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«We clearly believe that at this point of time, if you look at risk reward, largecap is where risk reward looks far better compared to midcaps and smallcaps,» says Harshad Patwardhan, CIO, Union MF. We were speaking with our technical expert earlier and he is talking about 26,000 on the index as soon as next week. What about the top of the year because at 24,000 we thought that perhaps fundamentals are not running as fast as the valuations, 25,000 same questions being asked about valuations, but it just seems like it is all about liquidity, momentum, and flows. Harshad Patwardhan: Absolutely right, fundamentals do assert themselves over medium to long term. But in the near term, clearly the liquidity or the demand-supply tends to overwhelm fundamentals. However, I must point out that medium- to long-term fundamentals of Indian economy, corporate sector look very-very robust. So, to that extent, yes, sometimes the valuations will run ahead of themselves. Stocks and sectors will run ahead of themselves but so long as the medium- to long-term trajectory you are sure of, these things tend to happen. So, I do not really worry too much about it. Having said that, we clearly believe that at this point of time, if you look at risk reward, largecap is where risk reward looks far better compared to midcaps and smallcaps.

European shares slipped on Friday after a rally in the previous session spurred by the U.S. Federal Reserve's outsized interest rate cut, while shares of Mercedes were set for their worst day in 15 months after the automaker cut its core profit outlook. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.4% to 519.76 points as of 0805 GMT but was on track for a second straight week of gains.

Bitcoin (BTC) was trading higher by over 2% around 1:15 pm at $63,547.72 extending its 7-day gains to 10%. Meanwhile, altcoins like Etherium (ETH), BNB, Solana, XRP, Dogecoin, Tron, Cardano, Shiba Inu and Avalanche surged up to 9%. The top gainer was Avalanche with 9% uptick and its 7-sessions gains has now gone at 18%.

Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company Ltd. dropped 0.09 per cent to Rs 1595.0 at 01:18PM (IST) in Friday's trade. The counter has hit a high of Rs 1609.9 and low of Rs 1584.5 so far during the session. The stock had closed at Rs 1596.55 in the previous session. The counter has had a total traded volume of 9847 shares so far with a value of Rs 1.57 crore on the NSE. It traded at a price-to-earnings multiple of 36.56 and a price-to-book ratio of 4.96.

Cochin Shipyard shares are also in focus as the company will begin trading on an ex-dividend basis from Monday for a dividend of Rs 2.25 per share, declared earlier this month. Today is the last day to purchase shares to qualify for this dividend. The shares have advanced by an impressive 246% over the last year, while in the past six months, the stock has surged by 110%. Year-to-date, the shares have gained 170.7%, according to BSE analytics.

«Maybe near-term resistance at 25,700, 25,800 cannot be ruled out, but buy the dip should be the strategy. Eventually we expect Nifty to head towards 26,200 in the coming weeks. So, yes, buy the dip should be the strategy,» says Dharmesh Shah, ICICI Direct. Let us begin by discussing some of these large private banking names itself. ICICI Bank making fresh records high. HDFC Bank, a powering move of around 2%. What do you make of this strength in Bank Nifty and do you expect it to continue in the coming week? Dharmesh Shah: We believe this momentum should continue. And if you look at the Bank Nifty, I think that has given a major breakout and we expect this Bank Nifty to head towards 55,500 for the near term. So, yes, Nifty looks positive. Maybe near-term resistance at 25,700, 25,800 cannot be ruled out, but buy the dip should be the strategy. Eventually we expect Nifty to head towards 26,200 in the coming weeks. So, yes, buy the dip should be the strategy.

Havells India Ltd. traded 1.8 per cent up in Friday's trade at 12:58PM (IST). Around 14,629 shares changed hands on the counter. The counter opened at Rs 1995.1 and touched an intraday high and low of Rs 2035.0 and Rs 1990.6, respectively, in the session so far. The stock of Havells India Ltd. quoted a 52-week high of Rs 2035.0 and a 52-week low of Rs 1233.1.

Ashok Leyland Ltd. fell 0.04 per cent to Rs 237.65 at 01:02PM hours (IST) on Friday. Earlier in the day, the stock saw a gap up start to the session. As per data available on BSE, total traded quantity on the counter stood at 357,514 shares with a turnover of Rs 8.5 crore till 01:02PM (IST). The stock traded at a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 28.5, while the price-to-book value ratio stood at 5.58.

Varun Beverages Ltd. traded at Rs 649.9 on BSE at 12:47PM (IST) on Friday, down 0.26 per cent from previous close. The scrip quoted a 52-week low price of Rs 331.28 and a high of Rs 682.84.

«My sense is that things like rate cut by the US Fed will be a trigger for many of the global funds to increase their allocation to emerging markets and clearly, India being one of the best performing emerging markets would draw its share of flows, so that is clearly our base case,» says Mahesh Nandurkar, Jefferies. The general view was that Fed will cut rates and FIIs will come back. Do you see that happening now that Fed has gifted everybody with not 25 but with a 50 bps jumbo rate cut? Do you see liquidity coming back in a hurry and in abundance back to emerging markets like India? Mahesh Nandurkar: Yes, that is our base case that the rate cut undertaken by the Fed will drive incremental moneys into the emerging markets. I mean, you would remember that emerging market as an asset class over the last five years or so has been completely neglected and that is also one of the reasons why we have not seen much of foreign inflows into markets like India, despite being so attractive from growth perspective, etc.

Nikkei share average rose on Friday and logged its best week since mid-August, but gains were capped as the yen strengthened after the Bank of Japan set the stage for future interest rate hikes The tech-heavy Nikkei ended the day up 1.53% at 37,723.91, with chip-sector stocks rallying in line with their U.S. peers. The index advanced 1.57% for the week.

Shriram Finance Ltd. traded at Rs 3535.4 on BSE at 12:33PM (IST) on Friday, up 0.27 per cent. The stock quoted a 52-week low price of Rs 1760.9 and a high of Rs 3622.45. Earlier in the day, the stock saw a gap up opening.

HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd. traded at Rs 4376.4 on BSE at 12:28PM (IST) on Friday, down 0.23 per cent. The stock quoted a 52-week low price of Rs 2565.0 and a high of Rs 4544.5. Earlier in the day, the stock saw a gap up opening.

«The absolute numbers are good. The relative positioning is looking even better with 6.5-7% GDP growth outlook, 12% to 14% corporate EPS growth outlook and that too over a long period of time. So, investors, have really kind of shown a lot of interest, which kind of shows in the numbers that we have been able to pull,» says Mahesh Nandurkar, Jefferies. What is the big understanding of how things are shaping up for the economy and for India Inc? Based on your interactions, both on the record, off the record, inside the conference room, outside the conference room, how is the growth and the earnings picture stacked up? Mahesh Nandurkar: So, I believe that the economic outlook for India is definitely fantastic and the reason why we have that confidence and continue to get that confidence reinforced is when you look at the investment activities in the economy, the fixed capital formation is rising, and it is always investments driven growth is more sustainable, investors like it, it broad bases the market, creates more options and opportunities.

«We feel that the opportunities are large. It is a beginning and we should look at growing from where we start. It is a modest beginning, but hopefully it will be an aggressive growth as we move along,» says Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman, RPSG Group. Well, the latest announcement coming in wherein Firstsource has deepened its presence when it comes to Australia. Could you talk to me about the strategic intent behind this? Sanjiv Goenka: Well, we have already got a very major presence in US and UK and this is the third big market that we are targeting. It has a presence of large corporates and so there is a business opportunity. The whole administration of the Victoria State and Melbourne City has been extremely supportive and enthusiastic. And we feel that the opportunities are large. It is a beginning and we should look at growing from where we start. It is a modest beginning, but hopefully it will be an aggressive growth as we move along.

Dinshaw Irani, CEO, Helios MF, says they have been moving out of PSU space for a while. Going forward, unless something dramatic happens in the sense of a divestment in the case of PSUs, I don’t think there will be any positive triggers for that space.Irani also says that they have not eased off in smallcaps. How is life after a 50 bps cut? What does it spell for India?

«The focus on exports is clearly very strong from the government side, as well as the country is doing well, the economy is doing well and one of the key ingredients of the forecasted growth over the next five to seven years is the exports component and that is what we are looking at to target and specifically the companies that are exporting and likely to do well on the export side over the next five to seven years,» says Venugopal Manghat, HSBC Asset Management. First, I want to talk a little bit about this Export Opportunities Fund, the NFO. Tell us a little bit more about it as to what the rationale and the theme is. Venugopal Manghat: This is focused on the export opportunities from India. So, we are looking at a universe of stocks or companies that would be having exports revenues of more than 20%.

Indian market reacted strongly to the US Federal decision to reduce the interest rate to 50 bps on Thursday, as Sensex and Nifty soared to record highs. Stocks that were in focus include names like Indus Towers, which fell 8.3%, Vodafone Idea, which declined 19%, and HCL Tech, whose shares dropped 0.8% on Thursday.

Western Carriers IPO is likely to be finalised today. Investors will get shares on a lottery basis and the whole process was supervised by the registrar. On the allotment date, investors get to know about the number of shares allotted to them as against the bids made. They can check the allotment status through the BSE or by visiting the registrar's website. Here's how you can check the status on BSE or even on the registrar's website.

Gold prices steadied near record highs on Friday and were poised for a weekly gain, as markets adjusted to the U.S. Federal Reserve's recent super-sized interest rate reduction and signs that further cuts were on the horizon.

Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time in more than four years citing lower inflation expectations and a slowing jobs market. A look at what it means for investors and Indian equities: