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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Asset management companies have been major beneficiaries of India’s rising equity penetration since the pandemic years. These stocks have delivered strong returns over the past two years and their assets under management (AUM) have surged more than 200% over the previous five years.

Japan's largest labor union group said its workers secured the highest pay deal in more than three decades, supporting the case for further gradual interest rate hikes from the Bank of Japan. Labor unions under the federation known as Rengo have so far secured a pay gain of 5.46% on average in ongoing annual wage negotiations, according to its initial tally released on Friday. That's the highest level since 1991 when compared with past final tally figures, and exceeded last year's initial reading of 5.28%.

Infosys co-founder, Narayana Murthy, while speaking at the TiECon Mumbai on Wednesday commented on the rising hype around artificial intelligence (AI) in India, claiming that many systems marketed today as AI were simply traditional programming. “I think somehow it has become a fashion in India to talk of AI for everything. I have seen several normal, ordinary programs touted as AI,” Murthy commented during the annual entrepreneurial conference.

In an interview with ETMarkets, Ramkumar said: “We also feel infrastructure and defence sectors are in for structural growth in India,” Edited excerpts:

“With the solar maximum creating the most vibrant Northern Lights displays in decades, what is noteworthy is the clear expansion beyond traditional Scandinavian favourites to Murmansk in Russian Lapland, where travellers can now pair their aurora sightings with immersive Arctic experiences, from icebreaker expeditions to luxe stays in glass-domed igloos,” said Rajeev Kale, president and country head, for holidays, MICE and visa, Thomas Cook (India). He said another celestial wonder seeing an uptick in bookings is the White Nights phenomenon, where nearly 24 hours of daylight transforms cities like St Petersburg into vibrant cultural hubs with midnight festivals and illuminated river cruises.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. If Chinese AI lab Deepseek shook the industry with its open-source, budget-friendly reasoning model earlier this year, another Chinese startup, Monica, is impressing many with its new general-purpose AI agentic model, Manus. Are there lessons for India? Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) lab DeepSeek disrupted AI with its low-cost reasoning R1 model this year, prompting OpenAI to respond with o3 mini and GPT-4.5.

«Pay attention to patterns,» the user advised, noting that repeated questions can hint at underlying concerns or values within a company. Another significant finding was that short hiring manager interviews—lasting 20 minutes or less—could indicate one of two things: either the company is not seriously considering the candidate or they are desperate to fill a role quickly, often due to high turnover or internal dysfunction.

Navratna companies, have seen significant improvement in board meeting attendance by directors over the past four years, according to a survey by Excellence Enablers. The survey, which covered 13 Maharatna and 20 Navratna companies, found that in FY24, no director had zero attendance at board meetings. In contrast, in FY23, 14 directors had zero attendance. In FY22, there were 9 such directors, and 3 directors were absent from all board meetings in FY21. The Excellence Enablers' fourth edition of the survey emphasised that it is a reasonable expectation for all directors, both executive and non-executive, to attend every board meeting. Absences should only occur for extraordinary reasons that could not have been anticipated. While the legal requirement mandates that each director attend at least one board meeting per year, the survey finds this standard is clearly unsatisfactory. It suggests that directors who miss meetings for legitimate reasons should still be able to submit their comments on agenda items in advance so that they can be taken note of during discussions. Further, the survey by a Corporate Governance advisory firm said, «the question of discontinuing the appointment of Directors who have had zero attendance in the previous FY should be seriously considered». The survey, which analyses corporate governance data of Maharatna and Navratna companies from publicly available sources, also looked into other aspects of board governance, including board size, the presence of independent directors (IDs), and gender representation on boards.

Global Capability Centers (GCCs) and the technology sector, according to a report by Anarock. The co-working sector accounted for 34% of the total transactions, marking a 6% increase from 2023. Conversely, the IT-ITeS sector’s share decreased by 3% to 29%, while consulting business occupiers contributed 12% to the overall transactions. “The year 2024 emerged as a transformative year for the office real estate market, characterized by robust absorption, strategic expansion by diverse sectors, and strong rental growth across major markets,” said Peush Jain, MD-commercial leasing and advisory, Anarock Group.

Elon Musk has once again drawn attention to South Korea’s falling birth rates, calling the situation a “catastrophic population collapse.” The billionaire entrepreneur made the statement in response to a post on X (formerly Twitter) that included a stark visualisation of the country’s demographic crisis. The highlighted portion of the post read: “In South Korea, where the total fertility rate is the lowest in the world at 0.68, every 200 fertile-age adults can expect to give life to 68 children; those children will produce 23 grandchildren, who will result in only eight great-grandchildren. That’s a 96 percent population decline over the course of three generations, and that’s if fertility stops decreasing and finally holds steady.” A user reacted to the alarming statistics by stating, “This is such an insane thing to visualise.” Musk replied with a brief but pointed response: “Catastrophic population collapse.”

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) looks inexpensive, domestic brokerage firm Kotak Institutional Equities has maintained a ‘buy’ call on the stock, revising its target down to Rs 1,175 from an earlier Rs 1,250, to reflect a lower investment return following the recent correction in equities. “The correction in equities and a severe slowdown in business, following the surrender value guidelines, continue to weigh on the prospects of LIC. Trends in (equity) markets have high sensitivity and drive over 50% of its EV. The slowdown in APE and management’s stance on dealing with the same are monitorable. Inexpensive valuations support our BUY rating,” said the domestic brokerage firm.

Software Development Engineer at the quick commerce platform, Blinkit, has ignited discussions online after a user shared screenshots revealing its astonishing response. The Bengaluru-based opening attracted an overwhelming 13,451 applications within just 24 hours, highlighting the intense competition in the tech job market. The viral screenshots, originally posted on X (formerly Twitter), quickly gained traction, with many users expressing their thoughts on the situation. The data revealed that the majority of applicants—74%—were entry-level professionals, while 13% had senior-level experience. Additionally, 86% of those who applied held a bachelor’s degree, whereas 12% had a master’s degree.

SBI research ecowrap predicts 75 basis points rate cut this fiscal. Experts believe that CPI inflation will be 3.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of FY25 and will average at 4.7 per cent for the entire year. However, looking ahead to FY26, inflation is expected to remain between 4.0 per cent and 4.2 per cent, with core inflation ranging from 4.2 per cent to 4.4 per cent. Given this trend, analysts anticipate at least a 75-basis-point rate cut during this cycle, with back-to-back reductions expected in April and June 2025. Another round of rate cuts could follow in October 2025. «With benign inflation this month and going forward, we expect a cumulative rate cut over the cycle could be at least 75 basis points, with successive rate cuts in next policy April and June 2025. With an intervening gap in Aug'25, the rate cuts cycle could restart from Oct'25, says the report. India's consumer price index (CPI) inflation dropped to a seven-month low of 3.6 per cent in February 2025, mainly due to a sharp decline in food prices.

equity allocation might be warranted, signalling a shift away from the conservative stance that high valuations previously dictated,” says Achin Goel, PMS Fund Manager at Bonanza Group. In an interview with ETMarkets, Goel said: “A further price correction of about 8–10% from early March 2025 levels, or sequential earnings growth reflected in EPS increases—or a combination of both—could bring large caps into fair value territory,” Edited excerpts:

Stocks that were in focus include names like Swiggy, which fell 1.2% and RVNL, which gained 0.8% and TVS Motor, whose shares declined 1.5% on Wednesday.

STATE OF THE MARKETS

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. • Kolte Patil: Buy above ₹341, stop ₹332; target ₹360-366 This real estate counter, after undergoing a lot of volatility, is showing signs of bottoming out. The last few days have been displaying long-body bullish candles in this uncertain market, which has pushed the prices above the bands.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Trading started on Wednesday with some apprehension but the strong resurgence by the bulls surprised the bearish camp. Taking some strength from the sharp upward traction for the entire last week, there's a bullish resurgence.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Current market price: ₹2,807 | Buy range: ₹2,750–2,830 | Profit goal: ₹3,240 | Stop loss: ₹2,590 | Timeframe: 1–2 months Current market price: ₹1,528.1 | Buy range: ₹1,500–1,535 | Profit goal: ₹1,760 | Stop loss: ₹1,415 | Timeframe: 1–2 months Nifty 50 ended flat for the second consecutive session after trading between 22,330 and 22,580. The index started the session on a muted note at 22,536 and continued to slide toward its key support level of 22,300.

housing loans outstanding stood at Rs 33.53 lakh crore at the end of September, a growth of 14 per cent year-on-year, with the MIG segment accounting for the maximum credit, according to National Housing Bank (NHB). NHB, a statutory body under the Government of India, has released the Report on Trends and Progress of Housing in India. «As on September 30, 2024, EWS and LIG accounted for 39 per cent, MIG accounted for 44 per cent and HIG accounted for 17 per cent of outstanding individual housing loans,» the report said. It further said individual housing loan disbursements during the half year ended September 2024 were Rs 4.10 lakh crore while disbursements during the year ended March 2024 were Rs 9.07 lakh crore. The report broadly covers the housing scenario and house price movements, flagship programmes of GoI in the housing sector, role of Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs) in providing housing credit, performance of Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) and outlook for the sector. «Major initiatives of GoI, such as PMAY-G, PMAY-U, impact assessment of PMAY-U, Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF), Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) scheme, etc. have been covered in the report,» it said.

In 2025 too, Europe is poised to remain a top destination, with transatlantic travel expected to become even more accessible, attracting even more travelers. For those planning a trip to Europe this year, there are several important changes in travel regulations and trends you should be aware of to ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience, as per a Forbes report. ALSO READ: Why was my Schengen visa rejected?