Gaurav Bansal

[ad_1] Top stocks to buy (AI image) Stock market recommendations: According to Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, the top stock picks for the week (starting April 28, 2025) are ICICI Bank and 360 One WAM. Let’s take a look:Stock NameCMP (Rs)Target (Rs)Upside (%)ICICI Bank1405160014%360One WAM972120023%ICICI BankICICI Bank reported a healthy Q4 performance with PAT ₹126b (5% beat, 18% YoY growth), driven by robust NIM expansion, healthy other income, controlled provisions and contained operating expenses. ICICI Bank posted 11% YoY NII growth with NIM rising by 16bp QoQ to 4.41%. Net advances grew 13% YoY, while deposits rose 14% YoY. Secured asset quality remained stable (excl. agri) with no signs of stress, leading to an improvement in the GNPA ratio. We upgraded our earnings estimates by 2.5%/4.2% for FY26/FY27 on the back of positive NIM surprise and controlled credit cost. We […]

[ad_1] MUMBAI: For global consumer giantsbattling business headwinds posed by tariffs and sluggish consumer spending in developed regions like the US, where an uncertain macro environment has nudged people to cut back on purchases, India is emerging as one of their key growth markets.From P&G to Reckitt and PepsiCo, companies in their recent earnings calls said that consumption in India remains steady, even as some firms have lowered their full-year forecasts due to the global backdrop."If you look at markets like India, we are profitable, and India is driving mid-single-digit growth very nicely. We have local production on the ground, and we have R&D capability on the ground. The market gets better every time we look at it," said Andre Schulten, chief financial officer at P&G. The firm, however, did not rule out the possibility of volatility in emerging markets […]

[ad_1] MUMBAI: IndusInd Bank will take a charge of Rs 1,956 crore in the fourth quarter of FY25 to correct longstanding discrepancies in its derivatives valuation. The private lender also plans to hold employees accountable for the lapses that inflated its reported profits over several years.In a disclosure to stock exchanges, the bank said that an independent investigation, commissioned in March 2025, had confirmed an adverse accounting impact of Rs 1,960 crore as of March 31st. The investigation report was submitted on Saturday and taken up by the board which met for the purpose on Saturday and Sunday. The bank has not revealed the name of the external agency which was appointed by the bank, but sources said that it was Grant Thornton.The discrepancies stemmed from internal derivative trades between the asset-liability management desk and the treasury, which used accrual […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: Lightspeed venture capital-backed Sarvam AI will develop India's first AI platform in six months, the company's founder said on Saturday.Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the selection of Sarvam AI to develop India's first GenAI platform. "We are confident that Sarvam's models will be competitive with global models," Vaishnaw said.The minister asked for a timeline for developing the platform from Sarvam founders who committed that it would be done in six months. Government will allocate 400 GPUs to Sarvam for six months for developing India's own large language models with 70 billion parameters. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] MUMBAI: ICICI Lombard General Insurance plans to step up investment in its health insurance business, seeking to close the gap between its health portfolio and its broader non-life market share. The company also remains open to acquisitions should suitable opportunities arise."Historically, we've been below the industry in terms of market share. We did not invest enough in products or on distribution expansion, which is why our market share has been at 3% in retail health compared to our aggregate market share of close to about 9%," said Gopal Balachandran, the company's chief financial officer.In recent years, ICICI Lombard has sought to correct this imbalance by launching new products and expanding its sales force focused on health insurance. Though it has surplus capital, the company is not actively pursuing acquisitions. Rather, it is interested in businesses aligned with sectors where […]

[ad_1] Tech companies that previously scaled back their workplace diversity programmes now confront fresh scrutiny regarding DEI implementation in their AI products.The focus in Washington has shifted, with concerns over "woke AI" now taking center stage instead of algorithmic discrimination. Last month, the House Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas to Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and 10 other tech companies, investigating their earlier efforts to promote equity in AI development and prevent biased or harmful outputs.The US Commerce Department's standards division has removed references to AI fairness and safety in its research collaboration requests. The revised document, seen by The Associated Press, now emphasises reducing ideological bias to enhance economic competitiveness.Technology professionals are accustomed to adapting their work to changing Washington priorities.According to the Associated Press, this transition concerns field experts, including Harvard University sociologist Ellis Monk, who previously assisted Google […]

[ad_1] The upcoming week will be a key test for the US stock market’s rebound, as investors watch major earnings reports from Apple and Microsoft, while global trade developments could add to market volatility.According to news agency Reuters, next week's significant economic indicators include the US jobs data, first-quarter economic growth figures and inflation updates. These reports will help investors determine whether recent market strength indicates recovery from tariff-related declines.This week's equity market improvements were influenced by signs of softening in the Trump administration's trade position, particularly regarding China. However, the situation remains uncertain, and new tariff developments could potentially reverse market gains."There seems to be some potential for compromise on the tariff situation," which has supported the recent rally, said Michael Mullaney, director of global markets research at Boston Partners, Reuters reported.But stocks will remain sensitive to "the news […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: The Government has released regulations for applications under the Rs 23,000-crore Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), aimed at boosting domestic value addition in electronics production.Union Electronics and IT MinisterAshwini Vaishnaw revealed that firms with strong local design capabilities and 'six sigma' quality standards will be key evaluation factors. Companies lacking domestic design teams might be “left out” of the “phenomenal change” expected in India's electronics sector over the next five years, according to a report by The Economic Times.Applications for the six-year scheme will open on May 1 through an online portal.The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, had approved the ECMS earlier this month. The initiative seeks to attract substantial domestic and global investments, develop robust manufacturing capabilities, and integrate Indian companies into Global Value Chains (GVCs).S Krishnan, Secretary of the Electronics and IT Ministry, […]

[ad_1] Hybrid mutual fund schemes witnessed a moderation in net inflows during FY25, drawing Rs 1.19 lakh crore — an 18 per cent decline from the previous fiscal — amid market turbulence in the latter half of the year driven by corporate earnings slowdown and geopolitical tensions. However, investor participation and assets under management (AUM) in the category showed strong growth, underscoring sustained investor confidence in hybrid offerings.According to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), the number of hybrid fund folios surged to 1.56 crore in March 2025 from 1.35 crore a year earlier, indicating an addition of over 33 lakh investors. Meanwhile, the AUM of hybrid schemes grew 22 per cent to Rs 8.83 lakh crore from Rs 7.23 lakh crore in FY24, according to PTI. A key factor behind this resilience has been the […]

[ad_1] AI-generated image (Credit: Bing image creator) India is preparing to formally request the United States for relaxed export controls and enhanced access to advanced technologies under the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA), according to sources quoted by news agency PTI. The concessions India seeks are similar to those granted by the US to close allies like Australia, the United Kingdom, and Japan. New Delhi reportedly aims to secure greater access in sectors such as telecommunications equipment, biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), pharmaceuticals, quantum computing, and semiconductors. In parallel, India is pushing for tariff reductions on labour-intensive exports including textiles, gems and jewellery, leather goods, garments, plastics, chemicals, shrimp, oil seeds, grapes, and bananas. Conversely, the US is seeking duty concessions for industrial goods, automobiles (particularly electric vehicles), wines, petrochemical products, dairy, and agricultural products such as apples and tree nuts. […]