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Media will likely end up as the worst performing sector in FY25, followed by energy, PSU banks and realty, each falling in double digits while defence, financial services and healthcare could end up as the winners with gains in two digits.Nifty Media has fallen by 20% on the financial year-to-date basis, while Nifty Energy, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Oil & Gas and Nifty Realty have fallen by 19%, 18%, 12% and 12%, respectively in the said period. Others including Nifty PSE, Nifty Infrastructure, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Commodities, Nifty Auto, Nifty Housing and Nifty MNC declined between 5% and 2%. <iframe title="Sectoral Laggards" aria-label="Bar Chart" id="datawrapper-chart-6m4m1" src="https://et-infographics.indiatimes.com/graphs/6m4m1/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="599" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}();</script>On the other hand, defence, financial services and healthcare have not just outperformed Nifty with returns of 22%, 12% and 10%, respectively, they are also chart toppers. Other Nifty outperformers are Nifty India Consumption (2.06) Nifty India Digital, Nifty Bank, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty IT, Nifty Services Sector, Nifty Metal, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Pharma which have gained between 2% and 9%. <iframe title="Sectors which advanced in FY25 " aria-label="Bar Chart" id="datawrapper-chart-l0yPK" src="https://et-infographics.indiatimes.com/graphs/l0yPK/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="561" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}();</script>Also Read: Over half of NSE's Rs 1,000 cr+ m-cap stocks drop in FY25. 10 smallcaps hit hardestIn this period, the headline Nifty index has gained by 0.81% while conceding most of its gains since October after recording a lifetime high of 26,277.35. What’s brewingWhile some sectors were able to brave the weak market sentiments that have prevailed in the past six months, others could not. Their fall could be a combination of unfavourable sentiments, and sector and company specific issues. Media, for example, has suffered weak earnings in 9MFY25, witnessing an 8% decline in profit after tax (PAT), Motilal Oswal Financial Services' (MOFSL) review note revealed. Similarly, stocks in the Oil & Gas sector under MOFSL’s coverage universe reported a 33% fall in their 9M earnings.Stocks of PSU Banks have fallen despite reporting strong numbers. Against Nifty50’s modest 4% PAT growth in 9MFY25, the net profit of public lenders have surged by 23% in the same period, MOFSL said."In the banking space, PSU banks have been significantly beaten as compared to the private sector banks, with the Nifty PSU Bank index down by almost 9% YTD against 1% correction in the Nifty Private Bank Index. Overall, investor sentiments appear to be more favourable towards the large-cap private sector banking names as opposed to PSU banks with the exception of SBI," Aamar Deo Singh, Senior Vice President-Equity, Commodity & Currency at Angel One told ETMarkets.He attributed the ongoing phenomenon to overall declining growth trends in PSU bank stocks along with concerns regarding NPAs, future credit growth and rising competition with private sector banks. Singh said that these factors are collectively making the current environment for PSU banks challenging and forcing investors to rethink about investing in them. "Going forward, one needs to be selective in this category," he warned.Also Read: PSU bank stocks crack up to 34% in the past one year. Is it time to exit?PSU/PSE and infrastructure stocks have softened following a great run for the past many years as investors booked profits on valuation concerns and lack of similar promise (they enjoyed before) owing to flat government capex allocation in this year's budget. The 3-year returns by the BSE PSU index is still 99%, despite an 18% erosion in the past 6 months. Likewise, Nifty Infra index's 3-year returns are recorded at 63% while it has seen a 14% slip over the past six months.Notwithstanding a 30% fall over the past 6 months, Nifty India Defence has been the top performer in the pack. Defence stocks have had a stellar run in the last couple of years amid the government’s strong focus on the sector. That had kept the stocks going until they hit the valuation wall. While financial services stocks are second best in terms of gains, they have fallen less (-1.5%) compared to many of their peers in the past six months. Healthcare has been among the top performing sectors and has seen major earnings upgrades. The 9MFY25 PAT growth registered by the sector is 23%. Pockets of opportunitiesMOFSL has a positive view on metals, NBFCs, private banks and technology and expects them to lead the incremental profits for FY26E.For Nilesh Shah, banking and financial services is one sector where one can look to add during this correction. The valuations are now trading way below historical average for many of the private banks after the FPI selling, he said. Moreover, the NPA cycle is under control and with the RBI improving liquidity, it will push up deposit as well as credit growth, the MD of Kotak AMC said. The second space where he is bullish is consumer discretionary space.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)

There’s still two weeks to go before US President Donald Trump’s April 2 deadline for imposing reciprocal taxes on imports. But New Delhi already seems to have gone into damage-control mode, anticipating the worst.Over 24 hours last week, two of India’s largest wireless carriers, whose billionaire owners were staunchly opposed until now to Elon Musk getting a free pass to enter their market, independently announced partnerships with his Starlink Inc. A top government minister even posted (and then deleted) a welcome message on X, even though the satellite broadband service is yet to obtain local regulatory approvals.Narendra Modi didn’t respond to the opposition Congress Party’s allegations that the deals were orchestrated by his administration “to buy goodwill with Trump.” But throw in the flurry of news last month around the prime minister’s visit to the White House about how India might allow imports of Tesla Inc.’s cars at a much lower duty than the 110% it charges currently, and it’s pretty clear that New Delhi is changing its tune on trade and tycoons.In the past 10 years, Modi’s economic strategy has relied heavily on a small team of national champions. To protect them from foreign competition, tariffs that in 2011 had almost fallen to China’s 7% levels were raised to 12% by 2022, among the highest in the world.This preference for shielding oligarchs with hefty tariffs, favourable government contracts, as well as nontariff barriers like stifling rules for foreign-backed commerce, has been pretty well-known internationally. Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative during Trump 1.0, kept the biographies of about 15 of them on his desk while negotiating with New Delhi. As he noted in his 2023 book, “In predicting Indian government positions, I would look to the interests of these men.”Academic research has corrobrated the growing heft of the richest businessmen — Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani — as well as the Mumbai-based Tata Group, cement czar Kumar Mangalam Birla and telecom tycoon Sunil Mittal. The top five groups’ share of nonfinancial assets rose from 10% in 1991 to 18% by 2021.The expansion picked up steam after Modi first became prime minister in 2014. That’s when the conglomerates “started acquiring larger and larger shares within the sectors where they were present,” according to Viral Acharya, a former central bank deputy governor who now teaches at the New York University. “Given the high tariffs, Big-Five groups do not have to compete with international peers” in many industries, Acharya noted in his 2023 study. Nor do they have to test their muscles overseas. They garner most of their revenues at home, in areas ranging from telecoms, media and retail, to ports, airports, building materials and autos.Under Trump 2.0, India’s so-called Billionaire Raj could grind to a halt. The Modi government has already started preparing domestic industry for April 2, with the commerce minister asking exporters to “come out of their protectionist mindset.” They’re not the ones who need a change of heart, though. The state has a strong political imperative for a course correction.In pushing India to buy more from America, the Trump administration has highlighted India’s 39% tariffs on agricultural products, eight times what the US charges. But Modi has a testy relationship with farmers in North India. They have rejected his offer of a more market-based pricing regime and continue to agitate for greater state protection. In a country where nearly half of the workforce is still in farming, any trade concessions on agriculture may be politically expensive. It may be safer to push the burden of Trump’s tantrums to local billionaires.But the tycoons will also lobby to protect their turf. According to media reports, India has asked manufacturers to replace Chinese-made parts and raw material with American alternatives. That’s a costly proposition. If the Modi administration pushes this line strongly, there’s bound to be resistance. Already there are murmurs in bureaucratic circles that the world’s most-populous nation has aligned itself too strongly with the West, allowing itself to be used as a pawn in US-China rivalry. Maybe it’s time to mend ties in the neighbourhood instead. If Tesla is to be given a red-carpet welcome, why not clear the long-pending application by China’s BYD Co. to make electric cars in India — with a local partner? That’s just one example. Any missteps in defining and protecting India’s national interests may upend an entire model in which a small group of national champions were galvanized to recreate an economic success rivaling China — but standing at an adversarial distance to it. That narrative is nowhere close to fruition. At 13%, factory output has a smaller share of gross domestic product than at any time since 1960. Meanwhile, the trade deficit with China has doubled in the past decade, a reflection of India’s growing dependence on the larger economy. Before Modi could do anything about that $100 billion annual shortfall, Trump is out to crunch India’s near-$50 billion trade surplus with the US, the South Asian nation’s biggest overseas market. It couldn’t come at a worse time. Domestic demand is slowing sharply, and stock markets are reeling under a $1.3 trillion rout. New Delhi’s best hope is to buy time for broader trade negotiations with Washington by delaying the threat of reciprocal tariffs, especially on politically sensitive agricultural products.The sudden enthusiasm for the businesses of Trump’s head of government efficiency has a clear message for India’s coddled billionaires: They’re being cut loose.

The BSE benchmark index Sensex jumped 1,131 points to revisit the 75,000 level on Tuesday, and the NSE Nifty surged 1.45 per cent, tracking a bullish trend in global equitiesStocks that were in focus include names like Paytm, which rose 8% and Cipla, which rose 1.1% and Bajaj Finserv, whose shares declined 1.34% on Tuesday.Here's what Riyank Arora, Technical Analyst at Mehta Equities, recommends investors should do with these stocks when the market resumes trading today.PaytmPaytm is facing strong resistance at 770 and 800, with a breakout level at 728. If the stock moves above this level with high trading volume, it may go up further. Strong support is at 710, which should be used as a stop loss. If it crosses 770, it could rise toward 800.CiplaCipla is showing signs of breaking out above 1500, with resistance at 1520 and 1540. The stock has strong support at 1450, which should act as a stop loss. If it stays above 1500, it may continue to rise. A move above 1540 could push the price even higher.Bajaj FinservBajaj Finserv is currently weak, and the chart suggests a negative trend, with possible downside levels at 1820-1800. The stop loss for short trades should be at 1910, as moving above this level could change the trend.The stock is under selling pressure, and it may fall further if it does not hold above 1820. Traders should be careful, as the overall outlook remains bearish.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)

Mumbai: The proposed initial public offerings (IPOs) of two large non-banking financial firms-HDB Financial Services and Hero FinCorp-are facing delays in securing approvals from the country's capital markets regulator.According to sources familiar with the matter, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has held back its green light for the much-awaited public issues so far, as share sales by these companies could have inadvertently ended up violating rules that govern unlisted companies.The application for Hero FinCorp's proposed IPO has been pending with Sebi for the past eight months while HDB's application has been pending for four months.While the exact nature of the alleged breach could not be ascertained, it could have involved the pre-IPO share sales of these companies, they said.The Companies Act restricts unlisted companies from adding more than 200 shareholders in a financial year. Also, such firms cannot sell shares through private placement to over 50 persons at a time. Similarly, shares issued through private placement to public shareholders in a span of six months would be considered a public offer.Sebi did not respond to ET's queries. HDFC Bank said its subsidiary, HDB Financial Services, has filed its draft red herring prospectus with Sebi and is awaiting final observations. "We believe that there is no non-compliance," said an HDFC Bank spokesperson.119184027A Hero Fincorp spokesperson denied non-compliance with the Companies Act. "We unequivocally state that the company has not raised capital beyond the prescribed threshold of 200 investors at any time following the applicability of the Companies Act, 2013."Securities lawyers said selling by existing shareholders, which could have led to a broad-basing of the investor base in a financial year, could also be a reason.Hero FinCorp, an associate of two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp, filed its draft red herring prospectus for its ₹3,668 crore public issue. HDB Financial submitted its draft documents for a ₹12,500 crore IPO.According to the processing status of draft offer documents on the Sebi website, comments have been sought from other regulators and government agencies for Hero FinCorp. For HDB Financial, the status indicates that the last communication was either issued or received on February 14, 2025.HDB now has more than 41,409 public shareholders. In 2024, the company issued over 1.7 million shares to employees through stock option exercises. Shares of HDB Financial are currently trading at around ₹1,050 in the unlisted market. Reserve Bank of India's guidelines require HDB Financial to be listed by September 2025 as the firm has been classified as 'upper layer' under Scale Based Regulation for NBFCs for 2024-25.Hero FinCorp had 7,452 public shareholders holding a 20.42% stake in the company as of August 2024. The company's shares are trading at ₹1,400-1,450 in the unlisted market.Lawyers said the regulator could consider easing some of these rules to allow faster listing of companies in such instances."Regulators should move towards a materiality-based approach, where companies can justify that a prior sale was not intended to circumvent IPO eligibility and still be allowed to proceed with listing," said Sonam Chandwani, managing partner, KS Legal & Associates. "The current rigid framework, while ensuring compliance, often hinders capital market access for legitimate businesses, necessitating a structured relaxation mechanism where issuers can rectify violations within a specified timeframe without outright rejection of their IPO plans."