After two years of strong gains, smallcap stocks fell sharply in 2025, but the correction may be setting up opportunities for long-term investors.
Jharkhand and Haryana together accounted for over 40 per cent of such cases.
The average daily turnover (ADTV) in the derivatives market rose to a 12-month high in October, touching 506 trillion - up nearly 46 per cent since June - as volatility picked up and concerns over further regulatory tightening eased. Derivatives activity had slumped earlier this year after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) capped weekly expiries to two days and discontinued weekly contracts on non-benchmark indices.
Trading sentiment in the equity market will largely be driven by domestic corporate quarterly earnings, any update related to US tariffs and foreign fund movements this week, analysts said. Investors would also focus on world market trends, movement of global oil benchmark Brent crude and the rupee-dollar trend for further cues, experts noted.
The US has postponed thousands of H-1B visa interviews in India, citing enhanced vetting measures including scrutiny of social media profiles. The delays are impacting applicants who were scheduled for interviews from December 15 onwards, with new dates being pushed back by several months.
India's crude oil imports from Russia strengthened in the first half of October, reversing a three-month slide in arrivals seen during July-September as refineries were back on full stream to meet festive demand, according to ship tracking data.
Ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) monetary policy review in the first week of December, major public sector non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) - the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi), Power Finance Corporation (PFC), and Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) - plan to raise up to Rs 24,000 crore together through bond issuancesk.
The implication of April 2 reciprocal tariffs on global trade, trends in overseas markets and trading activity of foreign investors would dictate equity investors' sentiment in a holiday-shortened week ahead, according to analysts. Stock markets would remain closed on Monday for Eid-Ul-Fitr.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday announced a fresh round of liquidity measures through open-market operations (OMOs) and a foreign exchange buy-sell swap, under which it will inject close to Rs 3 trillion into the banking system. The central bank said it would purchase Government of India securities worth Rs 2 trillion through OMOs, spread across four tranches of Rs 50,000 crore each to be conducted on December 29, January 5, January 12 and January 22.
As the rupee remains under pressure due to several headwinds and the uncertainty around the India-US trade deal, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been stepping in only to calm volatility, not to stop the fall.
'A deal will only be possible if India stops buying Russian oil -- but even then, New Delhi must not compromise its core red lines.'
India's crude oil imports from Russia saw a marginal decline in September, but continued to account for over one-third of the country's total oil purchases, despite US pressure to curb the trade over concerns that it supports Moscow's war effort in Ukraine. India's crude imports in September were around 4.7 million barrels per day, up 220,000 bpd month-on-month and flat year-on-year.
Stock markets will be driven by further developments on the US-China tariff war front along with quarterly earnings announcements from IT majors Wipro and Infosys in a holiday-shortened week, analysts said. Global market trends and trading activity of foreign investors would also dictate market movement this week, experts noted.
In an eventful week ahead, stock markets may face volatile trends before the RBI's interest rate decision and the US inflation data announcements, as investors continue to assess the broader implications of US tariffs on global economy and inflation, analysts said. Investors fear that a full-blown trade war will impact global trade and economic growth, according to market experts.
Global trends, trading activity of foreign investors and news flow on tariffs are expected to influence movement in the equity market in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said. Equity markets would remain closed on Wednesday for 'Mahashivratri'.
India's $280-billion IT industry heads into 2026, balancing visa-related headwinds and global trade uncertainty against its biggest-ever push into artificial intelligence and the rapid expansion of global capability centres (GCCs). Heightened scrutiny of the US H-1B visa programme - including a proposed $100,000 fee for new visas and concerns over a potential 25 per cent outsourcing tax - has complicated cross-border delivery for Indian firms, even as companies accelerate efforts to reduce reliance on onsite staffing.
Sanctioning Russian oil would have led to a sharp surge in oil prices to above $80 per barrel levels, which would impact pump prices in the US ahead of midterm elections next year.
A 30-year-old man in West Bengal's Howrah district died allegedly by suicide on Tuesday, as he was reportedly distressed over errors in his identity document amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a police officer said.
Global emerging market investors are sharply cutting back on India, making it the largest underweight market, as funds rotate into China, Hong Kong, and South Korea amid tariff shocks and valuation concerns.
India's labour market in the second quarter (July-September/Q2) of 2025-26 (FY26) showed resilience, with the jobless rate easing even as more people entered the workforce. However, a rise in youth unemployment and a fall in the share of salaried workers remain areas of concern.
Global trends, macroeconomic announcements and US tariff developments are expected to drive stock markets in a holiday-shortened week, analysts said. Market participants will also closely track foreign investor activity, geopolitical tensions, and their impact on the US dollar and crude oil prices, they added.
India's forex reserves increased by $5.17 billion to $696.65 billion for the week ended June 6, the RBI said on Friday. The overall reserves had dropped by $1.24 billion to $691.49 billion for the week ended May 30.
Investors would track a host of macroeconomic data announcements scheduled this week, including inflation numbers, and also monitor global market trends, and trading activity of foreign institutional investors, analysts said. The ongoing quarterly earnings announcements and the rupee-dollar trend would also influence the markets.
'From every point of view, they have faced an extremely difficult couple of years, and the setback they have suffered is irreversible.' 'This reality has begun to set in even amongst the top-level cadres. That is why, in recent times, we have witnessed a huge number of senior-level cadres emerging from the jungle and deciding to renounce violence and join the mainstream.'
Market experts say India's IPO ecosystem has matured to support both primary and secondary issuance, rendering the mix less consequential.
With the rise of digital classrooms, students are often asked to create videos, prepare slideshows or use online research to complete assignments. 'We are glad that children are not spending hours copying notes in the name of homework but even now parents end up doing or supporting a major portion of the homework.'
The equity benchmark indices posted their strongest weekly gains in years, driven by bargain hunting and optimism over a reversal in foreign portfolio investor (FPI) outflows. The Sensex rose 558 points, or 0.7 per cent, on Friday to close at 76,906, while the Nifty 50 gained 160 points to end at 23,350. Over the past five sessions, both indices advanced around 4.3 per cent - marking the Sensex's best weekly performance since July 22, 2022, and the Nifty 50's strongest rally since February 5, 2021.
'Things may get much worse before they get better,' predicts Ajay Chhibber.
'When you finally hold that red bag with your personalised Onitsukas inside, it feels like ticking off a very satisfying item on your travel checklist,' discovers Mayur Sanap after visiting Onitsuka Tiger's famous Red Concept store in Tokyo.
The US is "pretty close" to reaching a "fair trade deal" with India, President Donald Trump has said, adding that he will lower the tariffs imposed on Indian goods at "some point".
A US bankruptcy court has reversed a $1 billion damages ruling against Byju Raveendran, according to a statement from the founders of Think and Learn Pvt Ltd - the parent firm of ed-tech platform Byju's.
Zomato was not just recovering, it was rebuilding and reinventing, showing signs of maturing as a business. Chaos had been turned into momentum. A fascinating excerpt from Megha Vishwanath's book, UNSEEN: The Untold Story of Deepinder Goyal And The Making Of Zomato.
'Calibrated depreciation will help rebalance external fundamentals, offset some of the tariff differentials with competitors, improve the competitiveness of domestic substitutes vis-a-vis Chinese imports, and contribute to the easing of financial conditions at a time when the inflation rate is unusually low,' explains Sajjid Z Chinoy, head of Asia Economics at JP Morgan.
OpenAI will provide 500,000 free ChatGPT licences for six months to students and teachers across government schools from classes 1 to 12, engineering and technical institutes, as well as K-12 educators.
India has revised its proposal to impose retaliatory duties under the WTO (World Trade Organisation) norms against the US over American tariffs on steel and aluminium in view of the further hike in duty by the Trump administration. The US first imposed 25 per cent tariffs on imports of aluminium, steel and derivative articles on March 12.
Indian equity benchmarks rose nearly 2 per cent on Thursday, capping a truncated trading week with their strongest weekly performance in over four years. The rally was sparked by renewed risk-on sentiment following progress in trade negotiations and expanded tariff exemptions.
'Are there other ways to reduce the energy airconditioners consume?' asks Ambi Parameswaran.
'The aim is to have curated datasets that create cultural and historical nuances that help us make our models understand these better.'
'We are seeing a lot of people with helmets visiting our showrooms.'
The technology major confirmed that a 'low single-digit percentage' of its 270,000 employees would be affected in the fourth quarter of 2025.
