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Aswath Damodaran, a professor of finance at New York University. In his latest analysis of global cash return policies, Damodaran found that Indian firms distributed just 31.1% of their earnings in the form of dividends and stock buybacks—far lower than their global peers. While one can argue that this signals a strong reinvestment cycle fueling long-term expansion, it can also be seen as a symptom of weak shareholder rights and management’s reluctance to part with excess cash.

Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). The study reveals a significant rise in the assets under management (AUM) held by women in mutual funds for over five years, increasing from 8.8% in March 2019 to 21.3% in March 2024. In comparison, male investors' long-term holdings grew from 8.2% to 19.9% during the same period. The number of women investors holding mutual fund investments for less than a year decreased from 40.5% to 25.4% between 2019 and 2024. For male investors, this short-term holding percentage declined from 42.1% to 27%. This data indicates a stronger inclination among women to maintain their investments over longer periods compared to men. Also Read | Midcap stocks down 20% from peak. What should mutual fund investors do?

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 87.13 and lost further to trade at 87.18 against the greenback in early deals, registering a depreciation of 6 paise from its previous closing level.

global economic uncertainty and market volatility, retail investors are being advised to hold some cash reserves rather than deploying all their capital into equities. Pankaj Pandey, Head of Research at ICICIdirect, cautioned that persistent global risks, including policy paralysis and trade tensions, could trigger further corrections in the Indian stock market. Speaking in an ET Now interaction, Pandey emphasized that uncertainty regarding global growth and inflation remains, primarily due to ongoing trade disputes between the world’s two largest economies. He warned that the market might not be fully factoring in the potential risks, making it prudent for investors to maintain some liquidity.

Sandip Sabharwal, asksandipsabharwal.com, says on a pure valuation basis, although many mid and smallcaps are looking very attractive right now, the initial up move as foreign funds come back, will be on the largecap side. The largecaps would move up first and then, small and midcaps could catch up. NBFCs, banks, the larger banks and the corporate-focused NBFCs, should be a decent part of the portfolio along with infrastructure-oriented companies. Auto should do well next year. What is it looking like in terms of macros with the RBI injecting further liquidity and crude significantly cooling off, while the tariff flip-flop continues. Does it seem like we could be close to bottoming out at an index level at least? Sandip Sabharwal: I mentioned on Monday that we are fully deployed because in our view risk-reward is extremely favourable in India. Given that the macros will be much better next year as liquidity improves, interest rates come down, government spending improves, and a lot of disruptions which were there last year are no longer there.

Oil prices were little changed on Friday but were set for their biggest weekly decline since October as the uncertainty around U.S. tariff policy is creating concerns about demand growth at the same time major producers are set to increase output. Brent futures rose 13 cents, or 0.19%, to $69.59 a barrel by 0217 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 8 cents, or 0.08%, to $66.44 a barrel.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Current market price: ₹513.65 | Buy range: ₹495-518 | Profit goal: ₹610 | Stop loss: ₹470 | Timeframe: 2-3 months Current market price: ₹6,174.90 | Buy range: ₹6,000-6,200 | Profit goal: ₹7,700 | Stop loss: ₹5,500 | Timeframe: 2-3 months India’s benchmark stock index Nifty 50 extended its rally for a second consecutive session following a sharp fall in Brent crude oil prices and US President Donald Trump’s tariff concessions. Crude oil prices fell sharply after the OPEC+ bloc of major petroleum exporting nations announced plans to gradually ease voluntary production cuts.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Nestlé, the world's largest coffee company, has launched a Nespresso boutique in Delhi's Nexus CityWalk mall, targeting India's affluent consumers. The boutique offers Nespresso coffee machines, priced from ₹16,500, and coffee pods.

Assets rose to £2.8bn from £2.4bn in the year to September, with the company pointing to the rise bucking industry trends. UK investor funds under management in active equities experienced persistent net outflows across the industry for the financial year 2023/24. AssetCo to overhaul share structure under plans to rebrand as River Global An initial fund raising that brought in nearly €400m (£335m) helped boost AssetCo's AUM, and benefited two funds managed by Jonathan Knowles, previously of Capital International Group, in a joint venture with his firm Compound Equity Group. Duri...

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Grade-A real estate companies have been expanding their footprints from top-tier cities to tier-2 cities lately. A combination of factors such as affordability, relatively higher growth potential in untapped regions, and improving infrastructure, is enticing realtors and homebuyers towards tier-2 cities such as Agra, Chandigarh, Goa, Jaipur and Nagpur.

During a Treasury Committee hearing on Wednesday (5 March), Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said that, despite the underlying trends toward disinflation that influenced his vote for a rate cut in February, he warned we are «living in a world of greater uncertainty» compared to when the MPC last convened before the committee. He further took notice of UK economic activity, which has flatlined since last Spring in 2024, adding that this is to an extent due to a combination between supply and demand issues. Bank of England rate setter Ramsden warns of 'concerning developments' in ...

Goldman Sachs (GS) has issued a neutral call on BSE Ltd., revising its target price downward to Rs 4,230 per share, citing potential headwinds from the recent changes in the options market expiry schedule by the NSE. The key concern highlighted by the brokerage is the impact of NSE’s shift in weekly option contract expiry days. Effective January 1, 2025, NSE will move its expiry day to Monday, while BSE’s will be Tuesday, creating an asymmetry in the options market.

Tamil Nadu politicians including Chief Minister MK Stalin and Kamal Haasan have raised concerns over the upcoming delimitation exercise, scheduled for 2026. The electoral exercise has sparked significant debate, particularly among southern states. However, leaders from states like Tamil Nadu express concerns that this process could diminish their political influence in Parliament. Tamil Nadu CM Stalin urged newlywed couples to plan a family early, linking it to Tamil Nadu’s representation in Parliament.

crude oil prices has fueled a rally in state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs), with stocks gaining up to 16% over four consecutive sessions. Investors are optimistic that lower crude prices will boost OMC margins, but several headwinds persist, including higher crude oil imports from the US, LPG under-recoveries, and a depreciating rupee. The crude prices are currently at a 3-year low and Brent has slipped below the $70/ bbl mark while the US WTI is hovering around $66/bbl.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Estimates of gross value added (GVA) and gross domestic product (GDP) for 2024-25 were released last month along with revised estimates for 2023-24 and final data for 2022-23. The numbers for 2024-25 were broadly in line with estimates released earlier, with GDP growth placed at 6.5%, marginally higher than the 6.4% reported as part of India’s first advance estimates.

buy call on HDFC Life Insurance Company with a target price of Rs 800. The current market price of HDFC Life is Rs 621.3. HDFC Life Insurance Company, incorporated in 2000, is a Large Cap company with a market cap of Rs 133495.30 crore, operating in the Financial Services sector.

BSE Sensex surged by 740 points while Nifty snapped its 10-day losing streak on Wednesday following value buying in utilities and power shares and a strong trend in global markets. Stocks that were in focus include names like Quadrant Future Tek, which spiked 18% and Varun Beverages, which declined 0.3% and Coforge, whose shares gained 8% on Wednesday.

Market corrections alone do not create investment opportunities- what matters is whether stocks have corrected to their fair value, says Sanjeev Prasad of Kotak Institutional Equities. He pointed out that despite sharp price declines, many stocks, particularly in the consumer staples sector and speculative "narrative stocks," remain overvalued. Meanwhile, he identified select banking stocks as one of the few areas where investors can still find value. «Just because the stock has corrected does not mean anything in isolation. Has it corrected to the right level in terms of value? That is the question to ask,» he asserted.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Here are the top stock recommendations for today by NeoTrader’s Raja Venkatraman, Ankush Bajaj, and MarketSmith India. Buy above: ₹785 | Stop loss: ₹763 | Target: ₹885 The capital goods sector is going through a rough patch, but this counter has shown some resolve.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. After facing persistent selling pressure in the past sessions, the Indian stock market staged a strong recovery on Wednesday, bringing much-needed relief to investors. The benchmark indices closed on a positive note, signalling renewed optimism and a shift in sentiment.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s benchmark stock market index, Nifty 50, ended its 10-day losing streak with a broad-based rebound, closing up 1.2% at 22,337. All sectoral indices posted gains, signalling widespread buying interest.