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The Economic Times · "GOLD" · 총 45건
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The Reserve Bank of India’s use of a key tool for defending the rupee has passed the $110 billion mark in recent weeks to a new record, according to people familiar with the developments.The RBI’s net-short dollar book, a measure of the degree it has sold forward its stockpile of the US currency, has risen to about $110 billion-$115 billion across onshore and offshore markets, said the people who asked not to be identified as the information is private. The book was at $95.3 billion in April, down from a record high of $103.1 billion the previous month.The central bank ramped up its interventions after the rupee weakened to a record low on May 20, almost hitting the 97 per dollar mark, the people said, adding that a large part of the central bank’s activity was in the offshore non-deliverable forwards market.Also Read: RBI's reform package could pull $40-75b inflows, push rupee to 92-93 and keep August rate on hold The RBI’s use of NDFs, which have grown over the past couple of years, allows the central bank to influence the exchange rate without immediately depleting foreign-exchange reserves. Such interventions can signal policy intent and help steady the currency during periods of volatility.A spokesperson for the RBI didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.131583707The rupee has borne the brunt of the oil-price shock caused by the Iran war, as India depends heavily on imports to meet its energy needs. The currency has repeatedly fallen to record lows this year as refiners sold rupees for dollars to pay for costlier crude. Still, the currency may now find support from coordinated measures rolled out by the government and the RBI on Friday to attract capital flows.Also Read: Reeling rupee drags students abroad deeper into debt at homeIn recent weeks, the central bank has sold offshore dollars largely via short-dated contracts, typically maturing in one-to-three months, the people said. At the same time, it has conducted onshore swaps of maturities of more than a year, they said. These swaps replenish some of the liquidity drain caused by the RBI’s onshore dollar sales aimed at stabilizing the rupee.RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Friday that while the authority does not resist market-driven adjustments in the rupee, it curbs excessive volatility in the exchange rate. The currency is often influenced by speculative pressures that are not in sync with fundamentals, he added.The growing derivatives book may still pose challenges. As contracts mature, they generate recurring demand for dollars, capping any sustained recovery in the rupee. The central bank is likely to use any renewed capital flows to unwind its short forward book and rebuild foreign-exchange reserves, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts led by Kamakshya Trivedi.India’s foreign-exchange reserves were at $682.3 billion in the week of May 29, having dropped more than $40 billion since the Iran war began in late February.
Shares of Rajesh Exports (REL) tumbled 5% to hit the lower circuit at Rs 94.50 on Monday, marking the third consecutive session of sharp losses after market regulator Sebi accused the company of orchestrating an elaborate financial fraud involving alleged revenue inflation of Rs 15.15 lakh crore over the years, personal gold trades purportedly passed off as corporate sales, and investments of Rs 1,035 crore in gold mines.In its findings, Sebi alleged accounting irregularities, diversion of company funds into personal accounts, and a pattern of conduct aimed at misleading investors. The regulator also flagged lapses by the company's auditors and said both Rajesh Exports and its auditors failed to fully cooperate with the investigation.In its 109-page interim order dated June 3, Sebi said its investigation and forensic examination revealed prima facie evidence suggesting that nearly 97-99% of the company's reported revenue may have been inflated. The regulator described the alleged discrepancies as "egregious and unheard of".Pending further directions, Sebi has barred Rajesh Mehta from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities of Rajesh Exports. The regulator has also directed the company to fully cooperate with investigators and ensure true and fair disclosure of its financial statements and related-party transactions."The acts of REL constitute a deliberate device, scheme and artifice to mislead and defraud investors dealing in the shares of REL by portraying an inflated and misleading picture of its operational scale, revenue and financial health," Sebi said in its order.The case stems from a shareholder complaint received in March 2024 that raised concerns over substantial trade receivables reflected in the company's accounts. Following a preliminary review, Sebi initiated a detailed investigation covering the period from April 2020 to March 2024 and appointed BDO India Services as the forensic auditor.Besides restricting Rajesh Mehta from dealing in the company's securities, Sebi has directed Rajesh Exports to furnish all pending information sought by investigators within 30 days. The regulator has also ordered the appointment of a new forensic auditor to conduct a more comprehensive review of the company's books and transactions.Rajesh Exports has denied the allegations. In a press release issued on Thursday, the company said the revenues reported in its financial statements were accurate and contended that Sebi's conclusions were based on a misunderstanding between revenue and EBITDA figures at Swiss refiner Valcambi SA, an indirect subsidiary of the company.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
An unprecedented concentration crisis in global technology equities has evolved into a structural trap for investors, triggering a violent "Black Monday" unwind that is reverberating across Asian emerging markets, such as Korea and Taiwan. Active portfolio managers are increasingly being forced to dump their best-performing chip heavyweights because these explosive stocks have grown too large for risk compliance limits.This structural anomaly has distorted regional benchmarks, accelerated a massive migration from active to passive funds, and triggered a historic correction.The structural breakdown manifested in extreme volatility across the region's tech hubs. South Korea’s Kospi index plunged more than 8% shortly after the market opened, triggering a mandatory 20-minute trading halt before narrowing its drop as memory giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rebounded from their session lows.Also Read | Kospi crashes 9%, trading halted for 20 minutes, as chip rout deepens; Samsung, SK Hynix worst hitThe Cycle of Forced SellingThe core of the market distortion lies in a mechanical paradox: As tech giants outperform, active funds are legally or structurally required to trim their holdings to manage concentration risks. Just three mega-cap tech firms—Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), Samsung, and SK Hynix—now command nearly a third of the MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan Index.The concentration is even more extreme on a national level. TSMC occupies a staggering 41.5% of Taiwan's TAIEX, while Samsung and SK Hynix together comprise 55% of South Korea's KOSPI."We have been forced sellers of TSMC, Samsung and MediaTek," Sam Konrad, investment manager for Asia Equity Income at Jupiter Asset Management, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. His fund must shed these chipmaking stocks despite explosive year-to-date gains of 52% for TSMC, 159% for Samsung, and 184% for MediaTek.This mechanism creates an institutional dilemma where strong performance mandates divestment, artificially capping the upside for active portfolios trying to beat their benchmarks."As equities continue to outperform, funds will find it increasingly difficult to add exposure, reinforcing a cycle of forced selling and enlarging underweight positions even amid strong fundamentals," Herald Van der Linde, head of equity strategy for Asia Pacific at HSBC in Hong Kong, noted in a research report. HSBC data confirms that TSMC has become the largest portfolio underweight among Asian and global emerging-market funds.Emerging Market Exhaustion and Fund OutflowsData from Elara Securities India confirms that the Global Emerging Market (GEM) trade is experiencing its first major phase of sustained exhaustion since its rally began. GEM fund redemptions expanded to $3 billion, the largest outflow since December 2021, marking a clear breakdown in momentum.The capital flight has extended significantly beyond Korea and Taiwan to hit other major emerging markets. China saw foreign investors pull $3.7 billion, the largest single-week redemption in over a year, while South Korea logged six consecutive weeks of foreign outflows, compounded by a record $27.9 billion foreign portfolio rebalancing outflow.The systemic nature of the unwind is visible in the broader indices. Goldman Sachs data reveals that while the MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan index is up 27% year-to-date, it is actually down 4% when South Korea and Taiwan are excluded.This regional distortion has accelerated a massive, unprecedented migration from active stock-picking to passive indexing. Over the last five years, Asia's active funds have suffered $269 billion of cumulative outflows. Meanwhile, passive funds have accumulated $510 billion, with a quarter of that volume arriving in just the last six months."The size of recent inflows into the region’s passive funds... has no precedent across the last 10 years," said William Bratton, head of cash equity research for Asia-Pacific at BNP Paribas Securities.This phenomenon mirrors the “Magnificent Seven” dynamic on Wall Street, where tech giants account for about a third of the S&P 500. However, concentration in Asia has unfolded at a faster and more extreme pace, turning regional indices into concentrated bets on just one or two stocks and undermining the diversification benefits of benchmark investing.Broader Trade ImplicationsThe shockwaves from the AI tech unwinding are bleeding directly into structural commodities and the wider electrification ecosystem. Precious metal funds witnessed $2.8 billion of outflows, driven heavily by gold (-$2.1 billion) and silver (-$910 million, a 12-week high redemption), while energy funds recorded their second consecutive week of outflows. These asset classes had operated as indirect beneficiaries of the global AI infrastructure and electrification trade.Furthermore, Wall Street's nine-week winning streak concluded abruptly following a hot jobs report that ignited fears of a hawkish policy pivot by the US Federal Reserve, sending technology stocks into their largest one-day decline.Despite the steep selloffs, which saw South Korean equities slide 12% and Taiwan fall 6% from their record highs, market opinions remain starkly divided on whether this correction marks a peak or a buying opportunity.Some money managers are exploiting the correction to pivot to alternatives further down the supply chain, like mid-sized semiconductor equipment makers, or shifting money toward cheaper domestic themes like robotics. China's CSI Robot Index actually bucked the broader market declines, rising 1.4%.
With the benchmark index - BSE Sensex down by over 10,000 basis points to a level of 74,243 as of June 6, 2026, has left many investors wondering whether to continue SIPs and lump-sum investments during the current market decline, hold current positions or wait for greater clarity on market direction?Market experts believe that investors should see this 10,000 point correction as a buying opportunity rather than a reason to panic.Vishal Dhawan, Founder & CEO, Plan Ahead Wealth Advisors told ETMutualFunds that investors should view this 10,000-point Sensex correction as a long-term buying opportunity as market drawdowns are natural processes that shake out speculative premiums, resetting valuations to fundamentally healthier levels.Also Read | Multicap or flexicap mutual fund for a 20-year SIP? Expert explains what investors should choose “Long-term investors can continue their Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) and hold current positions firmly. Pausing allocations to "wait for clarity" is a psychological trap that historically locks investors out of the sharpest days of a market rebound.”Dhawan further said that while regular SIPs are key to an investment journey, panic selling must be completely avoided; use this market decline to methodically build an equity baseline designed to reward your patience when economic sentiment inevitably swings back to optimism at some point in the future and it is critical to have a minimum 5-7 year investment horizon whilst investing.Echoing a similar opinion of considering this as a buying opportunity rather than a reason to panic, Amitabh Lara, Executive Director, Anand Rathi Wealth Limited shared with ETMutualFunds that for long-term investors, this is not the time to stop investing.Amitabh further said that continuing SIPs during a fall can actually work in your favour because the same investment amount buys more units at lower prices and one of the biggest mistakes investors make is stopping SIPs during a correction and returning only after the recovery has already happened.The benchmark index which touched a peak of 84,391 on December 10, 2025, is now down by nearly 10,148 points to a level of 74,243 as of June 6, 2026.As the market becomes volatile, investors as well as the fund managers keep cash in hand and wait for the opportunity to deploy it in the market but with a dilemma whether to deploy cash immediately or stagger investments over time.Amitabh said that if investors have idle cash available then they can go ahead and invest as a lumpsum and funds can be deployed in a staggered manner through tranches, over 6 to 8 weeks. “It also removes the stress of trying to time the exact bottom. If they have SIPs, they can continue it without worrying about the market level and take advantage of rupee cost averaging.”Dhawan said that for investors sitting on cash, a staggered deployment strategy via a 6-month to 12 month Systematic Transfer Plan (STP) is highly recommended as this approach could hedge your principal against intermediate downside volatility.He further said that investors should avoid deploying an absolute lumpsum at current levels, as picking the exact market bottom is a statistical myth and tranche-based buying ensures you average out your entry costs across multiple lower price bands smoothly.“Park your liquid capital in low-duration instruments and systematically route it into equity. This automated execution effectively replaces portfolio anxiety with disciplined benefits. In case you wish to deploy a lumpsum, and not do a STP, an investment in the Balanced Advantage category is suggested.” Dhawan said.How equity categories performedETMutualFunds checked the performance of equity mutual funds since December 10, 2025. Small cap funds have delivered an average return of 6.06% since the date BSE Sensex touched the new peak, followed by mid cap funds which gave an average return of 2.58%.Also Read | Nippon India Mutual Fund limits subscription in Gold BeES and gold savings fund In contrast, the counterparts, large cap funds gave a negative average return of 6.26% since December 10, 2025. Multi cap funds gave an average return of 0.06% whereas flexi cap funds fell 2.95% on an average in the said time period.Out of 10 equity categories, only three gave positive average returns which were small caps, mid caps and multi caps whereas the other categories such as large caps, contra funds, ELSS, flexi, focused, value and large & mid caps gave negative average returns.Which market-cap segment could lead the recovery?Dhawan said that large-cap stocks are typically best positioned to lead the initial recovery wave when domestic and foreign institutional flows return and their robust cash flows, operational scale, and institutional backing provide an essential fundamental moat.He further said that mid-caps may require stock-specific elements to perform, as many names went up significantly during the previous bull cycle; small caps should be approached with high caution and patience, as they remain prone to sharp liquidity outflows during market corrections. “Limit small-cap exposure if you can handle the volatility and have a longer time horizon of 7-10 years for mid and small caps.”Lara said that small caps appear to have the most room for upside when markets recover. Currently, Nifty Smallcap 250 is trading about 17.4% below its fair value, compared with 9.6% for the Nifty Midcap 150 and around 5-9% for large-cap indices. Hence, small caps have corrected more than large caps and mid caps relative to their earnings potential.He further said that investors can have a balanced exposure across market caps, with 55% in large caps and the rest in mid and small caps to be a part of the eventual recovery that will follow in the markets.BSE Sensex: In the last six months, the index was down 13.38% and in the nine months, it was down 8.01%. In the last one year, Sensex was down 8.83% whereas in the last three years and five years it was up 5.74% and 7.33% respectively.Sector allocation becomes particularly important during market corrections as valuation gaps emerge across industries. The question is whether investors should actively target beaten-down sectors or focus on broader diversification.In response to this, Lara said investors should avoid investing in single sectors or making sectoral bets as performance in sectors/themes is highly cyclical. For example, in 2024, the pharma & IT sectors were part of the best-performing sectors, however, they both turned into worst-performing sectors in 2025, which suggest that entry and exit at the right time play a crucial role in making investments in the sectorial/thematic funds.Also Read |HDFC Mutual Fund limits subscription in its gold ETF and FoF. What this means for investors? During such corrections, it would be more beneficial for investors to invest in diversified categories of equity mutual funds to get exposure to all sectors and benefit from their performance, rather than focusing solely on any single sector, Lara further said.Dhawan said to prioritize accumulating high-quality banking and financial services funds as these segments offer good earnings visibility, corrected price multiples, and fundamentally strong underlying balance sheets.He further said systematic accumulation of Information Technology (IT) funds could be attributed to these deep valuation resets as they are cash-rich franchises with low debt. However, they do face business model risk. Conversely, stay away from Utilities and capital goods as valuations look well above their long term averages.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)If you have any mutual fund queries, message on ET Mutual Funds on Facebook/Twitter. We will get it answered by our panel of experts. Do share your questions on ETMFqueries@timesinternet.in along with your age, risk profile, and Twitter handle.
Lenskart Solutions' shares fell more than 2% to Rs 497 on the BSE on Monday after JPMorgan Chase's offshore subsidiary Copthall Mauritius Investment sold a stake in the company through a Rs 96 crore block deal. Stock exchange data showed that Hong Kong-based hedge fund Viridian Asia Opportunities Master Fund bought 18.96 lakh shares of the company. Viridian bought Lenskart shares at an average price of Rs 508.55 apiece, taking the value of the total stake purchase to more than Rs 96 crore, according to NSE data. The seller of these shares was JPMorgan Chase’s offshore subsidiary Copthall Mauritius Investment Limited. The transaction was executed on Friday at an average price of Rs 508.55 apiece, which is slightly higher than Friday’s closing price of Rs 506.45 apiece on NSE.Lenskart has seen multiple block deals recently. Last week, SoftBank affiliate SVF II Lightbulb (Cayman) pared its stake in the eyewear retailer by selling 5.65 crore shares at Rs 508.55 apiece. Several global and domestic institutional investors picked up shares. The buyers included funds managed by Goldman Sachs and Fidelity, alongside domestic institutions such as ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, Kotak Mutual Fund, Mirae Asset Mutual Fund, Quant Mutual Fund, HDFC Life Insurance, and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. The deal, valued at approximately Rs 2,873 crore, also attracted participation from several overseas pension and investment funds.Lenskart share priceLenskart Solutions shares made a subdued market debut in November last year, listing at Rs 395 apiece on NSE at a discount to the IPO price of Rs 402. The shares of the company then surged more than 41% to hit a record high of Rs 557.65 apiece in April this year.The stock is currently down over 9% from that level. However, it is up over 28% from its listing price and 26% from its IPO price. The shares of the company have fallen 2.5% in one week, but gained 15% in 2026 so far. The company currently has a market capitalisation of nearly Rs 88,000 crore.Brokerages on Lenskart share priceJefferies has a ‘Buy’ call on the shares of Lenskart, with a target price of Rs 600 apiece in its base case scenario. Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, has a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares of Lenskart, with a target price of Rs 625 apiece.Morgan Stanley, on the other hand, is ‘Overweight’ on the shares of Lenskart, with a target price of Rs 576 apiece. Elara Capital recently initiated coverage on the shares of Lenskart with a target price of Rs 615 apiece, highlighting that an integrated ecosystem and tech agility fortify the eyewear retailer’s edge amid low competition, vast opportunity, and superior store economics.Lenskart earnings snapshotLenskart in May reported a nearly 46% YoY surge in revenue from operations to Rs 2,516 crore for the January-March quarter of FY26, from Rs 1,727 crore in the year-ago period, leading to bullish brokerage calls and target price hikes.While the company reported a strong surge in revenue, its net profit declined 9% YoY to Rs 200 crore during the quarter under review, from Rs 219 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.For the entire financial year which ended on March 31, 2026, Lenskart reported a 32% YoY rise in revenue to Rs 9,002 crore. EBITDA climbed 55.3% YoY to Rs 1,789 crore, while adjusted PAT surged 148% YoY to Rs 530 crore.Sensex, Nifty today: Catch all the LIVE stock market action here (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
India’s fraud enforcement regime has entered a new phase, with market regulator Sebi resetting the legal bar for what counts as fraud in securities law.The shift draws on the recent Supreme Court ruling in the Reliance Industries vs Sebi case. In this case, the court ruled that demonstration of investor injury is itself sufficient ground to establish fraud.Where no injury or loss can be quantified, wrongful intention must instead be inferred from surrounding circumstances.It is this intent element that Sebi applied in its last week’s ex-parte interim order against Rajesh Exports. While no direct investor loss was established, Sebi held that investors were induced to invest on the basis of a misleading picture of the gold refiner’s financial position.“Going forward, Sebi’s investigations on fraud will be guided by the supreme court’s interpretation,” said a person familiar with the development.Shruti Rajan, partner, financial regulatory, Trilegal, said the court had “crystallised two tenets — where you cannot prove intention, you must prove injury, and where you can prove intention, injury is irrelevant.” With Sebi applying the court’s observations in Rajesh Exports, Rajan said “it is a sign that the regulator is looking to create more consistency in precedent making across its enforcement process.”Sandeep Parekh, managing partner of Finsec Law Advisors, said the court had “reaffirmed that intention and act of injury are necessary ingredients of fraud, and that a breach of position limits is by itself a reporting default and not deceit.” Drawing an analogy, he said driving above the 60 kmph speed limit on a highway does not make it an attempt to murder someone, “specially if no one was hit and even more so when the highway did not even have any pedestrians. Conversely, hitting someone deliberately, even at 30 kmph, could still be murder.”In its Rajesh Exports order, Sebi observed that financial statements of a listed company are the primary documents that investors rely upon to take informed decisions and must be free from any misstatement or misrepresentation — a principle it held Rajesh Exports had breached, with revenues aggregating to 15.15 lakh crore, or 99.80% of total revenue between FY21 and FY25, found to be falsely stated.
Wealth managers believe retail investors in gold mutual fund schemes will not be affected, after three large asset management companies announced restrictions on purchase of large quantities of gold by investors.Three AMCs namely HDFC MF, ICICI Prudential MF and Nippon Life India AMC have announced temporary restrictions on their gold schemes. All three AMCs announced subscription transactions of large investors who directly transact with them and invest a minimum of 25 crore will not be accepted. In addition, in the case of both HDFC Gold ETF FoF and Nippon India Gold Savings Fund, lump sum purchases will be restricted to a limit of 10 lakh per month. Also for Nippon India Gold Savings Fund, SIPs or STPs will continue with a limit of 50,000 per investor per day.“Restrictions will apply only to large investors, while AMCs will continue to create units for market makers, without any restrictions,” said a ETF head at a domestic fund house. As units are created, there will be enough liquidity available to investors who can buy and sell these units at prevailing market prices.Wealth managers believe the current move by fund houses is in line with the prime minister's message to reduce overall imports.“This is an attempt to slow down purchase of gold and reduce pressure in imports, after the strong inflows into the yellow metal over the last one year,” says Saket Kumar, Co-Founder, ETF Junction.Gold has been one of the best performing assets in recent times, and saw a sharp run up returning 56.08% in the last one year, while over a three year period it returned an annualized 35.89%. However over the last three months it lost 3.59%.“With prices stabilizing over the last three months, there is no longer a frenzy to buy gold. Most investors now allocate 5-10% to the yellow metal in line with their asset allocation largely through SIPs,” says Nikhil Gupta, Founder, Sage Capital.Gold ETFs saw net sales of 71,914 crore in the last 12 months and mutual funds now managed gold assets worth 1.78 lakh crore as of April 30, 2026, a rise of 290% in the last 1 year.
AlphaGrep Investment Management is set to enter the mutual fund industry with the launch of its first scheme next month and is targeting assets under management (AUM) of Rs 25,000-30,000 crore over the next three to five years, a top company official said.The move comes after the company received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to commence mutual fund operations.The company's maiden new fund offer (NFO) -- a multi-asset allocation fund -- will open for subscription on July 6 and close on July 20. The scheme will invest in equity and equity-related instruments, debt and money market instruments, as well as gold, silver and other permitted commodity exchange-traded funds (ETFs)."We are targeting an AUM of Rs 25,000-30,000 crore in the next three to five years," AlphaGrep Investment Management Chief Executive Officer Bhautik Ambani told PTI.He said the asset management company will focus on quantitative equity and hybrid strategies driven by advanced mathematical models, artificial intelligence and machine learning.Following the launch of the multi-asset allocation fund, the company plans to introduce an open-ended dynamic equity scheme that will invest across large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap stocks."We will always try to launch products with a differentiation to offer investors," Ambani said.Founded by Mohit Mutreja and Prashant Mittal in 2010, AlphaGrep is a global quantitative trading and investment firm. It has a headcount of more than 500 people and offices in around eight countries. Its mutual fund business is under AlphaGrep Investment Management.AlphaGrep Investment Management currently manages more than Rs 2,000 crore in assets across its specialised Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) and Portfolio Management Services (PMS) platforms, including operations in GIFT City, as of February 2026.The entry comes at a time when India's mutual fund industry continues to expand rapidly. The country currently has 52 asset management companies managing assets worth more than Rs 85 lakh crore.
A wave of optimism over South Korean stocks is giving way to growing caution, as some investors hedge positions and pare back crowded trades on concerns that the rally has run too hot, too fast.Hedge fund Golden Horse Fund Management has trimmed exposure and added derivative protection, while M&G Investments has cut memory and foundry holdings to broaden out down the AI supply chain. A Bloomberg Intelligence analysis of options on the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF shows investors seeking protection against a decline. The fund tumbled 14% Friday in the US.The moves highlight the challenge facing global money managers. While investors remain upbeat about Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc., the two chip giants that powered Kospi’s more than 90% rise this year, many are becoming pickier about where to put new money and keeping cash ready for opportunities elsewhere.Friday’s selloff in US tech stocks, driven by fears of higher interest rates, shows how quickly popular trades can unwind once sentiment shifts. That risk could spillover into Korea once local markets open.“We’ve been trimming gross exposure at the margin and layering derivative protection over the last few weeks,” said Yi Ling Ong, managing partner at Golden Horse Fund. Several large IPOs, including a SpaceX listing this month, could lead to rotation as funds raise cash to participate, making it “prudent to hold some dry powder,” she said.131561937Over the past year, Korean stocks captured global attention as a combination of the AI boom and the government’s successful corporate reform propelled the index to new highs. Strong earnings potential continues to underpin bullish sentiment, but the extended rally has led to crowding in a few major players, leaving the market vulnerable to abrupt reversals. The benchmark tumbled 7% at one point on Friday.The caution is showing up in the derivatives market.“The debate isn’t whether the Kospi story remains attractive — it’s how to stay invested without giving back a portion of the gains,” said Tanvir Sandhu, global chief derivatives strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence. Options activity in the EWY ETF suggests investors are becoming more cautious, with demand shifting from upside exposure to downside protection, he said.Some investors are looking for opportunities beyond Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, whose meteoric rise propelled them into the $1 trillion valuation club and helped Korea briefly overtake India as the world’s sixth-largest stock market.“The alpha lies lower down the value chain — in the picks-and-shovels of the picks-and-shovels,” said Vikas Pershad, portfolio manager at M&G, referring to companies that benefit from spending on AI infrastructure without being at the heart of the trade.Not Bearish To be sure, the rotation doesn’t signal investors turning bearish on Korea. Valuations remain cheaper than in rival tech hub Taiwan and investors say the market still offers one of the strongest AI-linked stories in global equities. At 8.6 times forward earnings, the Kospi trades below its five-year average of 10 times and is much cheaper than Taiwan’s benchmark, which trades at about 20 times, data compiled by Bloomberg show.Earnings upgrade cycle has also started to broaden. Excluding Samsung and SK Hynix, the rest of the Kospi is now expected to deliver more than 50% profit growth this year, up from just 20% in January, according to Golden Horse Fund. 131561965“The speed of the rally has been vertiginous but in this type of market I would rather let the rally continue,” said Rajeev De Mello, global macro portfolio manager at Gama Asset Management SA. “Exiting now will make it very difficult to re-invest later if the market doesn’t correct.”Still, foreign outflows have become a concern. Global funds have pulled a record $76 billion this year, selling in every session over the past month. While part of the retreat is due to technical limits on single-stock holding, the selling has been absorbed by more fickle retail investors — a dynamic that may heighten volatility.At the same time, some investors are growing wary of rising retail leverage. The concern is that popularity of leveraged ETFs and the planned weekly single-stock options could amplify swings in an already-volatile market. While the products are “really interesting” and show retail participation is growing, they also leave the market “in somewhat of a precarious position in case of a reversal,” Stephane Martin, head of derivatives institutional sales for Asia at Optiver, said at a panel discussion at Bloomberg’s Volatility Forum last week. (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone rebounded after a two-session decline, rising more than 1% to Rs 1,812 on Friday after Goldman Sachs reaffirmed its 'Buy' rating on the stock. The brokerage also raised the stock's target price to Rs 1,870. Goldman Sachs highlighted that cargo volumes in May 2026 rose 16% year-on-year to 48.3 million tonnes, led by a 33% increase in liquid cargo and a 17% rise in container volumes. Quarter-to-date cargo volumes stood at 91.4 million tonnes, up 15% from a year ago and ahead of analyst expectations.Goldman Sachs noted that thermal coal volumes are witnessing a recovery and are likely to remain robust during the summer months. However, logistics rail volumes in May declined 19% year-on-year to 48,170 container units.The brokerage identified key growth drivers as higher Tata Power-linked coal volumes at Mundra, the ramp-up of operations at the Vizhinjam transhipment hub, growth in liquid cargo at Mundra, and expansion of multimodal logistics parks.Reflecting the strong volume momentum and improving return on capital employed (ROCE), Goldman Sachs has revised its earnings estimates upward and increased its target price for the stock.Adani Ports Q4 snapshotAdani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,329 crore for the March-ended quarter, compared to Rs 3,014 crore in the year-ago period, marking a 10% increase. The profit after tax (PAT) is attributable to equity holders of the parent.India's largest port operator posted revenue growth of 26% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 10,737 crore in Q4FY26, as against Rs 8,488 crore posted by the company in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.The company's Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) in the quarter under review stood at Rs 6,02 crore, up 20% from Rs 5,006 crore reported in Q4FY25.Also read: Rajesh Exports shares hit 5% lower circuit for 2nd day; firm cites 'communication gap' after Sebi order For the full financial year, PAT jumped 16% to Rs 12,782 crore compared to Rs 11,061 crore in FY25, while the topline stood at Rs 38,736 crore for FY26 versus Rs 31,079 crore in FY25, recording a 25% growth. EBITDA saw a 20% YoY uptick at Rs 22,851 crore.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
Mumbai: It is India's fourth biggest company by revenue, but the managing director of precious metals trader Rajesh Exports (REL) apparently doesn't know how and from where it gets the biggest chunk of the revenue, show the findings of a regulatory investigation.In its investigation report, the Securities and Exchange Board of India observed allegedly unscrupulous activities by REL's promoters, such as accounting irregularities and siphoning off of company funds into personal accounts, and also pointed out lapses by its auditors. The regulator said the company and its auditors were non-cooperative."The acts of REL constitute a deliberate device, scheme and artifice to mislead and defraud investors dealing in the shares of REL by portraying an inflated and misleading picture of its operational scale, revenue and financial health," Sebi observed in its report.The company, eponymously named after its chairman Rajesh Mehta, is accused of committing an elaborate financial fraud that includes dressing-up of revenues of ₹15.15 lakh crore over the years, personal gold trades covered up as corporate sales and phoney gold mine investments of ₹1,035 crore, according to the interim report.REL denied the charges of misdeeds. In a press release Thursday, the company said the revenues stated in its financials were correct and that the confusion arose because of a mix-up between Ebitda and revenue numbers at Swiss refiner Valcambi SA, an indirect subsidiary.Sebi has not made any adverse observation with regard to earnings, the company said, claiming that the regulator has only observed suspicion with regard to revenues which was primarily because of confusion over the Valcambi numbers.Numbers don't add upIn fiscal 2025, REL reported consolidated revenue of ₹4.23 lakh crore against a profit after tax of just ₹95 crore, translating into a net margin of barely 0.02%. The year before, on ₹2.8 lakh crore revenue, profit was ₹336 crore.Experts who have studied the Sebi report and the company's annual reports say the numbers did not add up. The business appeared to be operating at margins that were not merely thin but structurally negligible, they said."It looks like a case of pass-through accounting. There is no value creation. It was 'flow of gold' being booked as revenue," said a leading auditor on the condition of anonymity.Sebi, which began the investigations in March 2024 following a shareholder complaint about suspected accounting malpractices, said it found that about 97-99% of REL's consolidated revenues were attributed to its overseas subsidiaries, principally Valcambi. But Valcambi's own accounts, audited by KPMG SA, recorded only processing fees that were about ₹3,027 crore across five years.Valcambi refined gold on behalf of clients and never took ownership of the precious metal or recognised the value of gold as revenue in its books. Yet, Global Gold Refineries AG (GGR), the parent of Valcambi that had no independent operating business, recorded gross revenues running into hundreds of crores by including the gross value of gold that actually belonged to others, according to the Sebi report.Rajesh Exports, which owns GGR through a Singapore subsidiary, used those unaudited figures in its financial statements, significantly bumping up the company's revenue, it said.In its press release, REL said: "The core observation in the order is with regard to the misreporting of the revenues. This has emerged primarily due to confusion because Sebi has considered the Ebitda of Valcambi instead of revenue hence it has stated that there is a difference of about 97% in the revenue.""There is no reason for any listed entity to inflate revenue and maintain the earnings, this will only reduce the margins of the company, which would be adverse to the company," it said.Senior management in the darkThe senior management of REL told regulators that most of them were in the dark about the company's overseas operations and only the promoter, Rajesh Mehta, dealt with those activities."Valcambi SA does not have any gold mine on its own," managing director Suresh Gowda was quoted in the Sebi order as saying. "It refines the raw gold purchased by it from various entities, whose names I do not recollect, as these things are exclusively handled by Rajesh Mehta, chairman of REL. I have never interacted nor involved with any subsidiary/step-down subsidiary of REL, as these were exclusively taken care of by Rajesh Mehta," he told the investigators, as per the order.According to the report, REL booked ₹11,487 crore in sales between 2021-22 and 2023-24 to Affluence Shares and Stocks, a broker that made up to 66% of the company's standalone revenue for that period. But Affluence, in formal depositions to the regulator, said it had not done any business with REL.Following the transaction trail, the investigators found out that the transactions were personal gold derivative trades executed by promoter Mehta using his own brokerage account and then recorded in the company's books as corporate sales, the order said.The investigators also found that Mehta used corporate funds. As per the Sebi observations, bank records show REL transferred ₹338.90 crore directly into Mehta's personal accounts between April 2020 and September 2025.Unlike in the case of Nirav Modi or Gitanjali Gems, who are accused of bank fraud, Rajesh Exports doesn't appear to have borrowed big from banks or through sale of bonds, according to regulatory filings.The company's market cap was just over ₹3,000 crore, as per Thursday's closing share price. LIC (10.8%) and Bridge India Fund (8.46%) are its major institutional shareholders."It is striking that, even at a peak market capitalisation of ₹25,000 crore, the company did not hold any analyst calls, a basic expectation for a listed company of that scale," said Shriram Subramanian, founder and managing director of InGovern Research Services, a corporate governance advisory firm.The regulator in 2024 hired BDO India Services to investigate. But the forensic audit faced problems at almost every stage of the investigation. It was denied access to ERP systems and was not provided a complete journal dump, preventing independent verification of transactions recorded in the books, according to the regulatory report.And the company declined to share subsidiary-level records with the investigator, citing Swiss data protection laws, limiting auditors largely to reviewing financial statements prepared by the management itself rather than underlying evidence, it said.What's also come under the scanner was the conduct of statutory auditors for the last few years: CA PV Ramana Reddy, the proprietor at PV Ramana Reddy & Co, and CA PL Venkatadri, partner at BSD & Co.The company's FY24 and FY25 annual reports, filed with the stock exchanges, carry an unqualified opinion from BSD & Co, which concluded that the financial statements presented a "true and fair view" in line with Indian Accounting Standards.The company's FY24 Directors' Report noted that the statutory and secretarial auditors had made no qualifications, reservations or adverse remarks.The Sebi report said for over five months, the auditors sat on the regulator's request for missing documents and statements.Emails sent to both audit firms did not elicit any response.REL closed 5% lower at ₹103.92 Thursday on the NSE. The shares are down from their peak of ₹1,028.40 on February 6, 2023.
HDFC Mutual Fund has restricted lumpsum investments in its gold ETF and fund of fund - HDFC Gold ETF and HDFC Gold ETF Fund of Fund with effect from June 8 and June 5 respectively.The fund house informed its unitholders that it has decided to temporarily restrict lumpsum subscriptions in HDFC Gold ETF and HDFC Gold ETF Fund of Fund until further notice.Also Read | ET Alpha Wealth Summit: India could unlock a $5 trillion export opportunity through FTAs, says Saurabh Mukherjea In HDFC Gold ETF, subscription transactions by large investors directly with HDFC Mutual Fund (i.e. investing minimum Rs 25 crore) shall not be accepted from the effective date. In HDFC Gold ETF FoF, lumpsum purchases /switch-ins into the FOF shall be processed only upto a limit of Rs 10 lakh per PAN per calendar month (at first holder level). This limit shall apply in respect of transactions received after cut-off time (3:00 PM) on June 5.It further said that all other terms and conditions of the schemes will remain unchanged. This addendum shall form an integral part of the SID / KIM of the schemes as amended from time to time.Launched on December 28, 2022, HDFC Gold ETF had an AUM of Rs 69.72 crore as of April 30, 2026. In the last one year, the fund lost 4.01% and since its inception it has given a CAGR of 8.27%.Also Read | ET Alpha Wealth Summit: Future alpha may emerge from neglected markets and asset classes, says Kalpen Parekh HDFC Gold ETF FoF was launched on November 1, 2011 and had an AUM of Rs 11,464 crore as of April 30. In the last one year, it gave a return of 57.05% and since its inception it has given a return of 11%.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)If you have any mutual fund queries, message on ET Mutual Funds on Facebook/Twitter. We will get it answered by our panel of experts. Do share your questions on ETMFqueries@timesinternet.in alongwith your age, risk profile, and Twitter handle.
International brokerage firm Jefferies started coverage on Poonawalla Fincorp with a Buy rating and a target price of Rs 490, implying an upside of 23% from current market levels, citing positive levers of growth. Jefferies says the company is well positioned to accelerate growth under its revamped leadership team, expanding product portfolio, wider distribution network and sharper underwriting practices. The brokerage expects the company to deliver a 33% AUM CAGR, the fastest among major NBFCs, supported by an improving loan mix, better net interest margins and lower credit costs driven by reduced slippages and a healthier portfolio mix. Analysts also forecast a sharp improvement in profitability, with RoA/RoE expected to expand to 16% by FY29 from 6% in FY26, which it believes should support the stock's premium valuation multiples. The brokerage cited the company's ongoing strategic transformation under CEO Arvind Kapil, former head of retail and mortgage banking at HDFC Bank as a positive. The brokerage highlighted the leadership overhaul, with seven of nine CXOs coming from HDFC Bank, alongside the launch of six new products including prime personal loans, commercial vehicle loans, gold loans and education loans. These new segments have already scaled to 14% of AUM within a year and are expected to contribute 34% of AUM over time. Jefferies expects the company to deliver a 33% AUM CAGR during FY26-29, supported by investments in distribution, collections, technology and AI, as well as its AAA credit rating and backing from the Adar Poonawalla Group.The brokerage expects margins to improve as the company shifts toward higher-yielding products. After contracting by 250 basis points over the past two years due to the run-down of its legacy personal loan portfolio, NIMs are projected to expand by around 70 basis points over FY26-29, aided by growth in products such as prime personal loans and gold loans. At the same time, Jefferies expects cost-to-AUM to improve to 3.9% by FY29 from 4.4% in FY26 on the back of operating leverage.Asset quality trends have also strengthened, with gross NPAs declining to 1.4% from 1.8% in FY25, supported by tighter underwriting and the reduction of the stressed legacy personal loan book. Jefferies noted that delinquency levels in loans originated after September 2024 are running about 50% lower than the previous 12-month cohort. It expects credit costs to moderate to 2.2% over FY26-29 from 2.7% in FY26, driven by better portfolio quality and a growing share of lower-risk products such as gold and education loans.Following a Rs 2,500 crore capital raise in April 2026, the company's Tier-1 capital ratio has risen above 19.5%, providing ample room to fund growth. Jefferies forecasts profit after tax to surge to Rs 2,900 crore by FY29 from Rs 540 crore in FY26, while return on assets and return on equity are expected to improve to 2.3% and 16%, respectively, from 1.1% and 6% in FY26. Despite trading at 2.4x FY27 estimated book value and 25x FY27 estimated earnings, the brokerage believes Poonawalla Fincorp's strong growth trajectory and improving profitability justify premium valuations and could support further re-rating if execution remains robust. Key risks include weaker-than-expected execution, margin pressure and higher credit stress.In Thursday’s session, shares of the company are down 1.5% to Rs 394 on the BSE. Poonawala Fincorp shares are down 18% in 2026. (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)