Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) , the country's largest domestic institutional investor (DII), has seen a Rs 46,000 crore erosion in the value of its equity holdings amid market downturns in July. The benchmark indices, Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex, have slipped 2.6 per cent from their June 2025-end level to 24,837 and 81,463.09 respectively.
Despite similar tax treatment, debt MFs enjoy certain advantages over FDs.
Maruti, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Eternal, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, HDFC Bank, and NTPC were among the other major gainers. Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma were the laggards.
State Bank of India (SBI), the largest lender in the country, has launched a share sale to institutional investors to raise upto Rs 25,000 crore, the biggest qualified institutional placement (QIP) so far by an Indian firm, and has set a floor price of Rs 811.05, which is at a 2.5 per cent discount on Wednesday's closing price.
Retail inflation slipped to seven-month low of 3.61 per cent in February mainly due to easing prices of vegetables, eggs, and other protein-rich items, creating space for the RBI to go for another cut in interest rate next month.
The deal fell through over unresolved disagreements over contentious issues, mainly on agriculture and automotive sector tariffs.
When traders got caught fiddling Libor, their employers blamed a few bad apples.
'The RBI's MPC will maintain the current policy rates (6.50%) at the policy meeting, given ongoing inflationary pressures.'
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.
India Ratings on Thursday said that any broad-based or strong recovery in corporate capital expenditure was unlikely in the upcoming financial year 2026 (FY26) due to uncertainty of domestic and external demand. The uncertainty is adversely affecting the overall corporate sector capex. Interest rates on credit are not the primary deterrent to decisions about capital expenditure, said Soumyajit Niyogi, director, core analytical group, Ind-Ra, in a webinar on the credit market outlook.
'There is responsibility to make great games that are played by audiences, that fill the gap from an entertainment perspective.'
Stock investors will track the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel, Brent crude oil prices, inflation data and the US Fed interest rate decision for further cues this week, analysts said. Tariff-related news would also dictate trends in the equity market, experts noted.
Concerned over the rise in mis-selling of products by banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is examining whether to come up with norms to curb such practices. Observing that pushing financial products, such as insurance, indiscriminately to unaware consumers may be detrimental to their well-being, RBI Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao said, "We are examining whether it necessitates framing of guidelines to address mis-selling of financial products and services by REs (regulated entities)."
Retail inflation declined to over six-year low of 2.1 per cent in June, nearing the RBI's comfort zone, on account of subdued prices of food items, including vegetables, driven by widespread monsoon.
Retail inflation dipped to an over six-year low of 2.82 per cent in May due to subdued food prices, remaining below the RBI's median target of 4 per cent for the fourth consecutive month, according to government data released on Thursday. Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation was 3.16 per cent in April and 4.8 per cent in May 2024.
New-age stocks to buy: Most new-age stocks have turned out to be wealth destroyers in stock markets, so far, in calendar year 2025. Shares of Ola Electric Mobility, for instance, have plunged nearly 50 per cent in the first half of CY 2025, while those of Swiggy, PB Fintech, Paytm, and Eternal (Zomato) have crashed between 6 per cent and 25 per cent, ACE Equity data shows.
'Deposit and lending rates have started to fall considerably. It is likely to spur investment and consumption of durables.'
Equity investors would track global market trends, inflation data and trading activity of foreign investors for further cues this week, analysts said. Moreover, progress of monsoon and developments related to trade talks would also be monitored by investors, experts noted.
Market watchers link the pullback to underwhelming listing-day performance and the lack of big-name IPOs.
State-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) on Thursday entirely subscribed to the Rs 5,000 crore bond issue of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) at a coupon rate of 7.75 per cent, said sources privy to the development.
HDFC Bank on Wednesday reported a 2.3 per cent year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 17,657 crore for the October-December quarter, restricted by slower loan growth. On a standalone basis, the largest private sector lender's net profit came at Rs 16,735.50 crore for the period, up from Rs 16,372.54 crore in the year-ago period, but marginally down from the preceding quarter's Rs 16,820.97 crore.
No experts, clearly, were involved in the design of these new tariffs, which have been the subject of bemused wonderment across the world in how completely they ignore logic, rationality, fairness, and economic theory, observes Mihir S Sharma.
A recent World Bank report placing India among the most equal countries globally may present a limited view of inequality, with economists suggesting that broader data sets could tell a different story. According to the report, India's Gini index (or coefficient/ratio), a key measure of inequality, stood at 25.5 in 2022-23, placing the country fourth globally in terms of equality, behind only the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Belarus.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said people are finding current interest rates "very stressful" and urged banks to make them affordable. Speaking at an event organised by State Bank of India, the finance minister said that at present, India requires industry to ramp up and invest in new facilities, and added that lowering lending rates can help achieve the "Viksit Bharat" aspiration.
The RBI under new Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Friday cut interest rate for the first time in nearly five years as the central bank pivoted the policy stance to support a shuttering economy. The 25 basis points rate cut to 6.25 per cent comes after last rate reduction in May 2020. The last revision of rates happened in February 2023 when the policy rate was hiked by 25 basis points to 6.5 per cent.
'It's important for India to think about areas where it wants the US to move.' 'We can be far more innovative in what we ask the US.' 'Given that there's a package deal, why not do it?'
The initiative will neither help banks nor borrowers since the cost of funds will rise, but it will provide greater scope for product innovation and service excellence.
The performance of banking and information technology (IT) stocks has had a significant impact on the composition of diversified mutual fund (MF) portfolios. Over the past two months, these sectors have become increasingly dominant, now constituting nearly 30 per cent of the total allocation in many diversified MF portfolios.
'As long as Sebi maintains transparency and market stability, the Jane Street episode is unlikely to deter long-term foreign capital.'
Saurav Ghosh's step-by-step guide will help you understand what bonds are, how they help investors make money, how much money they make and which bonds to invest in.
Defying the bearish sentiment in the markets on Monday, ICICI Bank's share price rose by 2 per cent, reaching an intraday high of Rs 1,234.4 per share on the BSE. With a 1.5 per cent gain at the close, the stock emerged as the top performer on both the BSE Sensex and the National Stock Exchange Nifty 50 indices.
United States President Donald Trump has warned that countries aligning with the BRICS economic bloc will face additional 10 per cent tariffs on their goods, as he seeks to protect the dollar's global dominance.
Ask rediffGURU and PF and MF expert Janak Patel your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Banks recorded a higher growth year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in raising deposits during the second quarter of financial year 2025 (Q2FY25) compared to Q1FY25, owing to intensified efforts to raise liabilities by offering higher rates and innovative schemes.
The RBI under former governor Shaktikanta Das resisted pressures to cut interest rates through 2024 as it kept its 'Arjuna's eye' trained on inflation, but the central bank under a new detail-oriented head will soon have to take a call if it can continue sacrificing growth. Das, a career bureaucrat who in 2016 oversaw Prime Minister Narendra Modi's highly disruptive demonetisation move, left a lasting legacy as he demitted office towards the end of 2024 after expertly navigating monetary policy for six years, the highlight of which was steering India's recovery through the pandemic.
'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.'
'LAP is suited for borrowers with a steady income, sound repayment discipline, and a clear repayment plan.'
Despite gross domestic product (GDP) growth being lower-than-expected for the July-September quarter, the six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may not cut the policy repo rate in the review meeting scheduled for next week due to high inflation in October, according to experts. "Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation breaching the upper limit of the RBI's tolerance band in October (6.2 per cent year-on-year) is not a favourable backdrop for the MPC to commence the easing cycle, even as the growth outcome disappointed the MPC's expectations," said Shreya Sodhani, regional economist at Barclays, who expects the policy repo rate to be kept unchanged in the December meeting.
Indian information technology (IT) service providers are expected to deliver low single-digit sequential growth in the first quarter (April-June) of 2025-26 (FY26), even as macroeconomic uncertainties continue to persist due to the volatile geopolitical environment.
From the Sensex firms, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Nestle and Tata Steel were among the major laggards. In contrast, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel and Maruti were among the gainers.
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