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In Union Budget FY2019-20, government has proposed to increase import duty on gold and other precious metals from 10% to 12.5%.  The import duty on gold dore has been hiked to 11.8..

India’s trade deficit remained little changed in the month of Jun-19 coming in at USD 15.3 bn (vs. USD 15.4 bn in May) in line with market expectations. Both exports and..

Investment is allocation of savings with the main objective of gaining some returns. An investor decides to invest his/her earnings instead of keeping them in lockers with the aim of cr..

CPI marginally increased to 3.2% YoY in Jun’19 from 3.1% in May’19, in line with street estimates. Headline inflation continues to remain at lower than the target range of 4..

India’s industrial output – as measured by Index of Industrial Production (IIP) – grew by 3.1% YoY in May’19 from 4.3% in Apr’19, below street estimates ..

After two crucial events on Wednesday this week - (a) FOMC minutes for the policy meeting conducted on June 18-19 and (b) Fed Chair Powell testimony at the House of ..

PPF is a fixed return investment savings scheme offered by Government of India, introduced in 1968 by the National Savings Institute of Ministry of Finance. One can open a PPF account i..

The budget for FY19 by the FM also placed emphasis on disinvestment of CPSEs (Central Public Sector Enterprises), in order to raise revenue from non-tax sources, given the modest growth..

The FM announced a desire in budget to increase minimum public shareholding in listed entities from 25% to 35%. This will impact all companies with 65% and higher promoter shareholding...

Deepening of corporate debt market   To deepen the corporate tri-party repo market in corporate debt securities, the government will work with the regulators, RBI/SEBI, to enable..

CAD narrowed sharply on a sequential basis to USD 4.6 bn (0.7% of GDP) in Q4 from USD 17.7 bn (2.7% of GDP) in Q3 FY2019, and USD 13.0 bn (1.8% of GDP) seen in Q4 FY2018. The number was..

The exit of RBI’s Deputy Governor Dr. Viral Acharya is not surprising. Though it was a rumor, but market had anticipated it after the resignation of former Governor Dr. Urjit Pate..

Pension fund managers under National Pension Scheme are responsible for managing the retirement savings of the investors under four asset classes – E, G, C and A. The pension fun..

Interim Budget for FY20 will be announced on 5 July, 2019. Following items are market expectations on the direct taxation front: Make 80C exemption limit higher - Section 80C li..

There are two types of accounts under the NPS which are tier-I and tier-II. Tier-I is the default account and Tier-2 is a voluntary addition. Table below explains two types of accounts ..

In April 2008, SEBI informed brokers through a circular that a client's unpaid securities and collateral in the form of securities shall NOT be used for purposes other than meeting hi..

Offer Details Price band Rs.970 - 973 per equity share (discount of Rs.97 to eligible employees) Offer Open Date Jun 24, 2019 Offer Close D..

Trade deficit steady at US$ 15.4bn Though trade deficit remained steady in May’19, recent decline in oil prices and weak domestic demand implies imports will moderate. Export..

The minutes of the June Monetary policy Committee (MPC) meeting, released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week shows that concerns about a slowdown in growth, illustra..

US Federal Reserve left its lending rates unchanged at 2.25%-2.5%, in line with street expectation. Fed statement was dovish primarily on inflation, neutral on growth; however, in the p..

Fed will likely leave its current policy rate unchanged tonight. The Fed may downgrade its assessment of business investment but not of the jobs market, even as it notes the decline in ..

India's industrial output picked up pace, to a six-month high of 3.4% in Apr’19 as compare to the 4.5% in Apr’18 and a revised figure of 0.4% YoY for March 2019, mainly on..

National Pension Scheme (NPS) is defined as voluntary contribution based pension system, introduced by Government of India through Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFR..

Determining the optimum mix of assets to get desired rate of returns is the primary purpose of investing in a PMS. Therefore, asset allocation becomes one of the most important facets. ..

The RBI on Friday issued a revised circular for lenders to deal with stressed loans, over two months after the previous framework was quashed by the Supreme Court.The new rules are appl..

The PMS charges various fees for the unique skills and knowledge they apply in managing its clients'portfolio and taking investment decisions on their behalf. The following are the cha..

Portfolio Management Services help individuals and institutions to put their investible surplus to meet the investment objectives with certain amount of risk. It is primarily for High N..

On June 4 DHFL missed its interest payments on certain NCDs. It downgraded to ‘default’ by all major rating agencies yesterday. CRISIL and ICRA assigned ‘D’ rati..

India's GDP growth plunged to 20-quarter low to 5.8% in Q4 FY19. With this, the full year FY19 GDP growth comes to 6.8% (5-year low) compared 7.2% in FY18. GVA growth for FY19 stood at ..

McLeod has been in troubled waters for a while now. Company’s shares continued to reel under pressure, hitting over a decade low on the BSE on back of heavy volumes due to it face..

In our previous blog, we have discussed the insurance premiums and its different types. Let us now understand some performance indicators of insurance companies which one should consid..

“Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent” ― John Maynard Keynes Human being is irrational but when this irrationality is at the cost of one’s..

Insurance Premiums In our previous blog, we have discussed the operations of insurance companies and how these companies are able to make money. In this blog, we will discuss regardin..

NSE is considering placing caps on sectoral weights in the benchmark Nifty 50 index in order to provide more diversity and reducing sector concentration. Nifty 50 represents 13 sectors ..

In our previous blogs, we have discussed the different types of insurance which are available in the market. To read the first Blog (Insurance - Introduction) in this Series. Clic..

Investors wishing for above-average returns from their savings (for example: above the FD rates), may opt for portfolio management services, or PMS, offered by various entities register..

Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) reported that Domestic air passenger traffic plunged by 4.5% consisted of 10.99 million passengers in Apr’19 as compared to 11.51 milli..

In the first blog of the series, we discussed why insurance is required. To read the first Blog (Insurance - Introduction) in this Series. Click here Let us now understand various types..

Spencer's Board recently approved the proposal for acquisition of entire 100% stake in Nature’s Basket Limited (NBL) for cash consideration of Rs. 300 cr, subject to requisite app..

The minutes from the May 1-2 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) May’19 monetary policy meeting showed policymakers remained firmly committed to a “patient” policy ap..

What’s the deal? PC Jewelers recently announced that it would demerge its Export Division and merge with its wholly owned subsidiary - PCJ Gems & Jewellery Limited. Company c..

India’s trade deficit for Apr’19 stood at $15.33bn as against $10.89bn in Mar’19 above consensus expectation of US$13.5bn, widened to a five-month high in April due to..

April CPI on Monday came in below RBI's medium-term target of 4% for the ninth consecutive month. At 2.92%, inflation in April was only 6 bps higher than in March and marginally lower t..

What's the deal?   Siemens AG's (global operations) last week approved the spinoff of its 'Gas & Power" business into a new independent entity - Siemens Gas & Power (SGP)..

Index of Industrial Production (IIP) – entered negative territory in March, contracting to 0.1% compared to 0.1% in Feb’19, below consensus expectation of 1.3%, the first mo..

Risk and uncertainty are associated with life in some of the other ways. These risks and uncertainties are increasing daily because of the increment in the speed of life. For example, i..

The new, 'tighter' insider trading regulations that took effect on April 1 are giving Indian companies a tough time in the ongoing earnings season. What has changed? SEBI has extended..

What’s the deal? Ruchi Soya is one of India’s largest manufacturers of edible oil and owns a large number of plants and top brands such as Nutrela, Mahakosh, Sunrich, Ruchi..

The Federal Reserve officials unanimously voted to keep interest rates unchanged in the target between 2.25% and 2.5% in the May monetary policy review. Moreover, the US Fed Chair comme..

In a statement last week, the White House Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that five countries - India, China, Japan, South Korea and Turkey will no longer be exempt from U..

NSE announced that 34 stocks will be excluded from the F&O segment for not meeting the enhanced eligibility criteria as set up by SEBI in April 2018. This is the..

What's the deal? Blackstone has entered into an agreement with Ashok Goel Trust to purchase a majority stake (51%) in Essel Propack Limited (EPL) at a purchas..

Background...KPIT has listed its engineering business on the exchanges on 22nd April. It may be recalled here that merger took place in Jan 2019. Earlier this week, ..

   Offer Details Price band Rs 212-215 Per Equity Share Offer Open Date Apr 24, 2019 Offer Close Date Apr 26, 2019 ..

The Cement demand growth in most regions has been better in April than in March. Another round of price hikes of 20-25 Rs/Kg was seen in all regions in first week of April. Even though ..

India’s trade deficit for Apr’19 stood at $15.33bn as against $10.89bn in Mar’19 above consensus expectation of US$13.5bn, widened to a five-month high in April due ..

Index of Industrial Production (IIP) – grew by 0.1% YoY in Feb’19 compared to 1.7% in Jan’19, below consensus expectation of 2%. Manufacturing output contracted by 0.3..

Headline number    CPI accelerated to 2.9% in Mar’19 as against 2.6% in Feb’19 and market expectation of 2.8%.  Driven by food inflation...   Food..

What’s the deal? Baring Private Equity Asia entered into an agreement with NIIT Ltd and other promoters to acquire their 30.2% stake in NITEC (NIIT Ltd: 23.22%, Pawar family: 3.4..

MF AUM increased in Mar’19 despite outflow in liquid funds Overall, the mutual fund (MF) industry’s assets under management (AUM) increased by Rs63200 cr MoM, he..

  In a strategic move, Indiabulls Housing Finance (IBULHSGFIN) has announced a merger with 569-branch strong south-India based regional bank Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LAKSHVILAS)  ..

  Offer Details Price band Rs 533-538 Per Equity Share Offer Open Date Apr 05, 2019 Offer Close Date Apr 09, 2019 Lot Si..

   IPO Details: Offer Details Price band Rs 877-880 Per Equity Share Offer Open Date Apr 3, 2019 Offer Close Date Apr 5, 20..

  Offer Details Price band Rs 17-19 Per Equity Share Offer Open Date Mar 29, 2019 Offer Close Date Apr 03, 2019 Lot Size..

What's the deal? IDEA has announced issuance of equity shares on rights basis with 87 equity shares for every 38 equity shares held and issue price of 12.50 per share (massive 57% di..

The Board of Directors of Quick Heal approved a share buyback for its investors on Mar 5, 2019. The details of the buyback include: Ex Date: 25 April 2019 Buyback price: Rs. 275 Prem..

  Offer Details Embassy Office Parks REIT Offer Size Rs. 4750 crore Offer Open Date 18th March, 2019 Offer Close Date 20th M..

  Offer Details MSTC Ltd. Price band Rs. 121-128 Offer Open Date 13th March, 2019 Offer Close Date 15th March, 2019 ..

The Board of Directors of Tech Mahindra Ltd. approved a share buyback for its investors on Feb 21, 2019. The details of the buyback include: Ex-Date: March 5th, 2019 Record Date: Marc..

Recently Government approved capital infusion of Rs. 48,239 cr into 12 PSU bank. This step is taken to aid them in meeting capital requirements and accelerate lending to boost growth (e..

  Every trader during the process of opening a demat account is liable to sign a Power of Attorney (POA). Such intricate named documents can result in rise of many questions and c..

Bharat 22 ETF (exchange-traded fund) has opened a window to allow in new investors on 14 February 2019 with an issue size of Rs. 3500 crore. The issue is being managed by ICICI Pru..

Introduction Natural gas(NG) is widely used in daily life. It supports the American economy and also is major producer for NG. Oil & Gas industry accounts for 7.6% contr..

50 companies of Nifty are selected from the universe of NIFTY 100 based on free-float market capitalisation and liquid companies having average impact cost of 0.50% or less for 90% of t..

Prabhat Dairy Ltd (PDL) announced on January 21, 2019 that the company has entered into definitive agreements with Tirumala Milk Products Private Limited (“Purchaser”), a wh..

KPIT and Birlasoft are merging together to create two companies in the ‘Automotive Engineering and Mobility Solutions’ (KPIT Tech) and ‘Digital Business IT Services&rs..

The data... IIP growth surprised sharply to the downside growing by only 0.5% in November-2018 as compared to 8.4% in October-2018. The weakness was fairly broad-based with ma..

In September’18, Government announced that 3 state-owned banks - Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will be merged to create country's third largest lender as part of eff..

The Board of Directors of BHEL approved a share buyback for its investors on Oct 25, 2018. The details of the buyback include:  Record Date: November 6th, 2018 Buyback price: Rs...

The Board of Directors of Cochin Shipyard Ltd. approved a share buyback for its investors on Oct 16, 2018. The details of the buyback include: Ex-Date: October 30th, 2018 Buyback pric..

Nifty's down about 15% since its year high made in August end. Nifty bank is down by 12% and NBFC stocks down by 15% on average and 74% for a company like DHFL, since their year highs. ..

CPI data was released last week and the inflation was at 3.77% in September compared to 3.69% in August rising only by 8 basis points, against forecasted level of 4%.  The minor in..

The Board of Directors of Just Dial LTD. approved a share buyback for its investors on Jul 20, 2018. The details of the buyback include: Record Date: October 12th, 2018 Buyback price:..

The Board of Directors of KIOCL (INDIA) LTD. approved a share buyback for its investors on Sep 18, 2018. The details of the buyback include: Record Date: October 1st, 2018 Buyback pri..

The Board of Directors of REDINGTON (INDIA) LTD. approved a share buyback for its investors on Sep 17, 2018. The details of the buyback include: Ex Date: September 27, 2018 Buyback pr..

Let us understand the variables which affect the value of the bonds. It depends on many factors such as coupon rate, market rate of return, maturity period, and redemption payment. As t..

This post is in continuation of our series on Introduction To Swap. Let us now understand some basic swap arrangements such as currency swaps and interest rate swaps. Currency Swaps ..

Let us today discuss about ‘Swaps’ in finance. Swaps are simply financial agreements to exchange cash flows. These are simply private arrangements between parties to exchang..

This post is in continuation of our series on crypto currencies. In the previous post, we discussed about the aspects that influence investor’s opinion on crypto currencies and..

To Read the first Blog (Introduction to options) in this Series Click here.  To Read the Second Blog (Working of Options) in this Series Click here. To Read the Th..

In our  blogs Series, we gave a brief introduction as to what options are & Working of Options. To Read the first Blog (Introduction to options) in this Series Click..

In one of our previous blogs, we gave a brief introduction as to what options are. To Read the first Blog in this Series Click here  Let us now understand how options work. Supp..

Options are contracts which give the holder the right to buy/sell the underlying asset at a predetermined amount (strike price/exercise price) before/at the expiry (depending upon wheth..

Recently NSE announced that some of the equity derivatives would be physically settled. This post tries to bring clarity over some blurred clauses regarding the same. A major query is ..

  This post is in continuation of our series on crypto currencies. Decoding Crypto currencies: (Part 1) Types of Crypto Currencies (Part 2)  In the earlier post, we talk..

NSE recently asked its clients to get ready for derivatives trading till 11.55 pm from October. Reports are that NSE has written to SEBI seeking approval to extend trading time for deri..

Earlier, in one of our blogs, we have discussed about Venture Capitalists (VC). Let us look further and understand the difference between VC and Private Equity (PE). There are several ..

Let us first understand what is meant by ‘venture capital’. Venture Capital is nothing but a form of financing provided by firms/funds to early stage or emerging firms that ..

This post is in continuation of our series on cryptocurrencies.   In the earlier post we talked about the origin of crypto currencies, their features and drawbacks, how fun..

Let us today understand what does ‘leverage’ mean and its application in financial management. Leverage is nothing but the responsiveness or influence of one financial var..

Crypto currencies are a global phenomenon unknown to many people today. There is a lot said and understood and much left ignored or misunderstood due to lack of awareness. Let us try ..

Let us first understand what Minimum Support Price (MSP) is. It is nothing but the price at which government purchases crops from the farmers, irrespective of the market price. This act..

The stocks that are listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) have been classified into various groups depending upon what they represent. Each series/group represents a different category ..

Drop in a currency’s value can be either due to market forces of supply and demand or monetary policy steps taken by central banks. When this fall is due to central banks, it is k..

Various corporate actions have different impact on the stock prices. While the actions of the company do certainly matter, the news about the company, its fundamentals and the technical..

Corporate actions are events pertaining to a company that has an impact on its stock price movements. These actions may have a direct or an indirect impact on the share price. It affect..

There is always a bleak chance for investors to not receive securities they have bought, or not receive proceeds from the sale of stocks from a defaulter/expelled broker member of NSE o..

Placing a trade order seems easy enough: Click the ‘buy’ button to enter a trade and hit ‘sell’ when it’s time to get out. While it is possible to execute ..

Investment and risk taking go hand in hand. Whenever one is investing his/her hard-earned money in the hope of generating higher returns, there is a possibility of huge gains or even bi..

Public Provident fund is a long term debt oriented investment scheme backed by the Government of India that offers attractive interest rates and returns that are exempted from tax. Intr..

Traders have two broad categories available to invest their money in – equity and debt. The two asset classes are always in competition to attract the maximum amount of funds. But..

What is open interest?   Open Interest is defined as total no of outstanding derivative contract (all positions in options and future contract for all expiries taken together &nd..

The new SEBI circular allowed the stock exchanges to extend the timings for the Equity derivatives trading to be held till 11.55 pm as compared to 3.30 pm earlier w.e.f. October 1 this ..

Growth with employment opportunities is important to sustain upswing in the GDP for a developing economy like India. With working age population expected to increase by 1.3 million eve..

We recently discussed different sources of risk vis-à-vis market risk, interest rate risk, inflation risk,business risk and financial risk. The first three sources, i.e., market ..

  Investors invest for anticipated future returns, but these returns can rarely be predicted precisely. There may be difference between expected return and realized return and the..

Today the theory which we are going to study is the most basic and more than 100 years old, it still remains the foundation of Technical Analysis. This theory was developed by Charles H..

  The phenomenon which we are going to study is so common and simple that we just ignore how it can affect your day to day life decision. It is most solid tested phenomena in th..

The terms ‘investment’ and ‘speculation’ are overlapping and used interchangeably; however, the two are quite different. Speculation is an investment of funds wi..

It is occasional to find investor investing their entire savings in a single security. Instead, they invest in a group of securities. Such a group is called a portfolio. Creation of por..

There is a proven investment quote:  Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. In this quote, the eggs are individual investments and the basket is your overall investment portf..

Equity analysis involves a lot of technical and in-depth analysis of the expected behaviour of the risk and returns with respect to a security. An individual investor may undertake th..