Nikhil Agarwal

​​Corporate earnings for Q2FY25 saw broad-based earnings pressure driven by weak commodity sector, slowing consumption and cracks in domestic cyclicals such as Autos and Bank. We expect higher economic activity in the second half FY 2025 through tailwinds to rural demand and public investments. The services sector continues to be a major contributor to India's GDP and has seen record hiring and strong demand, with the Services PMIs in sharp expansionary zone.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have reversed course, pouring $3 billion into Indian stocks this December after selling $2.5 billion in November. This buying spree, fueled by optimism about government spending and corporate earnings, has propelled the Nifty up 2% and sparked hopes of a Santa rally to record highs.

High-net-worth individuals (HNIs) saw impressive returns of up to 8.5% in November through PMS schemes, outperforming the flattish market. Valcreate's IME Digital Disruption Fund led the gains, while some star fund managers experienced mixed results. Market rebounded from November lows on hopes of government spending boosting the economy and earnings slowdown bottoming out.

On Friday the 13th, the Sensex plunged over 1,200 points and Nifty dropped below 24,200, but both indices later recovered. Despite the superstition around this date, market data shows it doesnt hold true in India. Since 2000, Nifty ended in the red in only 46% of the 41 Friday the 13th sessions, with an average gain of 0.35%.

Nifty and Sensex managed to sustain positive momentum for the fourth consecutive week by recording a weekly gain of 0.5% amid consolidation.

While the downsides at open were expected given the direction of the previous days' trend, the upswing thereof found support from the fact that the sluggishness had persisted through the week without major news break setting up conditions for mean reversion move.

Fund manager Saurabh Mukherjea added Ahluwalia Contracts and Clean Science & Technology to his portfolios, citing growth opportunities. He exited Eureka Forbes after a 30% profit in nine months due to increased competition and limited future returns. His Little Champs and Rising Giants portfolios have seen strong performance in FY25, attributed to improved earnings and strategic portfolio adjustments.

The US Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points, a move largely priced in by the market. Investors are watching for signals about future cuts, with predictions varying from one to three in 2025.

Synopsis Kolkata-based diversified conglomerate ITC announced on Tuesday that the demerger of ITC Hotels will take effect from January 1, 2025, as all necessary approvals have been obtained.

A More Effective Safety Net, Not A Basic Income, Will Help Lift People Out of Poverty Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal December 2024 2024 was a good year for proponents of a universal basic income (UBI). Following the 2019 experiment in Stockton, UBI pilot programs are underway across cities in California including Fresno and Sacramento. […]