The government’s fiscal policy since the pandemic began has prioritised growth and fiscal transparency over fiscal consolidation. The Budget 2022 presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman just did that. However, macro risks of executing the budget proposals remain a key concern among investors. The Union Budget 2022 indicated not only is the government likely to miss the FY22 fiscal deficit target but the target for FY23 is also pegged at a relatively high 6.4% of GDP. The difference is largely on account of a massive capex push and divestment estimates. This underlines the government's ..read more

While 2021 was all about growth and recovery, the focus of central bankers across the world has shifted towards inflation and monetary policy normalization given the context of US Fed Tapering and potential hardening of interest rates in 2022. So, will these worries amid rising Omicron variant of covid cases derail equities rally going ahead. To discuss that I am in conversation with Unmesh Kulkarni – Managing Director Senior Advisor, Julius Baer India ..read more

Indian equities are ending 2021 with over 20% gains outperforming other peers in emerging markets. Despite the brutal second wave of covid and rising inflation, markets hit record highs multiple times during the year led by factors such as decline in covid cases in the second half of the year, a significant pickup in the pace of vaccination, and the consequent sharp recovery in economic activity. But now, as we head into 2022, the world’s major central banks have started prioritizing inflation control over growth acceleration. So, will liquidity tapering by global central banks in 2022 punctur ..read more

The real estate sector made a smart recovery despite the pandemic in 2021 with segments like residential outperforming. After facing a series of structural reforms like demonetisation, GST and RERA during the last decade, the pandemic was another blow for the real estate sector. But the sector is gradually emerging. The disruption caused by the pandemic is slowing settling. So, what will be the big trends in the real estate sector in 2022? Will home prices correct in 2022? To discuss that I am in conversation with Rajani Sinha, Chief Economist, Knight Frank India ..read more

Markets have entered into an extremely volatile phase. The Nifty ended its six-month winning streak in November, ending 4% lower, pulling back 8% from the record highs of October. Much of the market anxiety is led by global factors but a big fundraise in the primary market also had put some pressure on liquidity. While economic activities are gradually picking up, the threat of a new covid 19 variant Omicron has emerged. So amid these mixed signals and volatility, which way will markets swing. To discuss that and more, I am in conversation with Jitendra Arora, Equity Fund Manager, ICICI Pruden ..read more

As Indian markets have seen a robust increase in trading volume with equities hitting record high multiple times post-pandemic, brokerage firms have made great business. Bank-brokerages reported a strong uptick in earnings in the last fiscal but The retail broking segment has seen a significant disruption in the last few years due to the growing prominence of discount brokerages. So, how have competitively priced offerings of discount brokers and the no-frill basic accounts and services resulted in the realignment of the pricing strategy across the industry. To discuss that I am in conversatio ..read more

Do you know modern technology and mathematical computations can make trading decision for profit by breaking down very complex data and eliminating the emotional decision-making that can occur during trading. That’s called Quantitative trading or quant strategy of trading. Quantitative traders take a trading technique and create a model of it using mathematics, and then they develop a computer program that applies the model to historical market data. The model is then backtested and optimized. Quantitative trading algorithms are customized to evaluate different parameters related to a stock. T ..read more

Post pandemic, re-rating of real estate stocks has surprised markets as Nifty Realty index has outperformed the midcaps by more than 60% in the past year. The pandemic played a catalyst in accelerating market share gains into the hands of organised real estate players. Boosted by economic recovery and robust stock market wealth creation, the top eight cities in India are seeing a strong growth momentum in real estate sector. So, how did the festive season pane out for real estate companies? What are the big investment trends in the sector? Tune in now ..read more

Post pandemic, re-rating of real estate stocks has surprised markets as Nifty Realty index has outperformed the midcaps by more than 60% in the past year. The pandemic played a catalyst in accelerating market share gains into the hands of organised real estate players. Boosted by economic recovery and robust stock market wealth creation, the top eight cities in India are seeing a strong growth momentum in real estate sector. So, how did the festive season pane out for real estate companies? What are the big investment trends in the sector? Tune in now ..read more

Mint and HT Smartcast wish all our listeners a happy Diwali and a prosperous New Year. Markets have ended the year Samvat 2077 with best gains in 13 years despite covid led lockdowns and uncertainties which had deterred economic growth. Riding on abundant liquidity, investors made nearly 40% profit in equities this year, the best returns compared to other asset classes. In comparison, mid and smallcaps have done exceedingly well in Samvat 2077. BSE Midcap surged 61% while BSE SmallCap jumped 79% in the year. So, how does Samvat 2078 look for markets? Which themes are likely to play out in the ..read more