High energy costs, long a drag on India's manufacturing competitiveness, are finally easing. Power and fuel expenses accounted for 1.98 per cent of net sales in 2024-25, the lowest level in data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) over the past two decades.
The insurance company has formed a four-member committee headed by LIC chairman TS Vijayan to decide the valuation of LIC Mutual Fund.
At a time Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is under the scanner due to the alleged bribe-for-loan scam at its housing finance arm, the mutual fund company of the corporation has been continuously losing business. Its assets have dipped substantially this year. As the mutual fund industry faces redemption pressure, LIC Mutual Fund, a state-owned fund house, has performed worse than the industry so far in the current financial year.
Though the number of Japanese foreign institutional investors in India is still negligible, it's significant that 8 of the 11 registered with Sebi entered in the past year and a half
'We remain positive on technology, private sector financials, gas, infrastructure, and export-oriented plays.'
A host of them have a tracking error of more than 1 per cent
Mutual fund houses are bullish on the financial sector, notwithstanding the recent beating at the stock market. Fund houses like Kotak Mahindra AMC, Sundaram BNP Paribas & LIC Mutual Fund have drawn up plans to introduce products aimed at the financial services sector. Bank stocks for long had been one of the favourite picks for many fund managers. There was a slowdown in valuations of financial sector stocks but Indian corporate entities still continue to remain attractive.
After screening the sector, Nagendra Singh goes for companies with strong fundamentals and good management quality.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Friday launch two schemes of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that may go a long way in changing how the household sector invests, and complains if anything goes wrong with their savings. These schemes - retail direct and an integrated ombudsman - will be launched by the Prime Minister virtually, in the presence of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. With the introduction of retail direct, a common man can directly take a position in government securities (G-Sec), considered to be the safest asset class a sovereign can offer.
Both the debt and equity markets have seen sharp volatility in recent months.
Macro and micro environment are becoming more challenging.
Expect more volatility in the coming year as the economy and markets price in the demonetisation drive.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances