Stock markets closed higher for the second straight session on Tuesday, driven by gains in bank, IT and capital goods shares.
Investors are moving away from the commercial paper (CP) market towards certificates of deposit (CDs), as primary CD issuances and rates on these short-term instruments rise.
Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed on a flat note in a choppy session on Wednesday as gains in PSU banks and auto shares were offset by losses in IT stocks.
The selloff in domestic information technology stocks intensified on Friday, with the Nifty IT index sliding as much as 5.2 per cent during the session before paring losses to close 1.44 per cent lower.
Among the Sensex firms, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra, Adani Ports, HCL Technologies, Eternal, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever and UltraTech Cement were the gainers. Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Kotak Mahindra Bank, PowerGrid and Tata Steel were among the laggards.
Retail investors' equity portfolios have significantly underperformed benchmark indices over the past 16 to 18 months.
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled more than 1 per cent on Friday due to across-the-board selloff, especially in metal, IT and commodity stocks, tracking sluggish global markets.
Jefferies has downgraded Indian information technology (IT) companies Infosys, HCLTech, and Mphasis to "hold"; LTI MindTree, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Hexaware to "underperform", citing artificial intelligence (AI)-related concerns. Coforge, Sagility and IKS, however, still remain its top picks.
The seventh edition of Bengaluru GAFX, a major AVGC-XR conference and exhibition, will be held from February 27, showcasing advancements in animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, and extended reality.
FPIs net sold equities worth Rs 1.7 trillion in 2025 -- the highest annual net sale on record.
Nearly two-thirds of external commercial borrowings (ECBs) raised so far in the ongoing financial year (2025-26/FY26) have been routed through Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), a sharp jump from the 36 per cent recorded in 2024-25.
The proposals outlined in Budget 2026-27 represent a carefully crafted, multi-year strategy designed to strengthen India's big bets on the path to Viksit Bharat 2047, says Sameer Gupta.
Capex, infrastructure development, and prudent fiscal management are the key focus areas in the Budget, says Nilesh Shah.
Foreign investors have remained cautious ahead of the Union Budget amid expectations of limited policy changes.
Market sentiment is likely to remain cautious as investors position themselves for the upcoming Union Budget and the US Fed's interest rate decision, where expectations are muted.
Trade deals ease risks for Indian equities, but weak demand and stretched valuations raise questions over whether optimism -- especially in smallcaps -- can turn into a sustained bull run, points out Debashis Basu.
Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended marginally higher on Wednesday as a sharp decline in IT blue-chip stocks restricted the rally in the markets.
The Budget emerges as a measured, credible and forward-looking policy document that reinforces India's commitment to remaining a stable, reform-oriented economy amid an increasingly fragmented global landscape, says A Balasubramanian.
'Global uncertainty is something which definitely occupies the minds of officials when we are preparing for the Budget.'
Country's startups are carving a unique path by prioritising local, application-led innovation over the global pursuit of scale.
Ask rediffGURU Reetika Sharma your insurance, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has topped the Perpetual Capital Hurun India Impact 50 - 2026 list with 53.9 points (on the scale of 0-100), reflecting a strong performance across key sustainable development goals (SDGs), including climate, water, circularity, gender and biodiversity.
Indian artificial intelligence (AI) startup Sarvam launched two indigenous large language models (LLMs) specifically trained on Indian languages on Wednesday.
From the 30-Sensex firms, Tata Consultancy Services, Asian Paints, Maruti, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank and Larsen & Toubro were among the biggest laggards. On the other hand, Tata Steel, NTPC, Axis Bank and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers.
India may adopt a "calibrated" and a "step-by-step" approach to easing norms on investments originating from China, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. He was in a conversation with A K Bhattacharya on Day 1 of Business Standard's two-day annual event, Manthan 2026. The minister said foreign direct investment (FDI) from China was certainly not "banned", but it goes through an approval process. "The government's approach at the moment is to accelerate the approval process."
Sebi is working with other regulators to expand the CAS framework.
Macroeconomic data announcements, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors would be major driving factors for market movement this week, analysts said. Unabated capital infusion by domestic institutional investors have supported the positive trend in the stock market last week, traders said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is seeking an expedited trial against Congress leader P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis and INX Media money laundering cases, having submitted the required prosecution sanction to the court.
'Instant home services act as an on-demand household support system, bridging the gap between informal domestic help and structured service platforms,'
This Budget positions India's taxation ideology as not merely a revenue source but as a strategic catalyst for growth, inclusion and long-term confidence.
Investors and startup executives are calling for extending the period for an entity to be recognised as a startup from 10 to 15 years for deep-tech companies.
Gold prices are likely to trade firm next week as traders await key economic data, including US inflation numbers, for fresh cues on interest rate outlook, while silver may remain volatile amid shifting risk sentiment and speculative activity, analysts said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is promoting India as a global hub for digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence, highlighting the government's incentives for data center investments and inviting the world's data to reside in India.
ICICI Bank, Eternal, Titan, Adani Ports, Tata Consultancy Services and UltraTech Cement were also among the laggards. However, InterGlobe Aviation, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever and Bajaj Finance were among the gainers.
'Investors who remain calm, consistent, and disciplined through short-term volatility are usually the ones who benefit most in the long run.'
Shares of brokerage-related companies nosedived 18 per cent on Sunday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed raising securities transaction tax on commodity futures to 0.05 per cent from 0.02 per cent in the Union Budget 2026-27.
'Today, we are at a stage where we have launched a voice-to-voice model that supports 14 Indian languages.'
'Given that India underperformed emerging markets by 28 per cent in 2025, the worst performance in over 30 years, the timing of the sharp STT hike could have been better.'
India's computer services exports have risen 30 per cent since the advent of ChatGPT in November 2022, even as overall services exports have plateaued, World Bank's South Asia Chief Economist Franziska Ohnsorge said, terming Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the conclusion of more trade agreements that can trigger a "manufacturing renaissance", as the two big investment opportunities for India in coming years.
Cognizant reported a significant increase in net income for the December quarter, driven by AI efficiencies and strong performance in the financial services sector. The company also announced a major deal and provided guidance for the upcoming year.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances