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Three stocks to trade, recommended by NeoTrader’s Raja Venkatraman:DABUR(Cmp ₹522.60)DABUR: Buy above ₹525, stop ₹507 target ₹580 (Multiday)RRKABEL (Cmp ₹1510.50)RRKABEL:Buy above ₹1515, stop ₹1470 target ₹1615 (Multiday)PAYTM(Cmp ₹1340.60)PAYTM: Buy above ₹1340, stop ₹1315 target ₹1385 (Intraday)Stock Market RecapIndian equity markets closed on a strong note on Monday, buoyed by firm global cues and robust buying in banking and metal counters. The Sensex advanced 573.41 points, or 0.67 percent, to settle at 85,762.01 after touching an intraday high of 85,812.27.

tax hike on cigarettes.Globally, Indian equities lagged their East Asian peers, with the South Korean and Taiwanese markets outperforming sharply, posting weekly gains of about 4% and 3%, respectively. The divergence was driven largely by valuation-led sector rotation and strong rallies in technology and semiconductor stocks in those markets, where India has limited representation, said Robin Arya, founder of GoalFi, a Securities and Exchange Board of India-registered corporate research analysis firm.

The impact of Trump 2.0: The year saw a stark turn in US engagement, with Trump’s approach to the Indo-Pacific characterized by unpredictability at best and rent-seeking at worst.The recently-released US National Security Strategy was emblematic of this ambiguity, prioritizing quid pro quo ties over legacy commitments and the use of muscular rhetoric while offering little doctrinal clarity.This has sent out mixed signals on China, as its deterrence rhetoric coexists with policy fuzziness and even deference in some parts, with US partners struggling to identify US thresholds for action, particularly on high-stakes issues such as Taiwan.Despite the rhetorical turbulence emanating from Washington, alliance architectures did not collapse, although they didn’t sprint forward either.Traditional security partnerships with Japan, Australia, South Korea and the Philippines have endured amid a sobering realization of the magnitude of US capabilities, particularly vis-à-vis strategic concerns about China.Nonetheless, the pace and predictability of strategic cooperation have waned, which is telling in the context of a tenuous regional landscape.Hence, although formal alliances will continue to matter, their political meaning has shifted, with partner countries less willing now to outsource strategy entirely to Washington and more inclined to shape outcomes independently, reflecting a post-‘hub-and-spokes complacency’ mindset.Similarly, multilateral formats like the Quad persisted and adapted, but the coherence of their agenda often reflected leadership from partners as much as from Washington.Initiatives such as maritime domain awareness and cooperation on critical minerals, for example, were driven more on the ground by Canberra,

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected] Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex are among the worst performers globally, even as markets elsewhere surge: South Korea’s Kospi leads with 67.5% gains in 2025 so far, followed by Brazil at 31.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng at 28%.Indian equities trailing global peers this year has prompted investors to ask whether this is a passing phase or a deeper trend.

Even in a tough year, the Nifty has delivered 7–8% returns, Systematic Investment Plan flows remain strong, and this phase has been more of a time correction than a price correction, said Sunil Singhania, founder of Abakkus Asset Manager. As economic recovery gains pace, he is more optimistic about 2026 and 2027.While some markets, such as South Korea, have posted 60–70% gains in 2025, these gains reflect a catch-up after years of flat returns and are driven by just a handful of tech and AI stocks, making them vulnerable if the AI trade cools.

US-India trade deal have emerged as a key disappointment for investors, he added.Sectoral trends were mixed, with selective profit-taking visible across most segments. Metals emerged as the week’s standout performer, gaining 2.3%, aided by recent gains in copper and zinc, Vijayakumar said.

Samsung’s India research & development (R&D) arm is the company’s most influential engineering team outside of its global headquarters in South Korea and alongside the US, a top company executive told Mint on Tuesday.According to Jong Bum Park, president and chief executive of Samsung Southwest Asia, Samsung’s India engineering operations account for the core development process of its second-largest revenue generator—smartphones. In fiscal year 2024 (FY24), Samsung generated $219 billion in revenue globally—of which 38% came from smartphones.The company’s semiconductor division, largely based out of the US and Korea, is its highest revenue generator.“The entire camera unit and its software for our flagship smartphones were developed and engineered entirely in India,” said Park in an interview.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Chennai/Kochi: The divergence is stark. Both Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries were established the same year—1972.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. FRANKFURT—Across Germany, railcar factories are being retooled to build military vehicles, auto suppliers are joining with defense contractors, and former soldiers are suddenly hot commodities in the jobs market. After Berlin pledged to spend more than half a trillion dollars on defense in the next decade, manufacturers facing stubborn economic stagnation and falling exports to the U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Bearish forces have been unrelenting and the trends are unable to stage any recovery despite the best intentions. With the trends remaining challenged the road ahead is fraught with uncertainty.

As we approach the end of 2025, there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel on India-US relations, which started on a strong note amid the promise of Trump 2.0 but gave way to strained ties over claims of US mediating between India and Pakistan, Washington’s sudden fondness for India’s neighbour and its newly minted Field Marshall Asim Munir, and punitive levies on India for buying discounted oil from Russia.Trump, who has given himself the title of the ‘Peace President’, has been the major disruptor in 2025 – whether in geopolitics or geo-economics -- wielding tariffs against countries for allegedly short-changing the US, and as leverage to broker peace.If he’s been labelled unreliable or unpredictable, it’s with good reason. How else can you explain Trump’s decision to sell Nvidia’s H200 chips to China?To be fair, Trump had given the world a warning in October that he would allow Nvidia to export chips to China after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. China’s diplomatic anger obeys a law of conservation: the total quantity remains constant, but the targets change. Some countries, notably Canada and South Korea, have recently emerged from China’s doghouse.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : The Centre is preparing to reinforce and expand its focus on labour-intensive industries in the FY27 Union budget, according to two persons familiar with ongoing discussions.

While the rest of the world frets over artificial intelligence and how it could hollow out demand for human effort, a zeitgeist-defying idea is taking hold in India. Several corporate bosses have publicly said that at India’s stage of development, a 70- or even 90-hour workweek is a national imperative.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Apple is widely expected to launch a foldable iPhone next year. But it faces stiff competition in the world of flexible smartphones, as Samsung Electronics is bringing its own triple-folding device to the U.S.

Joseph Wu was leading a delegation for a meeting known as the «special channel», the Financial Times reported earlier. It marked Trump's first use of the channel since returning to the White House on January 20. Feud around Taiwan The island nation of Taiwan has always remained a prime target for Chinese President Xi Jinping and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). However, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has shown keen interest in keeping a good rapport with the US in order to tackle Beijing, as per a report on Daily Mail. But why is Taiwan so important for both the US and China? Located in the geopolitically critical South China Sea, the island nation is barely 100 kilometres away from China's southeastern shores. The tiny island country is hub of manufacturing and technological giants. Apart from this, Taiwan occupies the key trade route of Taiwan Strait. Also, Taiwan is part of 'first island chain' which includes territories from Japan to Philippines.

Such units are among the thousands of troops that South Korea's spy agency says Pyongyang has deployed to Russia to support Moscow's war against Ukraine. During the visit to a special operations unit on Friday, Kim said the «actual war capability for guaranteeing victory in the war field is bolstered up through intensive training,» the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He added that their training is «the most vivid expression of patriotism and loyalty to the country,» according to the agency. Images released by state media showed Kim peering through the scope of a sniper rifle that KCNA said was going to be «newly supplied to special operation units».

tariff war between the US and China led to a sharp downturn. The Nifty Metal index plunged 6.6%-its worst day since the announcement of general election results in June 2024.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mumbai: A spell of weakness in Asian markets spilled into Indian equities on Friday, sparking a sell-off that swept across sectors. Indian markets that averted a steep fall a day earlier plunged 1.5%, as fears of a US recession and its consequences grew.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : As the US recalibrates its reciprocal tariff policy following a data miscalculation, India will now face an additional 26% tariff across a range of commodities starting 9 April. This marks a slight downward revision from the 27% hike announced on 2 April after the US administration corrected its trade deficit computations.