'The trade deficit in some sectors is huge and that is an area of opportunity to localise.'
'I disagree with much of Modi's politics, but it cannot be denied that in these years in office, he has carved more than a niche for himself in history,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
IT services firm HCLTech on Monday reported a 11.2 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,076 crore in the October-December quarter of FY26.
Most first-time investors may be better served by diversified options such as flexicap or multi-cap funds, which already hold pharma and healthcare stocks.
In 2025-26, the government allocated Rs 6,81,210 crore for defence budget.
In an event-heavy week, stock investors will track quarterly earnings of several bluechip firms, the likely outcome of ongoing India-US trade talks, and inflation data for market cues, analysts said on Sunday. Moreover, global market trends and trading activity of foreign investors would also guide movement in equities, they said.
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.
Gold and silver prices are expected to maintain their upward trajectory this week, but may see late profit-booking amid the release of a series of crucial global economic indicators, analysts said. On the economic front, traders will closely monitor the manufacturing/ services PMI data from across regions and the US non-farm payrolls/ employment data along with consumer confidence for the month of September and speeches from several Federal Reserve officials, they added.
There was no smooth surge in middle class prosperity for foreign businesses to tap into because of the Indian economy was mismanaged, argues Debashis Basu.
Moving beyond digital payments, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the operator of Unified Payments Interface, is planning to add more muscle to the country's digital infrastructure by setting up a fourth subsidiary, NPCI Tech Solutions Ltd (NTSL).
Equity benchmark Sensex on Thursday plunged about 965 points to crash below the 80,000 level due to heavy selling in global equities after the US Federal Reserve signalled fewer rate cuts next year. Besides, deep losses in consumer durables, banking and IT stocks amid foreign fund outflows added to the gloom, analysts said.
The first day of the year 2026 was positive for the debt market with foreign investors buying a net domestic debt of Rs 7,524 crore, the highest single-day inflow since May 29 last year.
Equity markets will keenly track outcome of the US Federal Reserve policy meeting this week amid heightened expectations of an interest rate cut along with WPI inflation data, analysts said. Any further development on the USndia trade front would also drive trends in the equity market, experts said.
'Companies will need to revisit compensation structures, contracts, staffing models, and human resources system.'
The recent policies that have been announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will allow banks to fully use its capital, funding profile to keep business at an equilibrium level, which otherwise was getting skewed towards retail, said K V Kamath, chairman, Jio Financial Services.
The recent correction suggests that while precious metals hedge geopolitical tension and inflation, they are not immune to sharp short-term corrections and profit-booking.
The country's largest lender State Bank of India on Wednesday announced the completion of the divestment of about 13.18 per cent stake in Yes Bank to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation of Japan for Rs 8,888.97 crore. State Bank of India (SBI) has received Rs 8,888.97 crore from the acquirer Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), a Japanese multinational financial services company belonging to the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), the bank said in a regulatory filing.
India is growing fast, but to keep growing strong, the government must make more things at home, create jobs, and spend money wisely, suggests Rajiv Memani, regional managing partner, Africa-India Region, EY.
From the 30-share Sensex pack, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, HCL Technologies, Axis Bank, NTPC and HDFC Bank were among the laggards. In contrast, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, Adani Ports, ITC and UltraTech Cement defied broader market trends and ended in positive territory.
March 31 marked 10 years since the Modi government introduced its first Foreign Trade Policy (FTP 2015-20) that lasted for 8 years before the current FTP 2023 came in. Here is a brief assessment. In 2015, the government said that it aims to increase India's exports of merchandise and services from $465.9 billion in 2013-14 to approximately $900 billion by 2019-20 and to raise India's share in world exports from 2 per cent to 3.5 per cent.
Stock markets will be driven by RBI's interest rate decision, tariff-related developments, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors in this holiday-shortened week, analysts said.
Mixed views were expressed by top economists on the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) decision to hold the repo rate at 5.5% and maintain a neutral stance. While some say the decision was as expected and one more rate reduction is expected this fiscal, there is also a view that rate cut by MPC was warranted given the evolving global situation.
'We kept this Budget on a larger plank, rather than on one incident, however serious.'
Taxpayers should consider ITR-U if they omitted income, wrongly claimed deductions or exemptions, or made reporting errors that led to a shortfall in tax payment.
Wouldn't it be better to reach 45 with a backup engine of passive income that helps you glide through these years instead of grinding, asks Ramalingam Kalirajan
'We serve more than 1.2 billion trips annually and have over 1.5 million active earners each month using the platform.'
This is the first Budget in my memory of Budgets over the last half a century which has embraced upfront, enthusiastically and emphatically, technology, modernity and fiscal sobriety, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
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.
Export-led Indian IT sector is not directly hit by Trump's tariff order on goods, but there could be worrisome indirect bearings on it arising out of possible slowdown in decision-making and GDP growth in America over higher tariffs, which may then cloud demand from specific verticals, according to some analysts.
The Union Cabinet on Friday approved 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector, a move that was welcomed by industry as it would help attract more capital and global expertise, while boosting insurance coverage in the country. A bill to amend the insurance law is likely to be tabled on Monday in Parliament, whose winter session is slated to conclude on December 19.
CAG warns most states of fiscal imprudence as March spending overshoots limits, with key departments exhausting large portions of budgets in the last month of FY24.
The rupee witnessed its worst single-day decline in around two months since November 21, 2025, due to demand for dollars among importers, said dealers. The maturing short positions in the non-deliverable forwards market further weighed on the local currency.
Bengaluru is at a critical juncture, where its economic model, reliant on attracting and retaining skilled professionals, is directly threatened by a measurable decline in urban quality of life, point out Shishir Gupta and Rishita Sachdeva.
The Indian economy is likely to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2025-26, up from 6.5 per cent in the previous fiscal, mainly on account of better performance of manufacturing and services sectors, as per the government data released on Wednesday.
Jio Financial Services, the demerged financial services unit of Reliance Industries, will be listed on bourses on August 21, according to an exchange notification. Jio Financial Services Ltd (JFSL) demerged from Reliance last month and is currently listed under a dummy ticker after its price discovery at Rs 261.85 but there is no trading happening in the scrip. The listing on BSE and NSE has been scheduled a day before FTSE Russell plans to drop JFSL from its indices.
Recent developments - proposed changes to the goods and services tax (GST) rates and S&P Global Ratings' upgrade of India's long-term sovereign credit rating to BBB, with a stable outlook, - may not be enough to bring foreign investors back to Indian markets in a rush, feel analysts.
Among Sensex firms, Hindustan Unilever dropped the most by 3.20 per cent. UltraTech Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Adani Ports, Titan, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were also among the laggards. However, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Bharat Electronics and Sun Pharma were among the gainers.
Fitch Ratings on Thursday raised India's GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7.4 per cent, from 6.9 per cent, on increased consumer spending and improved sentiment boosted by GST reforms.
As of January 2026, the number of active job openings stood at 103,000, down 24 per cent from 136,000 in the same period last year.
From Sensex shares, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, ITC, Power Grid, NTPC and Reliance Industries were the major laggards. Among the gainers, Bajaj Finance jumped over 5 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel and Maruti also ended higher.
