability has improved in the first half of calendar year (CY) 2025, after the RBI reduced the repo rate by 100 basis points (bps), according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank India.
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.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India expects auto sales to bounce back to the glory days of 7 per cent growth by FY 27, helped by the proposed GST rate cut which is expected to bring down car prices by 3.5 to 8.5 per cent.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday lowered India's growth forecast for FY26 to 6.5 per cent from 6.7 per cent on account of trade uncertainty and higher US tariffs that are expected to impact exports and investment. Despite the downward revision from the April 2025 Asian Development Outlook (ADO), India remains one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world.
'Maintain a balanced approach with a preference for short-to medium-duration funds.'
Borrowers should consider switching from an MCLR-linked to a repo rate-linked loan.
Reserve Bank will "wait and watch" the evolving situation before deciding on any further rate cut, Governor Sanjay Malhotra has said as he emphasised that both growth and price stability are equally important. With inflation on a downward trend, the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has been reducing the benchmark repo rate and has adopted a neutral stance, which also gives the flexibility to either cut or hike the rate going forward. The central bank has cummulatively reduced the repo rate by 100 basis points since February.
Banks have been borrowing heavily from the Tri-Party Repo (TREPS) market and deploying those funds into the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which is offering higher interest rate than the former, leading to increased volumes in the SDF window. The weighted average TREPS rate was trading at 5.66 per cent on Monday, 9 basis points lower than the SDF rate which currently stands at 5.75 per cent.
State-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) on Sunday said it has cut its benchmark lending rate linked to repo rate by 50 basis points in line with the RBI's rate reduction. Meanwhile, private sector HDFC Bank reduced its Marginal Cost of Funds-based Lending Rates (MCLR) by 10 basis points across tenure, which will benefit borrowers whose loans are linked to this benchmark.
'India has the potential to grow at more than 7%, with the monetary policy providing a supportive hand.'
Some public sector banks, including State Bank of India (SBI), Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, and Bank of India, are increasing the spread on home loans for new customers to protect margins.
'The real repo rate is very high in terms of core inflation.'
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) decision to cut the repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 5.5% was contrary to the expectations of many economists. Firstly, most of the economists expected the MPC to cut the repo rate by 25 bps citing the weakening of inflation, prospects of economic growth, geopolitical uncertainty and comfortable system liquidity.
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.
'The statistical confidence bands of the fan charts of the forecasts will provide a better sense of the potential variability of outcomes.'
Uncertainties over the impact of the United States' (US') tariffs on India, along with the ongoing transmission of past rate cuts, prompted the members of the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to maintain the status quo during the August meeting, the minutes showed. While some of the external members highlighted their concern over growth, the internal members cited the one-year headline inflation rate overshooting the 4 per cent target.
The appliance makers expect a good churn in the festive season, led by the government's proposal to reduce the GST slab on air-conditioners from the current 28 per cent to 18 per cent, which will reduce the price from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 depending on the models.
The change in stance to neutral from accommodative in the June monetary policy meeting does not necessarily signal that the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) rate setting body - monetary policy committee (MPC) - will go on a prolonged pause on rate cuts going forward, believe experts.
'Deposit and lending rates have started to fall considerably. It is likely to spur investment and consumption of durables.'
The transmission of the February and April rate cuts is now complete, validating the central bank's monetary stance and contributing to a revival in credit growth, said Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Friday. "We now have preliminary figures for June credit rates, and we find that for new loans, the rates are lower by at least 50 basis points (bps)... within two months of our 50-bp cut, we are in June, and the whole of the monetary policy transmission has happened.
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.
Tata Motors on Friday reported a 62.2 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,003 crore in the June quarter, impacted by volume decline across segments, drop in JLR profits due to US tariffs and high base effect due to gain from sale of discontinued operations. The auto major had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 10,587 crore in the April-June quarter of the previous fiscal, Tata Motors Ltd (TML) said in a regulatory filing.
'A repo cut will be very good for the market as it will mean that everything is being done to spur growth in these uncertain times.'
In trade negotiations, as in chess, sometimes you need to accept a temporary disadvantage to secure a better long-term position, points out Sonal Varma, chief economist (India and Asia ex-Japan) at Nomura.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday did a four-day variable rate reverse repo (VRRR) auction to reduce liquidity in the banking system as the overnight money market rates fell below the repo rate, said market participants. The repo rate is 6.50 per cent. Banks parked Rs 18,750 crore at the auction against a notified amount of Rs 50,000 crore at a weighted average rate of 6.49 per cent.
'Once bitten, twice shy, I didn't take up the challenge this time...' 'I realised I had failed to follow my karma because I feared failure.'
Realtors' apex body CREDAI described the RBI decision to cut repo rate by 50 basis points as a bold step and said this will help boost sales of residential properties.
Reserve Bank on Friday decided to cut Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by a huge 1 per cent, which will unlock Rs 2.5 lakh crore liquidity to the banking system for lending to productive sectors of the economy. With the reduction in four equal tranches ending November 29, 2025, the CRR would come down to 3 per cent.
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