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Foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who started fleeing India after Nifty hit record high in September-end, are now on a course correction path. After selling Indian stocks worth Rs 116,437 crore in the one-and-a-half month period beginning October, FIIs ended up being buyers to the tune of Rs 809 crore last fortnight.December month saw acceleration in the pace of buying as FIIs have pumped in around Rs 23,500 crore so far in the month."With GDP and earnings growth expected to exceed the global average and may outperform many other emerging markets, India seems well-positioned to continue attracting significant capital inflows. Consequently, driven by its robust economic prospects and strong fundamentals, India may remain a key destination for investment in the medium to long term," LIC Mutual Fund's Karan Doshi told ETMarkets.Also read | Main Jhukega Nahi! Why Sensex is up 2,700 points in 5 days despite twin Q2 shockersWhich stocks FIIs are buying and selling?NSDL data shows that financial services was on top of the buying list of FIIs in the second half of November. After selling financial stocks worth Rs 7,092 crore in the first fortnight of the month, FIIs took a U-turn and spent Rs 9,597 crore on the sector in the second fortnight.<iframe title="FIIs fixing billion-dollar blunder" aria-label="Table" id="datawrapper-chart-y35Zv" src="https://et-infographics.indiatimes.com/graphs/y35Zv/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="644" 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=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();</script>HDFC Bank is believed to have been the biggest beneficiary of FII flows as the stock is up over 6% in the last one month and is the best performing stock among other Nifty Bank peers.This week, HDFC Bank's market capitalization crossed the Rs 14 lakh crore market capitalization for the first time and also hit fresh record highs.This surge was fueled by extraordinary trading volumes linked to MSCI's November rebalancing, which increased the bank’s index weightage and attracted an estimated $1.88 billion in passive inflows.Besides banks, IT, FMCG and real estate stocks also attracted FII attention. On the other hand, foreigners continued to sell oil and gas, auto and telecom stocks.What should investors do?The recent non-stop rally in Sensex and Nifty for previous 5 consecutive sessions has rekindled animal spirits on Dalal Street once again with bulls betting that the market may even touch record highs this month as FIIs are playing Santa.Quant Mutual Fund said it is beginning to see early signs of a revival. "The timing is right to become constructive on the markets and selectively build positions in certain segments of the market, which has the potential to recover faster," said Quant's Sandeep Tandon.Japanese brokerage Nomura sees near-term risk for Indian equities on slowing macro and earnings momentum but has maintained a structurally positive view.Dipan Mehta of Elixir Equities is cautious on the market and is trying to raise cash levels as high valuations and slowing down of growth may pull the market back."Unless those two issues are addressed, I would not be completely confident that we have entered a new phase of the bull market. So one needs to be a bit careful over here and selectivity is the key. Trying to play safe in this market, I think that is a good strategy," he said.(Data: Ritesh Presswala)(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced its latest monetary policy decisions. This followed a three-day meeting that began on December 4.The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members include Shaktikanta Das, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI); Michael Debabrata Patra, Deputy Governor, RBI; Rajiv Ranjan, Executive Director, RBI; Ram Singh, Director, Delhi School of Economics; Saugata Bhattacharya, Economist; and Nagesh Kumar, Director and Chief Executive, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development.Here are the key highlights from the MPC meeting:Monetary policy decisionsThe policy repo rate remains unchanged at 6.50% under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF).The standing deposit facility (SDF) rate stays at 6.25%, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and Bank Rate are steady at 6.75%.The MPC decided to maintain a neutral stance, aiming to keep inflation under control while promoting growth.The target is to achieve 4% CPI inflation (with a margin of ±2%) over the medium term, ensuring both price stability and economic growth.Growth outlookThe global economy is stable but growing slowly, with inflation decreasing, the RBI noted.Geopolitical risks and trade policy uncertainties are causing more volatility in global financial markets.In India, GDP growth in Q2 2024-25 was lower than expected at 5.4%, mainly due to reduced private consumption and investment, although government spending recovered.Services and agriculture sectors showed resilience, but weak industrial activity (manufacturing, electricity, mining) affected overall growth.Positive factors ahead include good kharif production, better rabi prospects, improving industrial activity, and strong services.Real GDP growth is projected at 6.6% for 2024-25, with Q3 at 6.8%, Q4 at 7.2%, and for H1 2025-26 at 6.9% (Q1) and 7.3% (Q2).Inflation outlookCPI inflation rose to 6.2% in October, above the tolerance limit, due to higher food prices and rising core inflation.Food inflation is expected to ease in Q4, helped by seasonal vegetable price drops, kharif harvests, and good rabi conditions.Upside risks include adverse weather, rising global agricultural prices, and potential increases in energy costs.CPI inflation for 2024-25 is projected at 4.8%, with Q3 at 5.7%, Q4 at 4.5%, and for H1 2025-26 at 4.6% (Q1) and 4.0% (Q2).Risks to both growth and inflation are balanced.RBI cuts CRR by 50 bps to 4%The MPC announced a 50 basis points reduction in the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), bringing it down to 4%. The CRR represents the portion of a bank's deposits that must be maintained as reserves with the RBI.RBI to raise interest rate ceilings on FCNR-B depositsThe RBI announced an increase in the interest rate ceilings on FCNR-B deposits, effective immediately. This move, accompanied by higher FCNR deposit rates, aims to boost foreign capital inflows into India. While Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) inflows to Emerging Market Economies (EMEs) generally declined in October, India has recorded net FPI inflows of $9.3 billion in FY25 so far.Rationale for decisionsRecent inflation and growth outcomes in India have become less favorable since October, the RBI stated. Economic activity is expected to improve, backed by better business and consumer sentiments reflected in RBI surveys.Inflation risks remain high due to overlapping shocks, geopolitical uncertainties, and market volatility.High inflation impacts consumer purchasing power, especially in rural and urban areas, and could hurt private consumption.Durable price stability is crucial for long-term high growth, prompting the MPC to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.50%.The MPC maintained a neutral stance, allowing flexibility to address inflation and growth as needed.Repo rate decisionVoted to keep the repo rate unchanged: Shaktikanta Das, Saugata Bhattacharya, Rajiv Ranjan, Michael Debabrata Patra.Voted to reduce the rate by 25 basis points: Nagesh Kumar, Ram Singh.Neutral stance decisionUnanimous support from all members for continuing the neutral monetary policy stance.Additional announcementsCollateral-free loan for agriculture sector raised to Rs 2 lakh per borrower from Rs 1.6 lakh.Small finance banks permitted to extend pre-sanctioned credit lines through UPI.Mule-Hunter AI: RBI launched a tool named Mule-Hunter AI to detect and prevent mule accounts.RBI to launch podcasts for wider dissemination of information to general public.Next MPC Meeting: Scheduled from February 5 to 7, 2025.

Paris [France]: French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to continue his five-year mandate despite the recent no-confidence vote that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Michel Barnier. Macron also emphasised his responsibility to ensure the continuity of the state, the proper functioning of institutions, and the protection of the French people.The remarks by the French President came while he addressed the nation on Thursday from the Elysee Palace."Finally, the mandate that you democratically entrusted to me is a five-year mandate, and I will exercise it fully until its end. My responsibility requires ensuring the continuity of the State, the proper functioning of our institutions, the independence of our country, and the protection of all of you."He added, "I have been doing this from the beginning, at your side, through social crises, the Covid-19 epidemic, the return of war, inflation and so many trials that we have shared," Elysee said.Macron also vowed to appoint a new prime minister within days.He said, "From today, a new era must begin where everyone must act for France and where new compromises must be built. Because the planet is moving forward, because the challenges are numerous and because we must be ambitious for France. We cannot afford divisions or inaction.""This is why I will appoint a Prime Minister in the coming days. I will charge him with forming a government of general interest representing all the political forces of an arc of government, who can participate in it or at least who undertake not to censor it. The Prime Minister will have to lead these consultations and form a tight government at your service," Macron said.During his address, Macron also spoke about French Prime Minister Barnier and praised him for his "dedication and tenacity." Macron said, "The Prime Minister handed me his resignation and that of his government, and I have taken note of it. I would like to thank Michel Barnier for the work he has done for the country, for his dedication and for his tenacity. He and his ministers rose to the occasion when so many others did not."Sharing a post on X, Macron wrote, "I want to thank @MichelBarnier for the work he has done for our country, for his dedication and his tenacity."Notably, the 331 members of the 577-seat lower house of the French parliament voted to remove Barnier's centrist minority government, throwing the country into political instability as it faces a growing budget deficit, Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday.The vote was triggered by far-left and far-right opposition parties after Barnier used special powers to push through budget measures without parliamentary approval.Barnier's government became the first in more than six decades to be toppled by a no-confidence vote.At 73 years old, Barnier served only 91 days as prime minister, while his government, consisting of centrist and right-wing ministers, lasted just 74 days, as reported by Euronews.Barnier's government became a target of two no-confidence votes after it used Article 49.3 of the French constitution to bypass a parliamentary vote and push through a social security budget bill, Euronews reported. The social security budget bill has now been rejected.Barnier led a fragile minority government composed of President Macron's centrist party and the right-wing Les Republicains (LR), but the alliance was informal and lacked an absolute majority. The RN, with 124 seats in the National Assembly, held significant influence in the political landscape.

Mumbai: Financial Services led by HDFC Bank, information technology and consumer goods garnered a sizeable chunk of the foreign investors' flows in the second-half of November. These investors put ₹17,877 crore across 13 sectors between November 16 and 30. Financial services received the highest inflows of ₹9,597 crore after selling to the tune of ₹7,092 crore in the first-half of the month, thanks to passive fund flows into HDFC Bank in this period."The MSCI rebalancing led to foreign inflows of more than $2 billion into HDFC Bank," said Nikhil Ranka, CIO equity alternatives, Nuvama Asset Management. "However, on an ex-HDFC bank basis, the banking sector has seen net FII outflows." 116024816From January to October, overseas investors pulled ₹63,871 crore out of the shares in the sector out of which ₹32,231 crore was due to the consistent selling in October and the first-half of November.The Bank Nifty index gained 2.7% last month, against an up-move of 2% in the benchmark Nifty index in the same period.Foreign investors infused funds over ₹2,000 crore in information technology (IT) and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in the second-half of November. They had bought shares worth ₹3,087 crore in the IT sector and sold shares worth ₹3,589 crore in the latter in the first 15 days of November.Ranka said that rupee depreciation is a margin tailwind for information technology companies. Since over 60% of their revenue comes from the US, the outlook for IT companies has become strong after Trump's victory.The realty sector witnessed inflows worth ₹1,367 crore after investors bought shares worth ₹694 crore in the first-half of the month.Overseas investors sold shares worth Rs 17,068 crore in the secondhalf of November across 10 sectors. Oil & gas sector continued to bear the brunt of foreign selling, as investors dumped shares worth Rs 6,132 crore in the sector. Global investors have sold shares worth Rs 32,168 crore in the sector so far this year. Bhat said that during wars and episodes of heightened geopolitical tension, there is a spike in the volatility in crude oil prices, and this seems to have led to foreign investors paring their exposure to the sector. The unabated selling persisted in the automobile counters, with investors withdrawing Rs 3,053 crore from the sector in the last 15 days of November. “The increased discounts in the auto sector to clear up channel inventory has led to some margin pressure in auto companies,” said Ranka. Telecommunication and services sector witnessed foreign selling worth over Rs 2,500 crore each while overseas investors dumped shares worth Rs 1,913 crore in the construction materials sector in the same period. Bhat said that the services sector is the most significant segment of the Indian economy and the drop in GDP growth in the last quarter could have led to outflows. “After the heavy foreign outflows, the scope for any further major outflows is not much,” said Bhat. “If Trump imposes much higher tariffs on China than on India, then fresh foreign inflows are likely.” At home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 8,539.91 crore on Thursday. Their domestic counterparts bought shares worth Rs 2,303.64 crore. Ranka said that the foreign holding in the NSE 500 companies has come down to a decade low of 16% and further selling is expected to be minor. “Any incremental foreign selling is expected to subside as we have witnessed the bulk of the selloff in October and November and fresh allocations to emerging markets are expected in January,” said Ranka.

Mumbai: India's key equity indices extended gains for the fifth session in a row, going up almost 1% on Thursday. This was led by expectations of a cut in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) requirement in the monetary policy on Friday, along with short covering of positions by foreign traders.The NSE Nifty rose 240.95 points or 0.98% to close at 24,708.4. The BSE Sensex rose 809.53 points or 1% to end at 81,765.86. Both indices have moved up 3.3-3.4% in the past five trading days.While the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to keep the benchmark repo rate unchanged, it may cut the CRR in order to boost liquidity in the economy, analysts said. FPIs Bought Shares Worth Net ₹8,540 cr "All eyes are now on the RBI policy meet to decide how to react to this sudden slump, as India's GDP increased 5.4% year-on-year in the July-September quarter - much less than the market had predicted," said Aamar Deo Singh, senior vice president of research at Angel One. Singh said that a decrease in the CRR, which is currently at 4.5%, would be advantageous to banks and financials' shares since it would increase their flexible resources and, consequently, their profitability, as evidenced by the recent spike in banking stocks. "Additionally, the US Fed chairman's remarks on the US economy's better-than-expected performance and the rupee's decline have given IT equities a boost," Singh said.The Nifty's information technology index was the top gainer of the day, along with spikes in the oil and gas, bank, financial services and auto indices. Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) bought shares worth a net Rs 8,540 crore. Domestic institutions were sellers to the tune of Rs 2,304 crore.116024751Fear gauge up 0.53%Nifty's India Volatility Index or VIX went up 0.53% to 14.53 at the close on Thursday. It had dropped about 10% in the past month."FIIs (foreign institutional investors) had built significant short positions in the market and with Nifty rebounding from its 200 DEMA (day exponential moving average) level, we have seen a short covering in these positions, taking the markets higher," said Ruchit Jain, vice president at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.Jain said that the Nifty has already retraced 50% of its correction from its highs of 26,200 and it currently has a good chance of going to 25,200 levels, as long as the index is above 24,300.Nifty closed at a high of 26,216 on September 26 and fell to a closing low of 23,350 on November 21.Banks & IT show"Heavyweights like banks and IT have started contributing to the up move," said Jain. "However, volatility is expected to remain high in the coming days, as seen on Thursday. With RBI's monetary policy announcement on Friday, rate-sensitive sectors like banks and real estate could do well if the policy is favourable."The Nifty Midcap 150 gained 0.43% and Nifty Small-cap 250 rose 0.48%. Out of the total 4,083 stocks traded on the BSE, 2,048 advanced and 1,931 declined on Thursday.Elsewhere in Asia, China advanced 0.1%, Hong Kong and South Korea both fell 0.9%, and Taiwan remained flat at the close.The pan-Europe index Stoxx 600 was up 0.2% at the time of going to print.