Retail inflation, as reflected by the Consumer Price Index, remained above the RBI’s upper tolerability level of 6% for 10 consecutive months to November, when it eased slightly to 5.88%. Retail inflation recorded an eight-year high in April, with rural inflation rising to 8.4% and urban inflation being recorded at 7.1%.

At present, AIF regulations focus on disclosures to investors regarding the valuation of investments and presently do not prescribe any guidelines.

That was followed by a surprisingly poor services sector report from the Institute for Supply Management. The report showed the first contraction since spring of 2020, with the gauge of activity hitting 49.6 percent, and its business activity index and new orders index both plunging.

A sustained deceleration in wage growth could offer some comfort to central bank officials that a key part of the inflation puzzle is losing steam.

The relaxation was announced following representations and in view of hardships faced by taxpayers due to Covid-induced restrictions. "In exercise of its power under Section 119 of the Act, hereby provides that the compliances ..., may be completed on or before March 31," the CBDT notification said

In March 2020, amid the pandemic and an unsettling choppiness in the stock market, the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had taken a slew of measures to minimise volatility. One of the steps was capping the naked or unhedged exposure that offshore and local mutual funds could take on equity index derivatives.

PFC stock has seen a strong build-up of long positions in the derivative segment. Since the expiry of the December derivative series, the stock has gained 14% and hit an over-five-year high of Rs 160.80 on Friday. If the stock manages to cross Rs 170 and trades above that level, it will become eligible to enter into the MSCI index.

The MSCI All-World index jumped 1.3%. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 .SPX climbed 1.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average leapt 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.3%

Axis Bank acted as arranger for 127 bond issues for an amount of Rs. 92,904.5 crore and ended the year 2022 with a market share of 19.2%

"Today I would be comfortable with either a 50 or a 25 (basis point increase). If I start to hear signs that the labor market is starting to ease a bit in terms of its tightness then I might lean more into the 25 basis point position," Bostic told broadcaster CNBC.

The benchmark index Sensex has fallen for the third straight session on Friday, down about 450 points to 59,900. Despite this fall, five stocks from the BSE consumer discretionary index managed to touch new 52-week highsThe 52-week high is the highest price at which a stock has traded during the last year. Some traders and investors use this technical indicator as an important factor for analysing a stock's current value and for predicting its future price movement

According to PFRDA data, the net invested contribution as on December 31, 2022, from the central government grew to Rs 1.65 lakh crore from Rs 1.37 lakh crore on January 1, 2022, states rose to Rs 3.24 lakh crore from Rs 2.52 lakh crore and corporate increased to Rs 84,878.13 crore from Rs 61,067.43 crore.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 125.22 points, or 0.38%, at the open to 33,055.30

The 100 largest banks by revenue made $77.1 billion from mergers and acquisitions and equity and debt issuance in 2022, a 38% drop from the previous year, BCG Expand Research in London said. The value of global dealmaking slumped about a third to $3.6 trillion last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Labor Department's more comprehensive jobs report due at 8:30 a.m. ET is expected to show nonfarm payrolls rose by 200,000 in December, less than the increase in November, while the unemployment rate was likely to remain unchanged at 3.7% in the last month.

For investment in equity and equity derivative securities listed on recognised stock exchanges in India, the FPIs will not be allowed to take contra-position for six months from the date of purchase or sale of such securities, it said.

As such, managers of AIFs have flexibility to adopt any valuation methodology by disclosing the same to investors in Private Placement Memorandums (PPMs) of schemes of AIFs managed by them.Currently, the modalities relating to valuation of investment portfolio of the AIFs are not disclosed in the PPMs at the time of submission to Sebi and also not reported to the regulator subsequently.

He told a conference that interest rates will rise until the ECB considers that the inflation can be brought down to its medium-term target of 2% as quickly as possible.

Indian indices registered losses for the third straight session amid continued FII selling. At the close, Nifty settled at 17,859, shedding 132 points or 0.74%. In 5 days of 2023, the indices lost around 3%. Except Nifty and FMCG, all other indices ended in the red, with Nifty IT logging the maximum cut of 2%.Here are the stocks that remained in focus today:

Weak global cues are largely weighing on sentiment in the absence of any major trigger from the domestic front. We may see some breather in the Nifty index after the recent slide but the tone is likely to remain negative, citing the weak structure of several index heavyweights. Participants should align their positions accordingly while keeping a check on leveraged trades

Stock Market Crash Today: Sensex off day's low, ends 450 points down; Nifty tests 17,850; all sectoral indices bleed

Data showed retail sales in Germany, Europe's largest economy, rose in November, adding to a slew of positive numbers this week indicating a milder-than-expected recession and easing of price pressures in some countries.

Shares of Lotus Chocolate, which manufactures chocolates, cocoa products and cocoa derivatives, had on Thursday closed at Rs 149.35 apiece, which was the highest price in the last three months

The reaffirmation in the rating assigned to the bank facilities of Sigachi Industries continues to derive strength from the proven track record, vast experience of the promoters with the qualified management team, integrated and accredited manufacturing facilities, strong network base, favourable location of units, satisfactory financial risk profile, adequate liquidity and stable industry outlook.

Domestic benchmark indices edged lower on Friday, after strong US data indicated the Federal Reserve would have to keep hiking interest rates, and ahead of the start of the December quarter earnings season. BSE Sensex was trading at 59,716, down 636 points or 1.05% around 13.05 pm while Nifty50 was at 17,802, down 188 points or 1,04% at the same time.

Trent is a leading fashion retailer selling 100% in-house brands across the apparel, innerwear, accessories, and footwear categories. The company is best known for its flagship Westside format (59.5% of FY2023E standalone revenue) but has rapidly scaled up the Zudio format as well (39.9% of FY2023E revenue).

The shares of TVS Srichakra rallied 3.5% to Rs 3,668 in early trade on Friday. However, the stock was trading 0.4% lower at Rs 3530, at 11.34 am. The stock has delivered a return of 111% in the last six months, and it has surged about 80% in the last year.

The growth in its AUM (assets under management) slowed down to 27% YoY/ 6% QoQ in Q3 from 31%/7% in Q2. Growth in new loan booking was also slower at 5% YoY, while the QoQ growth of 15% was due to the impact of the festive season.

In the Sensex pack, TCS, Bajaj Finserv and ICICI Bank were the top laggards, falling over 0.5%. Infosys, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Maruti, Wipro and Axis Bank also opened with losses. On the other hand, Power Grid, Nestle, ITC, Reliance, HDFC Bank and HDFC opened with gains.

The stock bottomed out near 80 levels when it hit a 52-week low of Rs 83 on 20 June 2022. The stock has been making higher highs and higher lows on the monthly charts for the past 4 months.

Wall Street's main indexes lost more than 1%, with the Nasdaq leading the declines, as evidence of a tight labour market eroded hopes that the Federal Reserve could pause its rate hike cycle anytime soon as it stays focused on taming inflation.

Once a commercial or professional service company reaches a scale, the sheer size of market share they have leads to a situation where a part of their revenue becomes a sort of annuity income and over the years that is good enough to ensure a certain level of margins.

Jio is expected to deliver 19% YoY revenue growth led by tariff hikes in the mobile segment and continued traction in the non-mobile segment. "5G pricing/adoption and its impact on market dynamics is key monitorable. The timing and quantum of next tariff hikes and Jio's response to Bharti's rural expansion would also be key focus areas," the analysts said.

In the Sensex pack, TCS, Bajaj Finserv and ICICI Bank were the top laggards, falling over 0.5%. Infosys, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Maruti, Wipro and Axis Bank also opened with losses. On the other hand, Power Grid, Nestle, ITC, Reliance, HDFC Bank and HDFC opened with gains.

While IDBI Bank is in the process of divestment, with the government having already invited bids for strategic sale, the completion of the same in the current fiscal year remains doubtful.

Further, the government has requested Sebi to treat its residual stake in IDBI Bank as a financial investment since it would not exercise any control over the bank or have any special rights. The government will also not have any representation on the bank's board.

"With strong improvement in the profitability and higher cash flows, Lemon Tree Hotels return profile is expected to in the coming years with RoE/RoCE standing at 19.2%/12.1% in FY2025 versus 13.8%/9.2% in FY2023," Kruttika Mishra, Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, said.

Long-term investors can look at buying the stock after the recent fall for a target of Rs 108 in the next 12 months, suggest experts. Lemon Tree Hotels is India’s largest hotel chain in the mid-priced hotel sector, and the third largest overall, based on controlling interest in owned and leased rooms.

"If Asia looks better in aggregate on comparative valuations, there is one market where valuations are undoubtedly challenging. That is GREED & fear’s long-term favourite, India. The Nifty index now trades at 18.8x 12-month forward earnings, compared with a historic 10-year average of 17.2x," Wood said in his weekly note.

“We are looking at new tech companies as their valuations have been reset,” Anand Radhakrishnan, chief investment officer for equities at Franklin Templeton’s India unit, said in an interview. “More importantly, there is data available about their business models.”

Long-term investors can look at buying the stock after the recent fall for a target of Rs 108 in the next 12 months, suggest experts. Lemon Tree Hotels is India’s largest hotel chain in the mid-priced hotel sector, and the third largest overall, based on controlling interest in owned and leased rooms.

At a time when India's largest public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) is offering the highest interest rate of 6.75%, a handful of stocks are still offering better dividend yields. Unlike debt instruments, dividend yield is not guaranteed and any fluctuation in the stock price can also affect your overall returns. Here are 6 high-dividend-yield PSU stocks that have paid at least 9% dividend yield according to a recent report by IDBI Capital.

Amid concerns around margins and growth outlook, at least 3 IT stocks - Wipro, LTIMindtree and Tech Mahindra - are down over 40% in the last one year period. All the remaining ones have also seen double-digit losses.

Consumer businesses are likely to drive growth for Reliance Industries. However, there is an upside risk to 02C earnings, said the note. RIL outperformed Nifty by 4% in the year 2022. The global investment bank forecasts 18% EBITDA growth in FY24E with 21% growth in retail.

The SME platform has witnessed several new-age and non-conventional companies accessing the capital market, said Uday Nair of Fedex Securities explaining the reason behind the growing interest of investors in smaller companies.

"With strong improvement in the profitability and higher cash flows, Lemon Tree Hotels return profile is expected to in the coming years with RoE/RoCE standing at 19.2%/12.1% in FY2025 versus 13.8%/9.2% in FY2023," Kruttika Mishra, Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, said.

“Options data suggests a broader trading range in between 17700 to 18500 zones while an immediate trading range in between 17850 to 18250 zones,” Chandan Taparia, Analyst-Derivatives at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited, said.

Sensex up 75 pts, Nifty above 18,000; IDBI Bank jumps 4%, MMTC falls 3%; HDFC Bank, Bandhan Bank, Siemens are some of the active stocks.

In the Sensex pack, TCS, Bajaj Finserv and ICICI Bank were the top laggards, falling over 0.5%. Infosys, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Maruti, Wipro and Axis Bank also opened with losses. On the other hand, Power Grid, Nestle, ITC, Reliance, HDFC Bank and HDFC opened with gains.

ET Now spoke to various experts and here's what they have to recommend for today's trading session. Nooresh Merani has a buy/sell recommendation on NTPC and GCPL while Kunal Bothra has a buy/sell recommendation on Maruti Suzuki and Hero Moto for today's trading session. Check out the targets and stoploss.