Short covering refers to the buying of shares to close an existing short position or a position that has been sold. Short covering signals a shift in view on security from extreme bearishness to bullishness. In Friday's trading session, five stocks saw top short covering. Here's the list:

London-based BAT has seen a sell-off in its shares in the past week, rendering its market cap below ITC to $64 billion. ​The stock fell sharply after the company said it would take a hit of around $31.5 billion as it wrote down the value of some US cigarette brands, acknowledging that its traditional combustible market has no long-term future.

After a brief pause, the primary market will be back in full swing this week with two mainboard IPOs and four SME issues planning to raise about Rs 2,500 crore. The two mainstream public offers -- DOMS Industries and India Shelter Finance -- will open for public subscription on December 13 and close on December 15.

From a technical standpoint, the previous week has created a gap. In the process, the index has shifted its support zones higher in the range of 20,450-20,550 levels from 20,000. The Nifty has also closed above its upper Bollinger band. Even if there is a temporary pullback inside the band, the markets may further their uptrend even with the possibilities of some consolidation at current levels.

While multiple tailwinds continue to ensure that mid-cap stocks are able to outperform border market indices. What these tailwinds are going is that they have pushed the valuations to a much higher level. This increases the challenge of buying the stocks. In such times, it would be better that investors should be cautious in selecting the stocks, better to go with buying in smaller quantities and keep some cash allocated for the stocks, but only to be used on the day when there is absolutely chaos on the street. Refinitiv’s Stock Report Plus which lists stocks with high upside potential over the next 12 months, having an average recommendation rating of “buy” or "strong buy".

"We are working with them (MF industry) to see where is the cost...what can Sebi do to facilitate making it possible to bring that viability down to Rs 250 a month, because then it is the equivalent of what Hindustan Lever (HUL) did with shampoo sachets. You just explode the market," PTI reported quoting Buch.

Even as the S&P BSE Sensex hit a new lifetime high of 69,893.8 and ended with weekly gains of over 2%, the broader BSE500 had no dearth of action. It closed with weekly gains of 1,138 points or 4%. We bring 10 stocks which were instrumental in furthering this rally. Take a look!

In the largecap segment, 15 companies witnessed significant block deals on the screen which were worth Rs 12,612 crore led by Reliance Industries (RIL) with a 12 block count, totalling to Rs 2,874 crore. The next in line were Bharti Airtel (Rs 1,769 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 1,757 crore), Zomato (Rs 1,208 crore), Adani Total Gas (Rs 1,019 crore), Tube Investments (Rs 944 crore), ICICI Prudential (Rs 705 crore) and ICICI Bank (Rs 589 crore).

Railways was among the last sectors to get re-rated due to the policy focus. But the speed at which the stocks got re-rated was very sharp. Whether it was companies which are financing the expansion of railways or private sector companies which are making coaches in the last eighteen months all of them have done extremely well . After they reach a certain level of valuations where they may not be classified as cheap. The question is whether the policy push which may continue in coming years will make their bottomline move up sharply which ensures that not only valuations are taken care of but also there is continued re-rating.

Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch stated that the capital markets regulator aims to sachetise mutual fund investments, similar to Hindustan Lever's shampoo sachets. The mutual fund industry finds investments of Rs 500 per month viable, but Rs 250 not. Sebi is working with the industry to lower the cost and make Rs 250 a month viable. Buch believes that sachetisation will aid financial inclusion and the Indian capital markets. She also emphasized the importance of employing women.

HDFC Life Insurance's prominent additions in November were Tata Tech, IREDA, and Gland Pharma. It completely exited Abbott India, Kansai Nerolac, and SKF India. Meanwhile, SBI Life Insurance picked up a stake in Honasa Consumer, and Cello World, among others. Let's have a look at what else the top insurance houses in the country bought and sold in November. (Source: Nuvama)

While multiple tailwinds continue to ensure that mid-cap stocks are able to outperform border market indices. What these tailwinds are going is that they have pushed the valuations to a much higher level. This increases the challenge of buying the stocks. In such times, it would be better that investors should be cautious in selecting the stocks, better to go with buying in smaller quantities and keep some cash allocated for the stocks, but only to be used on the day when there is absolutely chaos on the street. Refinitiv’s Stock Report Plus which lists stocks with high upside potential over the next 12 months, having an average recommendation rating of “buy” or "strong buy".

After delivering an international bestseller ‘The Psychology of Money’, Morgan Housel has come up with a practical book on how understanding human behaviour can help us look at many of life's puzzles from a different spectrum.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is often referred to as the ‘banker's bank’. But it is not just any bank; it plays a crucial role in maintaining the stability of India's economy. To maintain financial stability and control inflation, the RBI employs several important tools.

The catalyst for the development of investor portals in alternative investments can be attributed to the broader trend of digitalization in the financial industry. As investors and fund managers sought more efficient ways to conduct business, the demand for purpose-built digital solutions became apparent, leading to the evolution of investor portals.

As the nifty once again forms a new high and crosses some of the psychological barriers. The mood of the markets is clearly bullish, while it might appear that one is trying to spoil the party, by adding words like caution and high valuations at this point of time. The fact remains that it pays to be cautious in terms of selecting stocks when it is a bullish time. So be selective, avoid impulsive investing, and keep reviewing one’s portfolio and stay away from penny stocks especially. We look at stocks which have witnessed a continuous rise in their score in the last one month. These selected stocks depict a strong upward trajectory in their overall average score which is based on five key pillars i.e. earnings, fundamentals, relative valuation, risk and price momentum. This implies that there has been a significant improvement in their market outlook in the given time frame.

Bank Nifty has grappled with underperformance in the past 5 years compared to the benchmark Nifty50. The banking index recorded a growth of 78%, notably trailing behind Nifty50, which witnessed a 96% surge during the same period.

Domestic brokerage firm Axis Securities is bullish on a number of mid and smallcap stocks, which can rally up to 30%. These stocks include Federal Bank, Lupin, and CreditAccess Grameen. The brokerage firm believes that the Indian economy stands in a sweet spot of growth and remains the land of stability against the backdrop of a volatile global economy. Here's a list of 8 mid & smallcap stocks that can rally up to 30%, according to Axis Securities:

During the week, 58 smallcap stocks delivered double-digit weekly returns with Spencer Retail surging as high as 51%. It was followed by BCL Industries (35.6%), 63 Moons Tech (27.6%), and Inox Wind (26.4%).

Investors pared bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in March after a Labor Department report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 199,000 jobs in November, compared with an estimated increase of 180,000.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% this week, marking its sixth-straight weekly increase, the longest such winning streak in about four years. The index stands at its highest closing level since March 2022.

The Labor Department's report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 199,000 jobs in November, compared with an estimated increase of 180,000. The unemployment rate slipped to 3.7%, while average earnings edged up to 0.4% on a monthly basis, compared with forecasts of 0.3% growth.

Most of Zerodha's AUM was added post-2020, which is one of the biggest bull markets India has seen. While equity funds saw a slowdown in the pace of inflows, investments through the systematic investment plan route hit record high in November.

The shares were bought at Rs 59.09 apiece, a 4% discount to the previous closing price of the stock. Besides GMR Airports in the transport infrastructure space, GQG Partners also has investments in various companies of ADani Group, including Adani Enterprises, which operates the Mumbai international airport.

The net inflows into equity funds were at a two-month low of Rs 15,536 crore in November, while debt funds witnessed outflows of Rs 4,707 crore, according to the data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India

The net inflows into equity funds were at a two-month low of Rs 15,536 crore in November, while debt funds witnessed outflows of Rs 4,707 crore, according to the data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India

The lender received a total 104 bids aggregating up to Rs 18,483 crore, it said in an exchange filing. The state-owned lender allotted shares to qualified institutional buyers at Rs 100.20 a share, a discount of nearly 5% to the floor price of Rs 105.42.

TPG Capital, through one of its affiliates TPG Asia Vii Sf Pte, sold 89,07,493 shares of Five-Star Business or 3.05% stake at Rs 730 apiece, aggregating around Rs 650 crore, according to bulk deals data on the National Stock Exchange. As of September end, the global private equity fund held 14.29% stake in the NBFC.

Though many analysts and investors feel the central bank will keep its policy rate steady from here, policymakers haven't declared the inflation fight over

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 32.56 points, or 0.09%, at the open to 36,084.82.

Cryptocurrency markets surged for the second straight day on Friday, led by altcoins like Ethereum, Solana and Cardano. At the time of writing, the leading crypto token Bitcoin was up 0.6% at $43,383, while Ethereum was up 1.3% at $2,358.

The Bank of England looks set to stick to its tough line against talk of interest rate cuts in Britain, even as other leading central banks signal that they might be approaching a turning point in their fight against inflation.

According to exchange data, Softbank has offloaded 9.35 crore shares in the company at Rs 120.5 apiece. Through the deal, prominent investors, including Citigroup, Fidelity Investment, Goldman Sachs, Invesco MF, ICICI Pru Life, Morgan Stanley and others picked up shares in the company.

The regulator had earlier said it would address the issue of exorbitant valuation of initial public offerings seen in the recent past.

FPIs sold shares to the tune of Rs 5,935 crore across 12 sectors on average between November 16 and 30. Here's a look at the top five sectors that saw the highest FII selling in the second half of November:

On a week-on-week basis, the 50-stock index has gained 3.5% and has formed a long bullish candle, while holding higher bottom formation on daily and intraday charts, which is largely positive, says Amol Athawale, Vice President - Technical Research, Kotak Securities.

In early trade, the Nifty rose above 21,000 for the first time ever after the RBI maintained its key repo rate at 6.50%, amid robust economic growth and expectations of a rise in food prices in the coming months. Monetary policy will remain actively disinflationary, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said, adding that the fundamentals of the Indian economy remain strong.

Closing Bell: Sensex resumes record run after 1-day hiatus, rises 304 pts; Nifty above 20,950; IIFL Sec jumps 4%, NDTV cracks 6%.

The regulator had earlier said it would address the issue of exorbitant valuation of initial public offerings seen in the recent past.

Indian shares rose on Friday, with the benchmark indices Nifty 50 and Sensex hitting fresh record highs, after the RBI stood pat on key rates for a fifth consecutive time and raised its growth forecast for fiscal 2023-2024. Meanwhile, during this rally, 6 Nifty50 stocks managed to hit new all-time highs. Here's a list:

The Sebi's order was challenged in the appellate tribunal, which passed in the interim of December 2020 and stayed Sebi's order subject to an undertaking to the effect that they would not sell their shares in KIL

Direct emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) disclosed by Nifty 500 companies stood at 1.03 billion tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) in FY23, according to data sourced from Prime Database. This was 5% higher than the previous year and close to the 1.2 billion tonnes emitted by Japan in 2022. Direct emissions of greenhouse gases are also called Scope 1 emissions. Here’s the list of top direct emittors of greenhouse gasses which contributes 70% of the Nifty 500 total. Take a look: (Source: ET Bureau)

Indian shares advanced on Friday, with the benchmark indices Nifty 50 and Sensex hitting fresh record highs, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stood pat on key rates for a fifth consecutive time and raised its growth forecast for fiscal 2023-2024. Meanwhile, in today's trade, six BSE PSU largecap stocks also managed to hit new 52-week highs. Here's a list:

Now, the facility will be available for the secondary market from January or February, the Sebi chairperson said at the CII Global Economic Policy Forum here.

After a long phase of three years of consolidation and relative underperformance, there were some initial signs of the private sector banks making a comeback attempt. However the RBI decision to curb unsecured lending, made the sentiment turn against them. But only sentiment, in reality will it make a difference for their long term perspective is a matter of debate with answer titling in favour of NO. After today’s monetary policy one more risk is off the table

Earlier the market regulator had alleged that IIFL Securities failed to segregate client funds, and mixed its own funds with client funds, and misused credit balances in clients’ funds for the benefit of clients having a debit balance. Sebi had alleged that IIFL Securities used pool accounts.

A long buildup is when there is a rise in open interest and volumes along with an increase in the price of the underlying stock in the Futures and Options segment. The long buildup is the occurrence of a long (buying) trend in the share market. In Friday's trading session, five stocks witnessed a build of fresh long positions. Here's the list:

While the policy was pretty much in line with the Street's expectations, here is how experts reacted to Governor Shaktikanta's monetary policy speech

Overseas funds held 31,549 more long index futures contracts than short contracts as of Thursday, turning to a net bullish position a day earlier for the first time since September, according to exchange data compiled by Bloomberg.

However, while benchmarking is a useful and widely used tool in the industry, from an investor’s perspective, it must not be taken as the only way to measure your financial success. In fact, relying too much on external benchmarks can be misleading, distracting, and even harmful to your financial well-being.