If you already hold significant amounts of equity in your portfolio, avoid MAAFs with over 60 per cent equity. But if you lack equity exposure, an aggressive MAAF may be appropriate.
Terming investment in infrastructure "quintessential" to boost growth, the Economic Survey on Friday said post unlocking of the economy, infra sectors are poised for growth and construction of roads is expected to return to the high pace attained before COVID-19. The infrastructure sector will be the key to overall economic growth and macroeconomic stability, the Survey said emphasising that the year after the crisis (2021-22) will require sustained and calibrated measures to facilitate the process of economic recovery and enable the economy to get back on its long-term growth trajectory. "Basic infrastructure facilities in the country provide the foundation of growth. In the absence of adequate infrastructure, the economy operates at a suboptimal level and remains distant from its potential and frontier growth trajectory.
SBI Cards and Payment Services reported numbers that met Street expectations in the first quarter of the 2023-24 financial year (Q1FY24). The net profit came in at Rs 590 crore, while pre-provision operating profit grew 17 per cent year-on-year (YoY) (a little better than expectations). But provisions were hiked due to surprise stress from pre-Covid-19 period of 2018-19, and that dragged earnings.
'This was earlier driven by industries and the commercial sector.'
Drug sale volumes are almost stuck at pre-pandemic levels but price growth has improved value, data from market research agency Pharmarack AWACS showed. The Indian pharmaceutical market's (IPM) volumes in April 2023 grew by 0.21 per cent when compared to April 2019. Key therapy areas like cardiac, anti-diabetic and vitamins recorded negative volume or consumption growth, while respiratory, anti-infectives, and pain and analgesics had positive growth from April 2019 to April this year.
FDs are not advisable for long-term wealth creation as their post-inflation, post-tax returns are not very attractive.
The stock of Voltas, the country's largest room air- conditioner (RAC) maker, is up 22 per cent in the past three months. Robust demand on the back of a sweltering summer, distribution expansion, slew of launches and backward integration are expected to forge a good operating performance for the company. In the core RAC segment, there are multiple triggers for the company.
'Investors with foreign currency-denominated goals, such as foreign education or foreign travel, should go for US equity funds.'
Increased participation should be our goal in new Olympic cycle: Chef de Mission Gagan Narang
L&T surprised on the upside of consensus due to stronger-than-expected growth overseas. The Q1FY25 results were ahead of estimates on both revenue and net profit fronts. The company reported a 15 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in revenues along with 15 per cent Y-o-Y growth in operating profit and 12 per cent Y-o-Y growth in net profit on consolidated basis.
Bahrain will host a Formula One Grand Prix until well into the next decade after announcing a long term contract extension on Monday, organisers said.
The Reserve Bank is unlikely to ease the benchmark policy rate during 2024 given the uncertainty over food inflation, State Bank of India (SBI) chairman C S Setty has said. The US Federal Reserve's first cut in interest rates in more than four years is expected soon, triggering central banks in other economies to follow suit. "On the rate front, a lot of central banks are taking independent calls.
The market price action seems to point in this direction. Let's hope we finally break out. It is about time! asserts Akash Prakash.
Notwithstanding the recent sharp decline in the stocks of public sector companies, analysts at Jefferies remain bullish on this segment. State Bank of India, Coal India, and NTPC are their top picks in this space, they said in a recent note. The public sector undertaking (PSU) or state-owned enterprise (SOE) index, with a 70-percentage-point outperformance versus the National Stock Exchange Nifty50 over the past 12 months, comes after a decade of underperformance before 2020.
'In terms of incentives, if you think about it, hybrids are a 20-year-old technology.'
'We are sure FY25 is going to be better...But to call out that all problems are behind us is a bit early.' 'The underlying business sentiment has not changed significantly.'
MMFS is looking at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18 per cent in assets under management (AUM) during FY23 to FY26 on the back of the strong recovery. The company has initiated risk-mitigating initiatives, including diversification into non-vehicle loans, building digital capacity and re-classification of customer profiles into affluent and mass-affluent in semi-urban segments to better target marketing.
'A lot of players such as Maruti and Hyundai are entering the market in the first and the second quarters of 2025.'
State Bank of India chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara has pitched for tax relief on interest income, saying it would help banks to garner savings that could be used for funding long-term infra projects. Currently, banks are required to deduct tax when interest income from deposits held in all the bank branches put together is more than Rs 40,000 in a year. With regard to savings accounts, interest earned up to Rs 10,000 is exempt from tax.
India's biggest non-bank finance company, Bajaj Finance (BAF), is set to raise capital after a gap of four years. On October 5, the board of directors will meet to approve the fund raise by way of preferential issue and/or qualified institutional placement (QIP) subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. The move, analysts said, comes ahead of expectations, and could be in the wake of simmering competition in the consumer lending space, especially with the launch of Jio Financial Services (Jio Fin). "While we still do not have finer details on the game-plan of Jio Financial, it has plans to initially foray into consumer and merchant lending.
India's economy continues to be robust, but downside risks such as rising crude oil prices, adverse weather conditions, and the global banking crisis outweigh the upside potential in gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the current financial year (FY24), the finance ministry said on Tuesday in its Monthly Economic Review for March. "We reiterate that downside risks to our official forecast of 6.5 per cent for real GDP growth in FY24 dominate upside risks," the review said. "Opec's surprise production cut has seen oil prices rise in April, off their lows of low-seventies per barrel in March.
'If the portfolio growth rate is higher, take this loan. If it is lower, liquidate your investments.'
With an expected earnings growth of 15 per cent, benchmark index Nifty 50 may hit 24,500 level by December 2024 and move further to surpass the level of 26,500 by December 2025, Emkay Investment Managers said on Tuesday. The 50-share Nifty settled at 22,888.15 on Tuesday. In the previous day, it hit a new lifetime peak of 23,110.80.
India's economy could prove to be the "most resilient" in the subregion of South and South-West Asia over the long term, according to a report by the UN, which says a positive but lower economic growth post COVID-19 pandemic and the country's large market will continue to attract investments. The report titled 'Foreign Direct Investment Trends And Outlook In Asia And The Pacific 2020/2021', and compiled by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), stated that inward FDI flows to South and South-West Asia slightly decreased by 2 per cent in 2019, from $67 billion in 2018 to $66 billion in 2019. The growth, however, was mainly driven by India, which accounted for 77 per cent of the total inflows to the subregion and received $51 billion in 2019, up 20 per cent from the previous year.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Nitin Narkhede your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
Start with 20 to 30 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio -- like brisk walking, cycling, or jogging -- three to five times per week to increase calorie burn, says rediffGURU Dr Shakeeb Ahmed Khan.
Titan posted better than expected revenue growth in the March quarter of the financial year 2022-23 (Q4FY23), powered by strong demand trends in the jewellery and watch segment. Standalone jewellery sales for the firm were up 24 per cent year-on-year (YoY) on a slightly lower base and aided by like-to-like growth of 19 per cent. The company highlighted that new buyer growth was at 15 per cent while average ticket size was up 8 per cent.
'Volumes in F&O trading had gone up rapidly and, in a way, the increase in STT on F&O will protect investor interest.'
HDFC Bank's January-March quarter result, which came in-line with expectations, failed to enthuse investors. The reason? The management's decision to abstain from providing any specific growth guidance, and analysts' expectations of an arduous road to recovery. Analysts believe the path to normalisation of several growth metrics is unlikely to be a straightforward one, and the road to balance sheet realignment may be long.
From its lows over the past month, the stock of footwear major Campus Activewear gained 13 per cent to Rs 280.4 a share. The gains came on the back of better than expected operating profit margins in Q4, reduction of debt and expectations of market share improvement. The company expects volume growth, which has thus far missed expectations, to recover going ahead on the back of multiple triggers.
The stock of United Spirits, the country's largest liquor company by market capitalisation (mcap), has gained 11 per cent over the past week on double-digit growth guidance, rising premiumisation trend, operationally in-line performance in the March (Q4FY24) quarter and a rally in consumer stocks. The revenue growth of the company came in at 7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) mirroring the growth of the prestige and above (P&A) segment. This segment comprising premium brands accounts for 88 per cent of the revenues.
Despite the rally in equities over the last few years, India, according to Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, is still in early stages of an equity cult. Any changes to the capital gains tax for equities - both long-term and short-term - in Budget 2024 scheduled to be announced on July 23, he believes, can trigger a bigger correction that what the markets witnessed post the Lok Sabha election outcome on June 4 that saw the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lose majority, though it was able to form the government with the help of coalition partners.
Air India on Tuesday signed agreements with Airbus and Boeing for acquiring 470 planes for an estimated $70 billion at list prices. The Tata Group-owned airline had announced that it will buy 470 aircraft, including wide-body planes, in February this year. The "firm orders include 34 A350-1000, 6 A350-900, 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 10 Boeing 777X widebody aircraft, as well as 140 Airbus A320neo, 70 Airbus A321neo and 190 Boeing 737MAX narrow-body aircraft," the airline said in a release.
Investors keen on mid and smallcap stocks but wary of volatility should consider multicap equity schemes over standalone midcap or smallcap schemes.
In addition to interest rates, review the fine print for penalties and repayment terms, and select a reputable lender to avoid harsh recovery practices.
Road awards were muted in Q1FY25. But the pace will accelerate with a bidding pipeline of Rs 1.1 trillion (September 2024), mostly dominated by HAM (Hybrid Annuity Model) projects, which contribute 47 per cent and engineering procurement and construction or EPC projects, which have about 36 per cent share. Hence, infrastructure companies mostly reported revenue decline on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis in Q1FY25.
The management of Tata Communications presented its product-to-platform strategy and explained how it hopes to grow its new products and portfolios, and geographies. The management targets doubling of data revenue by FY27 to ~28,000 crore (implied 18 per cent annual revenue growth). The DPS (Digital Platform & Services) segment is likely to contribute over 60 per cent of data revenue.
'Opportunity is there in each segment of the market. There is opportunity in affordable and specifically governed by government initiatives as well as for housing for all.'
Electric two-wheeler company Ola Electric Mobility will float its initial public offering (IPO) on August 2, and a significant part of the proceeds will be used for capacity expansion of its cell manufacturing plant and revving up R&D. The initial share sale will conclude on August 6, and the bidding for anchor investors will open for a day on August 1, according to the red herring prospectus (RHP).
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