Equity Markets

India faces current account, inflation risks as global brokerages assess impact of US–Israel–Iran conflict

Brent crude has moved toward the $80 per barrel mark amid heightened geopolitical risk. Given that India imports more than 85% of its crude requirements and relies heavily on Middle Eastern suppliers — with a significant portion of shipments transiting the Strait of Hormuz — sustained higher oil prices would raise the import bill and widen the current account deficit

Can Indian markets repeat past March gains amid rising risks?

Sensex and Nifty have posted gains in March in eight of the past ten years. In March 2025, both indices advanced about 6 percent, while March 2024 saw gains of 1.6 percent each. March 2023 recorded marginal increases, and in March 2022, both benchmarks rose over 4 percent.

Beyond Indian equities: Multi asset, global stocks, commercial real estate seen as alternate return avenues

Vishal Gupta, Alternative Investment Fund Manager at ICICI Prudential Asset Management; Ketul Sakhpara, Founder of Bayford Capital; and Anil Rego, Founder and CIO of Right Horizons, shared their perspectives on alternative avenues capable of delivering equity-like outcomes.

Market outlook for 2026 moves from narratives to execution: Chockalingam Narayanan

Speaking at the PMS AIF World panel on the outlook for 2026, Narayanan said India remained largely flattish in dollar terms in 2025, even as several global markets delivered strong performance driven by artificial intelligence-led rallies. Markets such as Korea and Taiwan benefited from a narrow set of dominant companies, while others like Brazil gained from their position in the commodity value chain.

AI a wake-up call, adaptability key as markets navigate volatility, say veteran investors

Ramesh Damani, market veteran and long-term investor; Madhu Kela, investor and allocator; and Vijay Kedia, investor and stock picker said while markets are going through a speed bump, the larger Rising Bharat narrative remains intact, with change and adaptability shaping the next phase.

How could one make money in this AI-disrupted choppy market? Here's what Madhusudan Kela suggests

Prominent investor and Founder and Managing Director of MK Ventures, Madhu Kela, said navigating today’s markets requires heightened awareness as rapid developments in artificial intelligence continue to reshape the investment landscape.

Ramesh Damani flags defence, metals and pharma as investing opportunities beyond AI

Veteran investor Ramesh Damani said sectors such as defence, metals, mining and pharmaceuticals may present opportunities even as global markets remain focused on AI-led themes.

Advance-decline ratio hits four-month high in February

The average advance-to-decline ratio of all BSE-listed stocks stood at 1.03 in February, the highest level since October 2025. Prior to February, the ratio had remained below 1 for three straight months, with readings of 0.85 in January, 0.97 in December and 0.89 in November.

India slips to fourth in MSCI EM Index as weight falls below 14%

China currently holds the largest weight in the index at 26.58 percent, followed by Taiwan at 21.04 percent and South Korea at 15.65 percent. Brazil accounts for 4.63 percent, while other markets together make up 18.75 percent of the index weight.

FIIs turn net buyers in February with biggest monthly inflows in 17 months

FIIs have so far bought nearly $2.14 billion in secondary markets and $299 million in primary markets, taking total net inflows to about $2.44 billion. This is the highest monthly inflow since September 2024, when investments had reached nearly $5.95 billion.

Nifty IT Index heads for worst February in 23 years amid AI disruption concerns

Among individual stocks, Infosys has fallen 21 percent so far in 2026, TCS has declined 19 percent and Wipro has lost 24 percent

EM funds remain underweight on India in January, Korea holds marginal overweight

India’s allocation stood 2 percentage points below benchmark weights in January

Citrini flags contract cancellations at TCS, Infosys, Wipro as AI coding costs collapse

India’s IT services sector exports over $200 billion annually and is the single largest contributor to the country’s current account surplus, offsetting its persistent goods trade deficit. It says the sector’s model is built on the cost advantage of Indian developers compared with their American counterparts.

Banks’ net profit crosses Rs 1 lakh crore for first time in December quarter

Nearly half of the total earnings came from three lenders — State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. Within the private banking segment, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank together contributed 63 percent of total private sector net profit, while State Bank of India alone accounted for 40 percent of total PSU bank profit.

Nifty 50 December quarter profit falls 8.1% YoY; revenue growth turns double-digit

Aggregate net profit of 37 Nifty 50 companies fell 8.1 percent from a year earlier, the first negative growth since the September 2022 quarter. However, topline growth turned positive, with revenue rising 10 percent during the quarter, the first double-digit growth since the March 2023 quarter.

IPO market remains subdued in 2026 as listing gains moderate

Of the five IPOs listed so far, four — Amagi Media Labs, Shadowfax Tech, Fractal Analytics and Aye Finance — debuted marginally below their issue price. Only Bharat Coking Coal listed above its issue price, delivering gains of 76 percent on debut.

FIIs dump Rs 10,956 cr in IT stocks in early February; holdings at 4-year low

FIIs’ combined investment in IT stocks declined to Rs 4.49 lakh crore as of February 15, the lowest level in four years. This compares with Rs 5.34 lakh crore at the end of January 2026.

With overseas MF headroom tight, distributors turn to GIFT City for global access

At the Moneycontrol MF Summit, experts said the $7 billion overseas cap, exhausted since 2022, has redirected unmet global diversification demand to GIFT City IFSC routes.

Small caps move into stock-specific phase after sharp swings

Several fund managers said the extraordinary run between 2020 and 2024 was driven by low base effects and liquidity, but the next few years will require sharper bottom-up selection.

Long-term discipline, not just multibaggers, drives wealth creation: Ashish Gupta

Long-term wealth creation depends more on discipline, risk management and time in the market than on chasing multibaggers, Ashish Gupta, Chief Investment Officer of Axis AMC, said at the Moneycontrol Mutual Fund Summit in Ahmedabad.

Clean Max IPO set to deliver multifold gains to promoters, early investors

Clean Max specialises in delivering net-zero and decarbonisation solutions. As of July 2025, it had 2.54 GW of operational, owned and managed capacity and 2.53 GW of contracted capacity yet to be executed.

Generative AI fears trigger Rs 50,000 crore notional loss for MFs

So far in February, Infosys has declined 16.5 percent, TCS has fallen 14 percent and HCL Technologies has dropped 14.2 percent. Tech Mahindra has declined 12 percent, while Persistent Systems and Wipro have fallen around 10 percent each. The Nifty IT index is down 14 percent during the period.