'Markets are likely to remain choppy for the next 6 months.'
The corona-fuelled lockdown having shattered their dreams, they are now walking, cycling and hitchhiking hundreds of miles under an unforgiving sun blazing down at over 40 degrees to reach their homes in an impoverished Bihar, where an uncertain future awaits them.
Around 15 years ago, when Reliance Industries (RIL) struck natural gas in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin off the east coast, the government made plans to supply that fuel cheaply to scores of generators that sprang up in India triggered by the discovery. Most of the plants, which account for 6 per cent of India's total generation capacity, operate sparsely after the KG-D6 area first failed to meet production targets, and then finally shut shop. Affordable domestic gas was why those thermal plants came up and the rate of the fuel today is why those generators hardly operate. Record liquefied natural gas (LNG) rates may yet again unravel India's ambitions to expand use of gas in industries, households and vehicles. Rates, while volatile, may stay strong this decade as developed nations with higher purchasing power embrace gas as the transition fuel.
'The market won't wait for earnings to recover.'
The elections held in April-May 2019 will be an important determinant of future growth and investment.
'The news about the new virus strain in the UK provided them with an opportunity to take money off the table.'
'The first year of the Modi government's second term has laid the roadmap for the future and we will embark on it with gusto,' promises Gopal Krishna Agrawal, the BJP's national spokesperson on economic affairs.
From Network18 perspective, this helps reduce dependence on ads and helps especially in times of slower GDP growth.
Together, the top 10 business groups reported a pre-tax loss of Rs 19,342 crore during the January-March 2020 quarter, as against a profit before tax of around Rs 48,500 crore in the year-ago period and Rs 39,600 crore during the December quarter. While Vedanta was the worst hit. others included Aditya Birla, Bharti, Adani, Mahindra, and Tata.
'The IPO window has been more or less open since the new government in 2014.'
Chetan Bhagat emerges as India's best-selling author of 2015.
'The government must provide more funds to enable the armed forces to fight and win tomorrow's wars,' states Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Is anyone in the BJP listening -- to what Nitin Gadkari had to say, but possibly left unsaid? asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
What's hot? What's not? What's next? C P Gurnani shares his highlights of the World Economic Forum Annual Summit in Davos.
'We are very watchful about inflation and growth. But the main challenge is economic revival and growth.'
It, however, was a record-smashing week for both the indices, which scaled their lifetime highs.
Total net debt-equity ratio improves for third consecutive year, while investment in new projects hits a 10-year low, says Krishna Kant.
Bullion traders said a weakening trend in global markets, as the dollar's strength eroded demand, mainly put pressure on the precious metal.
'For those looking at forward-looking signals for the economy from the stock markets, the relative performance of small and mid-caps may be a better indicator of the future than the index levels of the narrower and more popular indices', says Neelkanth Mishra.
The Kerala chief minister's four years in office may well be remembered for the way he handled Cyclone Ockhi, two floods, Nipah, and now COVID-19, reports Shine Jacob.
The chief minister still has time to repair the damage but he will have to act all-round, both at the government and party levels, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Not only is gold a hedge against currency depreciation, rising crude prices and uncertainty, it is up 7 per cent (in dollar terms) in the past 12 months, says Devangshu Datta.
Unless each attack drone can be neutralised, India will be literally deploying elephants to stamp out ants -- and the ants may still survive! points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Historically, the RBI has tried to keep the crooks at bay by issuing a circular a day. What it needs is more onsite supervision. Merely checking high-frequency data with the help of technology is insufficient, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Invest in stocks of export-oriented and capital-intensive companies, says Devangshu Datta.
In the decade since Biyani revolutionised retailing in India, he has attempted a number of things, eventually exiting a few of them.
Jaishankar noted that it would be difficult to say what will happen in the future as there are a lot of "contradictions and frictions" out there today.
'These trends put at risk not only minorities or the media or some other out-of-favour group, they can and do concern everyone,' warns T N Ninan.
In the case of Indian equities specifically, all eyes will now be on the next RBI monetary policy scheduled for September 29.
In the midst of huge job losses as a fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has signed 17 MoUs for an investment of Rs 15,100 crores that aim to provide 47,100 jobs. But a clearer picture on where the projects stand will emerge only after the Covid-19 induced fear psychosis ends, to see if popular protests will derail them like they have done so many others, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Long-term retail investors should not worry about these sharp dips and jumps if they have chosen their stocks wisely.' 'Short-term volatility is a given and a rise and fall of two-three per cent should not worry them.'
Some traders make a reasonable living playing the day-trading game.
The combined weight of IT companies in the benchmark Nifty 50 index is now at a five-year high of 15 per cent as these companies continue to outperform the broader market.
The 50-share NSE Nifty ended at 9,143.80, up 43 points, or 0.47 per cent, after moving between 9,153.15 and 9,109.10.
The fall was led by L&T, IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid, NTPC, TCS, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Bharti Airtel and SBI, declining up to 2.64 per cent.
Investors remained cautious in the face of the expiry of November series contracts in the derivatives segment, which also dampened sentiment.
Listening -- really listening -- to advisers in the government and outside would help. India has plenty of wise economists who have worked within the bureaucracy during previous crises, points out Rahul Jacob.
The only Indian university in THE world rankings this year.
