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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As India’s IT sector braces for a US slowdown, Bengaluru-based Happiest Minds is charting its own course. The mid-tier digital transformation specialist is pushing ahead with an ambitious strategy, targeting double-digit expansion through FY26 and FY27—even as larger rivals struggle to gain momentum.

Lines of Credit and Concessional Financing Scheme, through a lending bank to six partner countries during January 2022-January 2025, the Parliament was informed on Thursday. Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said this in a written response to a query in Rajya Sabha. The Ministry of External Affairs was asked the details of foreign aid, developmental assistance, and loans provided by India to other countries between January 2022 and January 2025. «Government of India has offered new loans, under the Lines of Credit (LOCs) and Concessional Financing Scheme (CFS), through a lending bank to six partner countries during January 2022-January 2025. »The total amount of loans offered to these partner countries during the above-mentioned period stands at over USD 3.73 billion. This excludes disbursements for ongoing projects under earlier LOCs," the minister said. The MEA was also asked the details of foreign aid, developmental assistance, and loans received by India from other countries between January 2022 and January 2025.

bed tea. This long-standing tradition is more than just a habit—it’s a source of comfort, a morning ritual that signals the start of the day. However, IIT- IIT-biochemist and nutritionist Manish Bhagwani warns that this habit might be doing more harm than good, especially for those struggling with insulin resistance and metabolic health. According to Bhagwani, the human body naturally prepares for the day by increasing cortisol levels before waking up. This surge elevates blood glucose, triggering a small release of insulin to provide energy for the morning ahead. While this is a normal process, the problem arises when individuals already have insulin resistance—something that affects more than 50% of urban Indians today. In such cases, the natural morning insulin spike is much higher, further complicating metabolic health.

«India's GDP will grow 6.5 per cent in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, we expect. Our forecast is the same as the outcome for the previous fiscal year, but less than our earlier forecast of 6.7 per cent,» S&P said. The forecast assumes that the upcoming monsoon season will be normal and that commodity- especially crude-- prices will be soft. Cooling food inflation, the tax benefits announced in the country's budget for the fiscal year ending March 2026, and lower borrowing costs will support discretionary consumption in India, S&P said. The global credit rating agency expects central banks in the Asia Pacific region to continue cutting benchmark interest rates through this year.

Chirag Doshi, CIO-Fixed Income at LGT Wealth India, believes the current market conditions are ripe for investors to capitalise on bond investments—particularly medium to long-duration government securities. In an interaction with ETMarkets, Doshi recommended a strategic shift in portfolio allocations, especially for those aiming to benefit from the anticipated rate easing cycle. “It is always advisable for clients in an easing interest rate cycle to shift their portfolios towards medium and long duration bonds to make use of the capital gains that they would have when the prices move up and the yields go down,” he explained.

“India's consumption has been a robust long-term story. As economic development accelerates and the middle class grows, the potential for further expansion in the consumer market is set to increase significantly,” says Harshad Patil, CIO, Tata AIA. In an interview with ETMarkets, Patil said: “We see strong potential in some sectors such as Retail, Quick Commerce, Healthcare, FinTech ,Travel and Hospitality, Consumer Durables and Automobiles,” Edited excerpts: Thanks for taking the time out. After a nearly 6% drop in February 2025, volatility continues in March. What is weighing on markets? In the month of March, Indian equities have been under pressure due to tariff concerns. The recent announcement of new tariffs by the U.S. President, including a 25% levy on select imports from Mexico and Canada, has led to a surge in market volatility across the globe.

Rupen Rajguru, MD, Senior Advisor, Julius Baer, says we are seeing a classic bottoming of the market and recovery will be slow, and not as significant and fast as we have seen in the previous cycle. But probably the market looks into the rate of change and at the margin, FY26 is going to be significantly better from an earnings perspective vis-a-vis FY25. What is your take on the overall market sentiment because in 2025 there has been a change in the narrative on how you look at the emerging markets, especially India. March has been quite a volatile month for us though we are cheering the recovery from the lowest level but the harsh reality is that among the SMIDs, there are pockets where we might not see the stocks recovering back to those 2024 highs. Is it the time to deploy more or rather be selective? Rupen Rajguru: Purely from a market perspective, in the very short to near terms, sentiment and liquidity determines the market momentum and both of these change very fast. Probably on March 4th, we were the worst as far as the sentiment and liquidity was concerned. So, while liquidity has not changed, but definitely in the last two weeks or so, sentiment has changed. And why has the sentiment changed?

Investing in India Factor-based investing has gained traction in India as investors seek systematic strategies to navigate different market cycles. It bridges the gap between passive and active investing, combining the best of both worlds. Unlike traditional investing, which may react to market fluctuations, factor-based investing provides a structured approach to identifying stocks with favorable characteristics. The AUM for factor funds in India has more than doubled in the past year, exceeding ₹40,000 crores by the end of 2024, compared to ₹14,000 crores a year ago.

Indian equity markets appear poised for a structural upside, believes Vikas Khemani, founder of Carnelian Asset Advisors. In an interaction with ET Now, Khemani emphasized how this correction was much needed and how we can now prepare for a structural market upswing. He outlined the critical factors that are expected to shape investor sentiment and drive market direction in the near term.

Occurring on March 29 at 6:57 a.m. EST, this celestial event signals the start of a six-month cycle of change, ambition, and clarity. This eclipse aligns with Pluto’s transformative energy, encouraging self-discovery and reinvention. However, with Mercury retrograde in play, patience is advised—this is a time to reflect, recalibrate, and avoid impulsive decisions.

Indian IT sector is experiencing a slowdown, and experts predict a longer period of moderate growth. Challenges from the global economy and technological changes are increasing risks to revenue. This weaker growth is expected to have a limited impact on the overall economy. Analysts note that growth is uneven across different IT companies, influenced by individual company circumstances. “Change in tech cycle is likely to create a transition phase for tech services companies (like 2016/17), causing growth to moderate in short term. We are lowering our dollar revenue growth forecasts by 100-200 bps and expect growth of 4.5% in FY26 and 6% in FY27 for large-cap IT companies,” analysts at Morgan Stanley reported. Jeffries, an investment firm, downgraded the IT sector due to growing concerns about the US economy. They cited a weaker US growth outlook and a declining US dollar, which could reduce a previous advantage for Indian IT firms related to currency exchange. Morgan Stanley added that while IT stocks have already declined, their valuations compared to the broader Indian stock market remain near their five-year average. They see potential risks to current revenue predictions and the possibility of lower valuations in the future.

Thyrocare founder, whose net worth is estimated to be over Rs 5,000 crore, shared the news of a Bengaluru-based engineer, who was earning over Rs 1.5 lakh per month, but was struggling to pay bills and sustain his daily. Sharing the news, the business tycoon wrote, “If not frugal, life will be highly fragile. Success is not how much you earn. It is how little you need.”

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) initiated the much-expected rate-cut cycle in February. The repo rate was cut from 6.5% to 6.25% on 7 February.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Apple could really use some of Steve Jobs’s famous reality distortion field right about now.

Nimesh Chandan, CIO of Bajaj Finserv AMC, identifies two key behavioral biases — fear and loss aversion — driving investor decisions in the current market downturn. As portfolios decline 30-40% from their peaks, many investors panic, close their SIPs, or hesitate to deploy fresh capital despite attractive long-term opportunities. Chandan explains how these emotions lead to irrational decision-making and what investors can do to navigate volatility with a disciplined approach. Edited excerpts from a chat: The year 2025 is clearly turning out to be nightmarish for retail investors, particularly those heavily invested in smaller stocks. As high PE stocks have moderated quite a bit, do you see more pain ahead or gradual recovery as we step into FY26? In the history of financial markets, one learns that though events may be unique, behavioural patterns are the same. Up to September last year, investors were experiencing a strong rally leading to quick gains in the equity markets. Especially, the mid cap and the small cap categories were seeing a strong up move. In many stocks of these categories, valuations were at or near all-time highs. Typically, such moves also set the ground for a correction. When there is even a small downgrade or disappointment, stocks fall sharply. Now, in many sectors, the valuations are back to reasonable levels. However, even in the current market, risk-reward is more favorable in large caps. Selective areas of mid cap and small cap stocks are now looking attractive.

Many short-term positioning and momentum indicators suggest Wall Street was oversold, so in that light a continuation of the recovery is understandable. Chances for a truce in the Ukraine-Russia war, slender as they may be, are also lending some support to risky assets at the margins.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The 10-year Indian bond yield, once trading at 12-13% in the late 90s, has now dropped from its 5-year high of around 7.5% to 6.7% as of February-end 2025. With the start of the interest rate cut cycle, yields are expected to fall further.

inferencing hardware, said Abhijit Dubey, global CEO of the Japanese data centre giant NTT DATA. “I think it (impact) is far more fundamental. It demonstrated that the unit cost economics are significantly lower from a training and inferencing standpoint. Number two, it demonstrated that open source is viable. And number three, that there's a lot more value in inferencing than just pure training.” However, despite the Chinese disruption, NTT has not recalibrated capex plans for data centres and the industry is undergoing a boom cycle, he said. Globally, NTT has committed to invest 8 trillion Yen ($59 billion) between FY2023 to FY2027 in data centres and AI.

Indian lenders as early as next month. Multiple-and simultaneous-central bank measures to boost systemic liquidity will help reduce the rates on instruments such as certificates of deposit (CD) and commercial paper (CP). Lower capital costs should also bring down lending rates earlier than expected. «The central bank's stance on liquidity management seems to have shifted toward 'accommodative' from 'neutral', as reflected in the large liquidity infusion through multiple tools,» said Soumyajit Niyogi, director-core analytical group at India Ratings. «If this continues, the overall rates in the economy, including lending rates by banks, may start softening.» However, the bet is on short-term rates easing first in FY26, when lower inflation is expected to help prolong the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) easing cycle.

«If you look at Mumbai, the entire city was dug up a couple of years back and we are seeing that all these infrastructure projects that started are seeing day of the light and that is why we are seeing a flurry of activity in the peripheral areas, where a huge amount of development are coming up, thanks to the connectivity,» says Prashant Thakur, Anarock Group. Let me firstly ask about Mumbai because that particular market and the region has seen a lot of redevelopment activity, especially if you talk about prime areas like Worli. And not just Worli, let us talk about the suburbs as well, there is constant redevelopment day in and day out. If you could help us understand what is exactly driving this transformation, how do you see this impacting the overall real estate trends in the city? Prashant Thakur: First of all, if you talk about Mumbai, or let us say MMR as a whole, it accounts for 45% to almost 48% of value of real estate sold across the top seven cities in the country. So, undoubtedly, it is kind of powerhouse when it comes to residential sales. And there are several factors apart from being the financial capital of India, the huge amount of job opportunity it generates, it has also seen a huge amount of infrastructure upgrade.

It’s a temporary, but prolonged, period of economic decline, marked by a slowdown in industrial production, and a fall in consumer spending, sales, and employment. Technically, this fall in economic activity, or negative growth in gross domestic product, should last at least two consecutive quarters, that is, six months, for it to qualify as a recession. Recession is considered an intrinsic part of an economic or business cycle, starting when the economy reaches a peak and ending when it touches a bottom or trough. There are several triggers or causes for a recession and various indicators that can hint at an impending slowdown. <div data-placement=«Mid Article Thumbn