The Street shrugged off a muted first quarter of financial year 2023-24 (Q1FY24) and a cautious near-term outlook by India's largest information technology (IT) services company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The stock was the top Nifty50 and Sensex gainer on Thursday, rising 2.5 per cent, as investors took comfort from a robust order book and an encouraging pipeline. Like its larger peer, HCL Technologies' (HCL Tech), too fell short of the Street's expectations on the revenue and margin fronts given cuts in discretionary expenditure.
Weak market sentiment has driven a steady decline in cash market volumes and margin trading books over the past nine months. Cash market volumes have plummeted by 45 per cent from their peak in June 2024, while the margin book - used by traders to leverage stock purchases - has shrunk by 16 per cent since its high in September 2024.
The restaurant chains are riding the Hallyu wave -- a phenomenon about the growing global prominence of South Korean pop culture.
India's largest drug maker Sun Pharmaceutical on Thursday posted a decline of 19 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) for its consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2025 (Q4FY25) at Rs 2,149.8 crore. Meanwhile, its revenue from operations rose by 8 per cent at Rs 12,958.8 crore.
After two weeks of buying, FPIs turned net sellers in Indian equities this week, with a net withdrawal of Rs 976 crore amid a strengthening US dollar and steady rise in US 10-year bond yields, impacting investor sentiment. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) began the week on a positive note, investing Rs 3,126 crore in equities during the first two trading sessions (December 16-20).
The "weaponisation" of economic activity - through tariffs and sanctions - is now a reality, with countries leveraging these tools strategically, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at the Raisina Dialogue recently.
From the 30-share Sensex pack, Power Grid, Tata Steel, Zomato, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC and Tata Motors were among the major laggards. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank and Tata Consultancy Services were the gainers.
Falling for the fifth day in a row on Monday, equity benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled over 1 per cent to drop below the crucial 75,000 level, tracking a US market trend and unabated foreign fund outflows amid concerns over US tariffs. The 30-share BSE benchmark tanked 856.65 points or 1.14 per cent to settle at 74,454.41. During the day, it plummeted 923.62 points or 1.22 per cent to 74,387.44.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's group on Tuesday said it will prepay $130 million of debt as it looks to boost investor confidence post being targeted by a US short-seller. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, the ports company of the Adani Group, had last month floated a tender to buy back as much as $130 million of its July 2024 bonds and similar amounts in each of the next four as it looked to regain investor confidence by showing that its liquidity position is comfortable. In a stock exchange filing, APSEZ said an aggregae principal amount of $412.7 million was validly tendered.
Foreign investors pulled out Rs 4,285 crore from Indian equities in the first three trading days of the month driven by apprehensions ahead of the third-quarter earnings season and high valuations of domestic stocks. This came following an investment of Rs 15,446 crore in the entire December, data with the depositories showed.
Investors will take cues from the December quarter corporate earnings, with blue-chips like Infosys, Reliance Industries scheduled to report their results this week, in addition, inflation data and trading activity of foreign investors will also be crucial in dictating market trends, analysts said.
India's flexible (flex) office segment, having breached pre-pandemic levels, is thriving as corporates, startups, multinational corporations, and global capability centres (GCCs) expand in India, seeking low-capital yet Grade A plug-and-play facilities. In the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, the flex office segment continued to grow, with flex space leasing rising by 22 per cent to 2.2 million square feet (msf), according to Colliers.
'I am worried that Pakistan will still feel compelled to take substantive military action beyond this apparent drone activity.' 'If so, the crisis could persist for a while more and dangerous days are still ahead.'
Indian tech sector's revenues are set to grow 5.1 per cent to $282.6 billion in FY25, and likely to climb up further to $300 billion in FY26, lobby grouping Nasscom said on Monday. The revenue growth is on the "right trajectory", the body's president Rajesh Nambiar told reporters here, pointing out to revenue growth of 4 per cent in FY24, 5.1 per cent in FY25 and the over 6.1 per cent needed to cross its expectation of crossing $300 billion in FY26.
Institutional investments in Indian real estate have seen a strong start to 2025, with inflows reaching $ 1.3 billion in the first quarter - a 31 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase. This growth was primarily driven by domestic investments, which accounted for 60 per cent of the total inflows during the quarter. With $ 0.8 billion inflows, domestic investments saw a 75 per cent annual rise and were largely focused on industrial & warehousing and office segments.
Foreign investors have made a strong comeback to Indian equities with a net investment of Rs 22,766 crore in the first two weeks of December driven by expectations of rate cut by the US Federal Reserve. This revival follows significant outflows in the preceding months, with Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) pulling out a net Rs 21,612 crore in November and a massive Rs 94,017 crore in October -- the worst monthly outflow on record.
'You must be good at using AI as a tool of learning but do not give up your own critical thinking.'
Real estate developers are hoping that the slew of tax concessions announced in Union Budget 2025, set to take effect this financial year, will spur demand for affordable and mid-segment housing, even as the broader housing market shows signs of fatigue.
'The market's sharp decline recently has shaken the confidence of retail investors, leading to increased selling.'
Exit polls conducted after the Delhi Assembly elections on February 5th predict a close race between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with the BJP potentially securing a slight advantage. The polls suggest the Congress will not make any significant gains. However, it is important to note that exit polls are projections based on voter interviews and can vary significantly from the actual results, which will be announced on February 8th.
'Presumption of innocence must guide all formal actions, but transparency must not be mistaken for pre-judgment.' 'The cruel irony, however, is that Justice Varma is a fine judge who enjoys a reputation for writing well-reasoned judgments.'
'I had no idea I would endure difficult times while making this film.'
rediffGURU Rohit Gupta, co-founder and COO of College Vidya, provides a list of competitive exams that can help you land a job in the public sector.
Microaggressions may be subtle but their impact is deep. If ignored, they can lower morale, stifle diversity and hold people back, says Shruti Swaroop.
Indo-Canadian Anita Anand and Delhi-born Kamal Khera are part of new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's cabinet. Anand is the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry while Khera is Minister of Health. Carney's cabinet with 13 men and 11 women is smaller than Trudeau's 37-member team.
From the 30-share Sensex blue-chip pack, Titan, Adani Ports, UltraTech Cement, Tata Consultancy Services, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever and JSW Steel were the biggest laggards.
The 'mediation' by the United States from behind the scene on the diplomatic track appears to be once again working, which calls on both Delhi and Islamabad to show restraint and pull back from a military confrontation, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The sharp pullback in mid and smallcap stocks signals a cooling-off period in segments that previously attracted considerable investor interest.
'We face the risk of remaining a low-income country for a very long time unless something changes in the next few years.' 'Instead of constantly talking about becoming a developed economy, we need to start fixing the problems of the economy one by one.' 'There is so much potential, and we are squandering away the opportunity.'
Chinese electric carmaker BYD is focusing on launching vehicles in the Rs 25-45 lakh price range in India even as it continues to evaluate customer preferences and demand in more affordable segments, its Head of Electric Passenger Vehicles in India Rajeev Chauhan told Business Standard.
The growth was primarily driven by domestic investments, which accounted for 60 per cent of the total inflows during the first quarter of the financial year.
'Right now, we have no relationship with Pakistan. And the relationship with China is not great.'
Asset management companies launched 239 new fund offerings (NFOs) mobilising Rs 1.18 lakh crore in 2024, with sectoral or thematic equity funds emerging as the top choice of investors, according to a report by Germinate Investor Services Research. This was higher than 212 NFOs collecting Rs 63,854 crore in 2023 and 228 NFOs garnering Rs 62,187 crore in 2022.
Most economists expect the global economy to weaken in the coming year amid political and financial volatility, but a large majority of over 90 per cent are confident of moderate or strong growth in South Asia, notably India, a survey showed on Friday. At the same time, the outlook for China has dimmed following signs of deflationary pressures and fragility in the country's real estate market, the World Economic Forum's latest 'Chief Economists Outlook' report said. As the world grapples with political and financial volatility, almost six in 10 believe the global economic outlook will undermine progress towards meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with 74 per cent saying geopolitical tensions will have the same effect.
Global trends, trading activity of foreign investors and domestic macroeconomic data announcements would dictate terms in the equity market in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said. Equity markets would remain closed on Wednesday for Gandhi Jayanti. "Looking ahead, it will be interesting to monitor Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and their flow into India.
If you're doing the work, if you're delivering results and contributing to the success of your team or organisation, you deserve to be compensated equitably, says Sonica Aron, founder of HR consultancy firm Marching Sheep.
ISRO is part of an exclusive league which has forayed into the Moon and Sun.
Shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country's largest IT services provider, continue to remain under pressure, hitting a new eight-month low of Rs 3,624.90 intraday on Tuesday before closing at Rs 3,631, down 1.19 per cent. In the past two trading sessions, the stock price has declined 4 per cent on fears of a slowing US economy.
There is no link between using a mobile phone and developing brain cancer, according to a review of studies, which was commissioned by the World Health Organization.
'As the global economy undergoes significant transformations in 2025, India's ability to navigate the complexities of trade wars, financial realignments, and emerging blocs will be pivotal,' explain Harsh V Pant and Soumya Bhowmik.
