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Why it’s recommended: Strong digital engineering and cloud-led revenue mix, consistent earnings growth with healthy margins, rising deal wins, and an improving order pipeline, strong client diversification across industries and geographies, and a healthy balance sheet with low debt levels.Key metrics: P/E: 64.91 | 52-week high: ₹6,599 | Volume: ₹409.23 croreTechnical analysis: Cup-with-handle breakoutRisk factors: Dependence on global IT spending cycles, pricing pressure from large IT peers and niche players, client concentration risk in key accounts, talent attrition and wage inflation impacting margins, and currency volatility affecting overseas revenues.Buy: ₹6,420-6,480Target price: ₹7,100 in two to three monthsStop loss: ₹6,100Why it’s recommended: Strong presence in chronic therapy segments, consistent earnings and cash flow generation, improving India formulations growth, a healthy product pipeline with regular launches, and a stable balance sheet with manageable debt.Key metrics: P/E: 65.98 | 52-week high: ₹4,104.80 | Volume: ₹361.85 croreTechnical analysis: Flat base breakoutRisk factors: Pricing pressure in the U.S. generics market, regulatory risks from the US FDA inspections, dependence on key molecules and markets, rising input and compliance costs, and currency volatility impacting margins.Buy at: ₹4,070-4,100Target price: ₹4,600 in two to three monthsStop loss: ₹3,820Indian equities ended marginally lower on Tuesday after a volatile session, with Nifty 50 slipping 0.14% to close at 26,140.75.

Why it’s recommended: Strong improvement in asset quality with declining GNPA and NNPA, credit growth supported by retail, MSME, and corporate demand, improving profitability driven by better net interest margins, reduced provisioning burden enhances earnings visibility, adequate capital position supported by government backing, and a beneficiary of PSU bank consolidation and scale advantages.Key metrics: P/E: 6.72 | 52-week high: ₹167.30 | Volume: ₹455.29 croreTechnical analysis: Cup-with-handle breakoutRisk factors: Higher exposure to stressed corporate and PSU-linked sectors, margin pressure risk if interest rates decline sharply, slower decision-making compared to private sector peers, asset quality may weaken during economic slowdown cycles, government ownership limits operational flexibility, competition from private banks, and fintech players remains intense.Buy: ₹165-168Target price: ₹188 in two to three monthsStop loss: ₹156Why it’s recommended: Strong domestic and international brand presence with diversified revenue streams, recovery in margin profile aided by softer raw material prices, focus on premium and value-added tyre segments improves profitability, consistent capacity expansion and product innovation initiatives, and improving balance sheet and steady operating cash flowsKey metrics: P/E: 40.90 | 52-week high: ₹540.50 | Volume: ₹101.01 croreTechnical analysis: 50-DMA reclaimRisk factors: Earnings are sensitive to volatility in rubber and crude-linked input costs, cyclical demand from auto and replacement markets can impact volumes, intense competition from domestic and global tyre manufacturers, currency fluctuations affect overseas operations and profitability, and a slowdown in the global or Indian

Mint analysis, this is the third straight quarter where brokerages have outlined sequential growth below 4%, signalling a tempered outlook. This follows efforts by companies to pursue new growth avenues.TCS and HCLTech release their December quarter earnings on 12 January, Infosys on 14 January, and Tech Mahindra on 16 January.

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 animal spirits seem to be stirring, but the scoreboard tells a mixed story. New project announcements rose nearly 16% sequentially in the October-December quarter (Q3 FY26), almost doubling the momentum seen in the previous three months.

Mint analysis of 400 of the BSE 500 stocks. The broad-based rally created a rare environment where momentum often outweighed fundamentals.The market’s character shifted in 2025, as broad post-Covid gains gave way to selective performance driven by earnings and fundamentals.

In 2025, private equity and venture capital firms extracted the largest sum of cash from India’s initial public offerings (IPOs) in four years, even as their share in the country’s primary market shrank to its lowest in at least a decade. While these investors offloaded ₹20,643 crore worth of stock in 2025, they backed fewer than one in five listings, compared to around one in four in 2024 and around one in three in 2023.According to market statistics compiled by data intelligence firm Prime Database, the value of PE/VC-backed IPO stake sales this year was the highest since the all-time high of ₹31,684 crore in 2021, which came during a period of high global liquidity and a surge in technology listings following the covid pandemic.Despite the increase in the absolute value of exits, the proportion of PE/VC-backed companies within the broader IPO landscape has declined steadily over the past decade.

Today, we revisit the biggest data stories featured in Mint’s Plain Facts section through the year. Our coverage spanned socio-economic trends, US tariffs, data quality, politics, cinema and climate, with our trademark charts telling important stories about the India of 2025. Each link in this piece leads to the corresponding story, which offers more charts and in-depth analysis.The second edition of the government’s time-use survey gave an insight into the daily lives and routines of India.

Indian equities navigated a paradoxical 2025, remaining historically stoic despite the lingering shadow of late-2024 corrections and the pressure of US tariffs. With a maximum drawdown—the peak-to-trough decline within the year—of just 9% and a year-end return of 8%, 2025 stands as a year of relative calm.This performance is not a rarity, though.

Mint analysis found.While the number of instances rose from 26 in 2023, 30 in 2024, to 38 in 2025, the size of the penalty shrank. These include fines on the public sector, private sector, foreign banks, small finance banks, and payments banks.These penalties totalled ₹25.5 crore in 2025, while the median amount was ₹55.7 lakh.

Climate finance is becoming an increasingly important topic, especially as we see more gaps in Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments and rising surface temperatures. Countries outline their climate goals by labelling targets as either unconditional, achievable with their own resources, or conditional, relying on international support for finance, technology, or capacity building.

Mint looks at how the world’s largest economy has defied expectations and stayed resilient in 2025 despite multiple challenges. Will this dream run continue in 2026?Yes.

Best stocks to buy today (All Buy trades are rates of Equity & Sell rates are based on F&O)NMDC Ltd: Buy above ₹83 | Stop ₹80 target | ₹89 (multiday)Oberoi Realty Ltd: Buy above ₹1,690 | Stop ₹1,660 | Target ₹1,740 (intraday)LTIMindtree Ltd: Sell below ₹6,020 | Stop ₹6,110 | Target ₹5,850 (intraday)On December 26, 2025, Indian equities extended their losing streak as profit-booking and foreign fund outflows weighed on sentiment. Benchmark indices closed lower for the third straight session, with the Sensex slipping 367 points to 85,041 and the Nifty declining 99.8 points to 26,042, marking its second consecutive day of losses.

Fractal Analytics Ltd is likely to begin the book-building process for its ₹4,900 crore market debut as early as next week, two people directly aware of the matter said.India's first artificial intelligence unicorn, which received regulatory approval for launching its initial public offering (IPO) in November, is likely to file updated draft papers by mid-January 2026, one of the people quoted above said.The company has been meeting potential investors, both local and global, and has received investment commitments from several of them, the other person explained.Book building is a process where merchant bankers determine a price range within which investors can bid for shares in an IPO. The final price is determined after the bidding process is completed.A book-building process is also likely to help Fractal decide on its pre-IPO placement, the second person said.

State-owned Central Bank of India is looking to change its loan book mix by stepping up corporate lending, even as retail, agriculture and MSME (RAM) segments remain its core strength, managing director Kalyan Kumar told Mint in an interview.As of September 2025, nearly 72% of the bank’s ₹2.93 trillion loan book was tilted towards RAM, with corporates accounting for just 28%. Kumar plans to change this mix to 65:35 by March 2026, without diluting the lender’s core focus on its rural and semi-urban franchise.Barely weeks after taking charge on 30 September, Kumar said that, “RAM will always remain our priority.

How to access: Go to gemini.google.com → Click the beaker icon (top right) → Enable "Gems with mini apps"• Create interactive tools instantly: Generate calculators, planners, trackers, and games without leaving the chat• Build functional prototypes: Test ideas with working apps before investing in full development• Collaborate more effectively: Share interactive tools that teammates can use, not just readSuppose you're launching a new product and need a streamlined workflow for your marketing team. Here's how mini-apps in Gemini help:• Click “New Gem”: Start creating your custom mini-app from the Gems section• Describe what you need: “Create an app that evaluates product features, generates marketing content ideas, creates vision boards, and outlines next steps”• Gemini builds the workflow: You get a multi-step interactive app with sections for Product Name, Description, Content Generation, Vision Board Creation, and HTML rendering• Use it immediately: Your team inputs product details, and the app automatically generates marketing content, visual concepts, and actionable next steps• Remix and refine: Click "Remix" to modify steps, add fields, or customize the workflow for your specific needs• No technical skills needed: Build functional apps through simple conversation• Everything in one place: From request to working tool without switching platforms• Instant iterations: Modify apps by simply asking - no manual editing requiredMint's ‘AI tool of the week’ is excerpted from Leslie D'Monte's weekly TechTalk newsletter. Subscribe to Mint's newsletters to get them directly in your email inbox.Note: The tools and analysis featured in this section demonstrated clear value based on our internal testing. Our recommendations are

Following years of aggressive hoarding, Indian corporations are starting to dip into their cash reserves to fund dividend payouts and acquisitions, but not capital expenditure (capex).According to a Mint analysis of data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the pace of cash accumulation hit an eight-year low by September 2025.The analysis of CMIE data for a common sample of nearly 2,000 listed firms, excluding banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) companies, showed that cash and bank balances rose just 1% year-on-year to about ₹5.4 trillion by September. The pace is a far cry from the pandemic period, when heightened uncertainty pushed median cash balances up by nearly 15% annually between September 2020 and September 2024.Companies are now sitting on a cash pile equivalent to nearly 5% of their total assets, up from 3.5% in September 2017 and 4% in September 2020, the analysis showed.

Best stocks to buy today (All Buy trades are rates of Equity & Sell rates are based on F&O)Gravita India Ltd: Buy above ₹1870, stop ₹1800 target ₹2030 (Multiday)Laurus Labs Ltd: Buy above ₹1088, stop ₹1072 target ₹1115 (Intraday)PNB Housing Finance Ltd: Buy above ₹970, stop ₹950 target ₹1030 (Intraday)On 24 December, the Sensex and the Nifty ended lower ahead of the Christmas holiday, weighed down by FII selling and profit-booking across key sectors. The benchmark indices slipped from their intraday highs, with the Sensex closing at 85,408.70, down 116.14 points (0.14%), while the Nifty settled at 26,142.10, losing 37.45 points (0.14%).

Bajaj Auto Ltd is crafting a turnaround for KTM, its biggest acquisition, to boost profitability even as it loses market share in its home market.Pune-based Bajaj Auto will look to discontinue smaller brands under KTM, rejig core operations and unlock synergies between the supply chains of Bajaj and KTM to reduce costs, according to management commentary during the earnings call and meetings with analysts.“After the KTM acquisition, Bajaj Auto would now focus on the restructuring of the core operations. They would also look to leverage synergy benefits in manufacturing operations, the supply chain, and the distribution network,” analysts at Motilal Oswal wrote in a 15 December note after meeting Bajaj Auto's leadership team.A revival plan for KTM is aimed at bolstering its premium offerings, as its exports remain profitable, while India’s fourth-largest two-wheeler maker’s domestic market share continues to decline.Bajaj Auto acquired struggling motorcycle maker KTM for about €800 million.

HCL Technologies Ltd announced acquisitions for $400 million in the past week, the most spent on such transactions in three years, to strengthen its AI and data offerings for customers increasingly adopting automation.India’s third-largest IT services company said on Monday that it would spend more than $240 million to buy Jaspersoft, a US data analytics company. That day, HCL also said it would buy Wobby BV, a Belgian startup that provides AI agents for data analysis purposes.The company’s acquisition spree started on 18 December, when it said it would purchase the Telco Solutions business of Hewlett Packard Enterprise for $160 million.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A 0.25% rate cut looks tiny on paper. But on a ₹50 lakh home loan, it can unlock thousands of rupees a year—and lakhs in lifetime interest—depending entirely on what you do with it.