<p>This week, we expect the equity markets to continue trading in a broad range on account of subdued trading activity amidst year-end holidays in the global markets. With the rupee touching all-time low, exports oriented sectors like pharma and IT could see some buying interest. Also, stocks from the hotel, aviation, food & beverage industry are likely to be in focus due to increase in demand during the new year celebrations.</p>.<p>Key economic data to be released this week includes India’s manufacturing PMI for December, current account data, United States jobs data, US and China’s manufacturing PMI, among others. Investors will closely monitor the pre-quarterly business updates to be released in the first week of January for insights into Q3 earnings, as it will be the next significant factor driving the markets.</p>.<p>Last week, Nifty ended with 1% gains buoyed by buying in auto and pharma sectors. Indian rupee hit a record low of 85.81 against the US dollar on Friday, due to continued strength in dollar index, rising crude oil prices and Persistent FII selling. Broader markets underperformed, as Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices lost 0.1-0.2% each.</p>.How mutual funds become a center stage for retirement planning.<p>For the Indian primary market, 2024 has been a blockbuster year, with Rs 1.8 lakh crore raised through more than 317 IPOs (up to December 20), an all-time high that surpasses the previous record of Rs 1.3 lakh crore set in 2021 and far exceeds last year's total of Rs 0.6 lakh crore. There were five more mainboard IPO listings during last week, with all companies debuting with significant gains.</p>.<p>The technology sector is poised for strong growth in 2025, driven by increasing investments in digital transformation, AI, and cloud technologies. After a slow recovery phase, the sector is showing signs of acceleration, with key industries like healthcare, financial services, and public services witnessing improvement in IT spends. As client budgets are finalised in early 2025, further clarity on discretionary spending will emerge, likely boosting investments in technology services.</p>.<p>With focus on government spending, demand is expected to build up in the capital goods space after initial weakness in October and November. Domestic air passenger traffic grew 12% YoY in November, driving growth for the aviation sector.</p>.<p>India’s wireless telecom subscribers dipped further by 3.3 million sequentially in October, following a 17 million decline in July-September), largely due to the clean-up of inactive subscribers by Jio. After three months of decline, Bharti added 1.9 million net wireless subs in October, indicating improving market share.</p>.<p><em>(The author is head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services)</em></p>
<p>This week, we expect the equity markets to continue trading in a broad range on account of subdued trading activity amidst year-end holidays in the global markets. With the rupee touching all-time low, exports oriented sectors like pharma and IT could see some buying interest. Also, stocks from the hotel, aviation, food & beverage industry are likely to be in focus due to increase in demand during the new year celebrations.</p>.<p>Key economic data to be released this week includes India’s manufacturing PMI for December, current account data, United States jobs data, US and China’s manufacturing PMI, among others. Investors will closely monitor the pre-quarterly business updates to be released in the first week of January for insights into Q3 earnings, as it will be the next significant factor driving the markets.</p>.<p>Last week, Nifty ended with 1% gains buoyed by buying in auto and pharma sectors. Indian rupee hit a record low of 85.81 against the US dollar on Friday, due to continued strength in dollar index, rising crude oil prices and Persistent FII selling. Broader markets underperformed, as Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices lost 0.1-0.2% each.</p>.How mutual funds become a center stage for retirement planning.<p>For the Indian primary market, 2024 has been a blockbuster year, with Rs 1.8 lakh crore raised through more than 317 IPOs (up to December 20), an all-time high that surpasses the previous record of Rs 1.3 lakh crore set in 2021 and far exceeds last year's total of Rs 0.6 lakh crore. There were five more mainboard IPO listings during last week, with all companies debuting with significant gains.</p>.<p>The technology sector is poised for strong growth in 2025, driven by increasing investments in digital transformation, AI, and cloud technologies. After a slow recovery phase, the sector is showing signs of acceleration, with key industries like healthcare, financial services, and public services witnessing improvement in IT spends. As client budgets are finalised in early 2025, further clarity on discretionary spending will emerge, likely boosting investments in technology services.</p>.<p>With focus on government spending, demand is expected to build up in the capital goods space after initial weakness in October and November. Domestic air passenger traffic grew 12% YoY in November, driving growth for the aviation sector.</p>.<p>India’s wireless telecom subscribers dipped further by 3.3 million sequentially in October, following a 17 million decline in July-September), largely due to the clean-up of inactive subscribers by Jio. After three months of decline, Bharti added 1.9 million net wireless subs in October, indicating improving market share.</p>.<p><em>(The author is head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services)</em></p>