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Notwithstanding the Sebi investigation on the asset management firm in a front-running case, Quant Mutual Fund today assured investors that the fund house is functioning normally and that the performance of its schemes should be at par with its style."Returns are a by-product of research capabilities and style of management. In Quant, we manage risk dynamically to give superior risk-adjusted returns. As mentioned, we are functioning normally and hence, the performance should be at par with our style," Quant said in a communique.The company has released a list of 7 FAQs (frequently asked questions) on the front-running crisis and its impact.On the enquiry, it said that this is a regular ongoing process globally by the regulator to collect data and analyze it. No one from the fund house has been convicted yet as Quant Mutual Fund has not received any further communication after the initial enquiries. The two offices in Mumbai are functioning normally and with full capacity, it said.Quant Mutual Fund mentioned that as of June 26, cash and liquid investments were around 53.49% of closing equity asset under management (AUM) of Rs 88,270 crore and over the last three days, net redemptions have totaled only 1.5% of closing AUM, which is a small figure.Quant's operations are running smoothly, "with our full focus on managing our portfolio and investment strategies diligently", CEO Sandeep Tandon said addressing stakeholders. "It’s important to clarify that we have received inquiries from the regulator, and we are in full co-operation with the concerned authorities. There since have been no further developments.” Tandon said the fund house has outperformed even in challenging circumstances. “Throughout our history, Quant Mutual Fund has demonstrated resilience and outperformance in challenging circumstances, such as during the Hindenburg fiasco and the recent Indian general elections, where we strategically managed our portfolio to mitigate risks associated with public sector banks and PSUs, showcasing a mature and balanced approach to portfolio management.”“Our track record of navigating market uncertainties, including accurately predicting market movements such as Nifty surpassing 24,000 and Bank Nifty potentially reaching over 54,000 in CY24. These insights reflect our confidence in our analytical capabilities and strategic approach,” mentioned Tandon.Going ahead, the fund house maintains a constructive outlook on sectors like banks and consumption, the CEO said, adding that "we see no major challenges for the broader Indian equity market in the long term. Our investment thesis remains optimistic about India’s prospects over the coming decade".

After forming fourth successive bull candles on the daily chart, Nifty ended June derivative series above the 24,000-mark for the first time ever amid short covering.The underlying trend of Nifty continues to be positive. A sustainable move above 24000-24100 levels could pull Nifty towards another Fibonacci extension resistance of around 24380-24400 levels in the near term. Immediate support is placed at 23800 levels, said Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities.Open Interest (OI) data showed on the call side, the highest OI was observed at the 24,500 and 25,000 strike prices. On the put side, the highest OI was at the 23,800 strike price.What should traders do? Here’s what analysts said:Rupak De, LKP SecuritiesNifty continued moving up as the bulls took the index to a new all-time high. The index made new all-time highs for the last three consecutive sessions, showing signs of resilience amid global sluggishness. The trend remains positive for the short term or until it breaks below 23,800. On the higher end, the index might move towards 24,200.Tejas Shah, JM Financial & BlinkXSome technical indicators are in overbought territory on the short term charts i.e. hourly charts that could lead to knee-jerk reactions, from time to time. The short term moving averages are below the price action and should continue to support the indices on any decline. Support for the Nifty is now seen at 24,000 and 23,750-800 levels. On the higher side, immediate resistance for Nifty is at 24,125 level and the next resistance is at 24,300 level. Overall, Nifty is likely to remain volatile within the 23,800 – 24,300 range in the near term with a positive bias.Jatin Gedia – Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP ParibasOn the daily charts, we can observe that Nifty has witnessed a perpendicular rally in the last four trading sessions. Today the IT Index was one of the major contributors which helped Nifty to close above 24,000. The immediate hurdle on the upside is placed at 24,150 – 24,200. Trailing stop loss for the longs should be kept at 23,800. Divergence is visible on the hourly charts and the market breadth has been deteriorating since the last three trading sessions hence caution is advised.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

A rapid rise in derivative trading volumes in India could pose several challenges, India's central bank said in its Financial Stability Report released on Thursday. It could expose retail investors to sudden movements in markets without proper risk management and the surge in shorter duration options could lead to more volatility in stock markets, it said.

Domestic brokerage firm Kotak Institutional Equities has initiated coverage on Coforge with a target price of Rs 6,000 an upside potential of 11% as they found the company to be a consistent performer with a potential to reach greater heights.“Coforge displays many traits of a well-run, ambitious mid-tier firm and can scale up to be a credible challenger and ensure consistent and healthy growth,” said a report by Kotak Institutional Equities.The report further stated that the analysts at Kotak expect a strong 20.2% EPS CAGR in FY2024-27E, which is powered by a 12.3% organic revenue CAGR and a 150-bps EBIT margin expansion.Healthy revenues are expected with growth in the long run from considerable acquisition of new clients, share gains in existing accounts and expansion of the addressable market.Also read: JM Financial initiates coverage on MapmyIndia, sees upside potential of 28%“Coforge’s EBIT margin of 12.5% and adjusted net profit margin of 9% in FY2024 are lower than Indian mid-tier IT peers and have room to expand. Higher ESOP costs in FY2025E will postpone the timeline of improvement to FY2026E,” said Kawaljeet Saluja, analyst at Kotak Equities.The company has the potential to achieve gross margin improvement and better profitability for the loss-making India and AdvantageGo businesses.However, leadership churn, high vertical concentration, M&A integration and ensuring checks and balances in governance, especially given the lack of a promoter entity, have been listed as the key risks by the domestic brokerage firm.Coforge shares have given 15% returns to its investors in the last 1 year while in the last 6 months and the current year so far, the stock has declined by 14% and 12.5%, respectively.The shares of Coforge were trading 1.7% higher at Rs 5,411 around 3 pm on BSE on Thursday.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)

Household debt levels need close monitoring while financial liabilities have risen in the post-Covid period, the overall household savings too have dipped from average levels seen in the decade before, the Reserve Bank of India said in a report on Thursday.Overall household savings have declined to 18.4 per cent of GDP in FY23, down from the average of 20 per cent of GDP seen between 2013-22. Among this, the share of net financial savings declined to 28.5 per cent in FY23 from an average of 39.8 per cent in 2013-22. In addition to a rise in financial liabilities, net financial savings declined to 5.3 per cent of GDP in FY23, down from an average of 8 per cent in 2013-22."With overall household savings declining, coupled with an increasing trend in financial liabilities, household debt warrants close monitoring from a financial stability perspective," the RBI said in its Financial Stability Report, June 2024 edition. 111313856India's overall debt stands at around 40.1 per cent of the GDP, low when compared to other EMEs. RBI notes that this is 'comparatively' high in relation to GDP per capita.ALSO READ: Indian banks' gross NPA ratio at multi-year low of 2.8%, net NPA down to 0.6% in FY24: RBI Fin Stability ReportThe sharp spike in financial stabilities of households in the post-pandemic period is evident in the surge in retail loan growth for financing both consumption and investment. "Notably, more than two-thirds of borrowers are of prime and above credit quality," RBI said.The central bank highlighted that household financial savings, which saw a sharp rise during the Covid-19 pandemic, has now been drawn down and shifted towards physical assets. Households are now diversifying their savings and allocating their capital towards more non-bank and capital market instruments.

Maharashtra's economy, the top contributor to the national nominal GDP, is expected to expand by 7.6 per cent in 2023-24, similar to the country's projected growth of 7.6 per cent, according to the state's latest Economic Survey. The agriculture and allied activities sector, which was hit by "scarcity situation", in the state is expected to grow by 1.9 per cent and the Industry sector by 7.6 per cent, while the services sector is likely to register an expansion of 8.8 per cent in the last fiscal, it said. The Economic Survey 2023-24 was tabled by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who also handles the finance portfolio, in the Maharashtra legislature whose monsoon session began on Thursday. The state's economy is expected to grow by 7.6 per cent, compared to 6.8 per cent in the previous year. As per the key document, the state's gross state domestic product (GSDP) at current prices for 2023-24 has been projected at Rs 40,44,251 crore and real at Rs 24,10,898 crore. GSDP indicates the total economic output generated within a state's boundaries over a specified period, typically a fiscal year. The average share of the state in the all-India nominal GDP is highest at 13.9 per cent. The per capita state income for 2022-23 was Rs 2,52,389 as against Rs 2,19,573 in the previous fiscal, it said. "The percentage of fiscal deficit to GSDP is 2.8 per cent, revenue deficit to GSDP is 0.5 per cent and debt stock to GSDP is 17.6 per cent," the report said. The total anticipated expenditure for annual schemes in the last financial year is Rs 2,31,651 crore of which Rs 20,188 crore is towards district annual schemes, it said. The revenue receipts are expected to be Rs 4,86,116 crore for 2023-24 as against Rs 4,05,678 crore in the previous fiscal. As per the Survey, Maharashtra's revenue expenditure in the given period is Rs 5,05,647 crore compared to Rs 4,07,614 crore in the year before. The annual credit plan size for the state's priority sector for 2023-24 is Rs 6.51 lakh crore in which the share of the agriculture and allied activities sector is 25.9 per cent and that of micro, small, medium enterprises and khadi and village industries sector is 55.6 per cent, it said. The state received 86.4 per cent of the normal rainfall during the monsoon in 2023. Across Maharashtra, 19 talukas received excess rainfall, 190 received normal rainfall and 146 received deficient rainfall, the Economic Survey said. The kharif season of 2023-24 saw sowing over 155.64 lakh hectares. For this season, the production of cereals, pulses, oilseeds and sugarcane is expected to decrease by 23 per cent, 10 per cent, 2 per cent, and 17 per cent, respectively. Cotton production is expected to rise by 3 per cent over 2022-23. During the rabi season of 2023-24, sowing was completed on 58.60 lakh hectares. The production of cereals and pulses is expected to go down by 5 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively, while production of oil seeds is expected to increase by 13 per cent over the previous year, it said. The area under horticulture is expected to be 22.40 lakh hectares and production is expected to be 327.80 lakh metric tonnes. The agriculture and allied activities sector, a key driver of the state's economy, contributes about 12 per cent of the GSDP. The state ranks second in India in organic farm production (27 per cent) after Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra's irrigation potential created up to June 2022 by major, medium and minor projects was 55.60 lakh ha. During 2022-23, the actual irrigated area stood at 42.33 lakh ha, the Survey said. "Scarcity situation during the kharif season 2023 affected 40 talukas in 15 districts," it said. In all, 22.66 lakh ha of agricultural and fruit crops were affected due to drought and compensation of Rs 2,442.23 crore was sanctioned, it said. Between November 2023 and January 2024, compensation of Rs 2,277.9 crore was sanctioned to 23.96 lakh farmers over 12.89 lakh ha of affected area. According to the Economic Survey report, Maharashtra has remained topped in terms of FDI inflows in the country. During 2022-23, exports from the state contributed to 16 per cent of the total exports from the country, it said.