Stock market investors became richer by a whopping Rs 77.66 lakh crore in 2024, helped by an overall optimistic trend in equities, where the BSE Sensex surged over 8 per cent. Analysts said the year witnessed a tug of war between the bulls and bears marked by volatility but, despite the uncertainties around the world, the Indian markets sustained the pressure and delivered impressive returns.
Trumponomics, poor growth, and high valuation certainly don't make a bullish recipe for Indian markets, warns Debashis Basu.
'Gold prices thrive on volatility and more so when the stock markets trend downward.'
The sharp pullback in mid and smallcap stocks signals a cooling-off period in segments that previously attracted considerable investor interest.
Pratham Barot, CEO and co-founder, Zell Education, explains how specialised courses in finance can help you earn a cushy six-figure salary.
In 2024, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) approved 20 third-party Unified Payments Interface (UPI) applications, a record since UPI's launch in 2016. This surge reflects growing interest from financial technology (fintech) companies, driven by the integration of credit products like UPI-linked credit cards and pre-approved credit lines.
'If rate cuts happen, bond yields will come down and investors will make mark-to-market capital gains on them.'
'Barring a temporary blip where stocks fell on verdict day, we are back to all-time highs.'
The Centre may overshoot the Rs 56,260 crore target for dividend receipts from central public-sector enterprises (CPSEs) set for FY25 and is likely to end up getting around Rs 65,000 crore this financial year, according to a senior government official. This excludes dividend from nationalised banks and financial institutions. As on October 21, the Centre collected Rs 28,913 crore as dividend and other investment from CPSEs, accounting for over 50 per cent of the Budget Estimate for FY25.
As part of its efforts to strengthen customer protection, Reserve Bank is considering setting up a fraud registry to create a database of fraudulent websites, phones and various modus operandi used for digital fraud. Such a database will help prevent these fraudsters from repeating the fraud as the websites or phone numbers would be blacklisted, RBI executive director Anil Kumar Sharma said on Monday. "There is no definite timeline for setting up of the fraud registry.
More than 50 per cent of SIP accounts come from semi-urban and rural areas.
The fees charged by investment banks to manage initial public offerings (IPOs) have increased to an average 3.23 per cent of the issue size this calendar year, the highest since 2020. The average fee is up 8 per cent compared to last year, when it stood at 2.99 per cent. The investment banking fees have increased as the average IPO size has shrunk this year.
'The structural story of India is a multi-decadal story.' 'One should stay invested in that story and avoid reacting to what is happening globally.'
While this will incur a revenue loss amounting to 0.2 per cent of GDP, it will provide a strong boost to consumer sentiment and spending, points out Rajani Sinha.
The most striking features of this Budget was its focus on simplification and improving the ease of doing business in India, asserts Kaku Nakhate.
'While investors need to be prepared for making some losses, they should not lose big money chasing euphoria amid fear of missing out.'
Quarterly earnings from corporates, global trends, and trading activity of foreign investors will guide market sentiment this week, analysts said, adding that benchmark indices may face volatile trends. "The upcoming release of Q2 results will be closely watched, providing insights into corporate performance. "Meanwhile, the escalating tensions between Israel and Iran introduce a significant geopolitical risk, potentially leading to increased oil prices and market volatility.
We are, therefore, setting up more branches in more tertiary terms, like tier 2 and tier 3 terms. Going forward, that is where the growth will come.
With short-term rates firming up due to tight liquidity conditions, Indian corporates are opting to borrow long term to take advantage of the attractive rates by locking them in these uncertain times. The banking system has a liquidity deficit of over Rs 2 trillion. According to market participants, engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) raised Rs 1,500 crore through 10-year bonds in December 2024.
By June 2025, financial freedom will be just an ATM away. Pleasantly surprised? But there's more, says Ramalingam Kalirajan
Food and grocery delivery major Zomato has pulled the plug on its plan to enter the lending business. Zomato Financial Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zomato, has withdrawn its application for a non-banking financial company (NBFC) licence with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), stating that the company does not have plans to pursue lending in the future. "There is no material impact on the revenue/operations of the company and this disclosure is being made voluntarily," the Gurgaon-based company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday addressed the World Economic Forum where he offered business leaders low taxes if they manufacture their products in the US, while threatening them with tariffs if they don't. Addressing the forum's Annual Meeting in Davos through video conferencing, Trump also said he is going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down oil prices and asserted that if prices come down Russia-Ukraine war will end immediately.
Swiss authorities have frozen more than $310 million in funds across multiple Swiss bank accounts as part of money laundering allegations into Adani Group, US-based short seller Hindenburg Research claimed citing media report - a charge that the conglomerate vehemently denied. In a post on X, Hindenburg cited "newly released Swiss criminal records reported by Swiss media outlet" to state that "Swiss authorities have frozen more than $310 million in funds across multiple Swiss bank accounts as part of a money laundering and securities forgery investigation into Adani, dating back as early as 2021."
The fund will promote domestic shipbuilding of all types and sizes to reduce India's dependence on foreign ships.
'Over the next 12 months, it will be difficult to make 15 to 20 per cent return in the markets as the valuations appear stretched.'
'India is an equity market with a breadth and depth of companies to invest in.'
The government is planning to introduce legislative changes to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) regulations, with a focus on easing the pathway for inflows from a foreign portfolio investor to transition seamlessly into foreign direct investments (FDI) once the FPI surpasses the 10 per cent ownership threshold in a company. This move stems from multiple requests by foreign investors seeking to streamline the reporting requirements that arise when their stakes in Indian firms cross the 10 per cent mark.
'Peninsular Indians could ask 'Why should we contribute half of India's tax revenues if we account for only a quarter of the seats in the Lok Sabha?'.' 'The rest of the country seems likely to counter that 'democracy means one vote per person irrespective of where that person resides in India'.' 'With no easy answers to this thorny debate, the south's economic ascendancy could end up creating a Hobson's choice.' A revealing excerpt from Nandita Rajhansa and Saurabh Mukherjea's book, Behold the Leviathan: The Unusual Rise of Modern India.
From the 30 Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Maruti were the biggest laggards. Reliance Industries Ltd, India's most valuable company, on Monday reported a 5 per cent fall in the July-September quarter net profit as weak oil refining and petrochemical business hurt operational performance. ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, Adani Ports, UltraTech Cement and HCL Technologies were among the gainers.
Japan's Softbank investment arm Softbank Vision Fund exited from Paytm in the June quarter at a loss of around $150 million, sources aware of the development said. Softbank invested about $1.5 billion in One97 Communications -- the owner of Paytm brand -- in tranches in 2017. "Softbank has exited Paytm at a loss of 10-12 per cent.
An NCD's credit rating will tell you whether risk possibility is high or low. Instruments rated below AA are regarded as high-risk.
The United Kingdom extracted USD 64.82 trillion from India over a century of colonialism between 1765 and 1900 and USD 33.8 trillion of this went to the richest 10 per cent -- enough money to carpet London in notes of 50 British pound almost four times over.
The police received over 500 complaints alleging that many social media influencers and YouTubers promoted the HIBOX mobile application on their pages and lured people into investing through the app, the officer said.
'It has remained around 38 per cent over the past four to five quarters.'
The Budget assumes significance as it comes on the back of lower-than-expected growth numbers during the second quarter and geopolitical uncertainty.
'Suddenly we had a new comprehension of affairs, which reminded that the luxury of politics floated atop a foundation by economics.' 'Along with this, finance ministers became crucial in molding the perception and reputation of Union Cabinets.' 'Governments couldn't afford a wrong person in that portfolio,' asserts Shyam G Menon.
'We are in a position to start due diligence and private data room access shortly.'
If the index is unable to sustain above 24,500 levels, technically it can then slip to its 200-DMA placed at 23,365 levels.
If growth reverts to the pre-Covid level, a lot of people may have to temper their rosy optimism, points out Debashis Basu.
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