Latest news with #RohitSrivastava
Mint
08-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Caution rings among investors as India -Pak tensions escalate
Mumbai: Markets which had so far discounted a full-fledged war between India and Pakistan seem to have raised a note of caution in the last two-and-a-half hours of trade on Thursday, when news surfaced of India thwarting Pakistan's missile attack on 15 of its military installations on the intervening night of 7-8 May. The escalation followed multiple air strikes conducted by India on Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the wee hours of Wednesday to avenge the massacre of 26 tourists in Pahalgam by Pakistan-backed terrorists on 22 April. The aggregate Nifty put-call ratio (PCR) hit 1.89 on Thursday, the highest reading since the data has been collated on this variable from 1 April 2021, by analytics firm IndiaCharts. Simply put, this means for every 100 calls traded on Thursday, 189 puts changed hands. When more puts are traded relative to calls, it reflects heightened caution among investors and traders who demand more of them. While buyers wanted more of them, sellers refrained from selling them as many by end of the day, given that they would lose hugely if the Nifty falls on Friday or next week. Though volumes were high during the day, put sellers squared off their positions by the end of day, fearing volatility ahead. This became evident in the outstanding or open interest put-call ratio dipping to a provisional 0.86 on Thursday from 0.97 a day earlier-a clear sign of heightened volatility in the sessions ahead. Volumes refer to the number of contracts traded during the day and open interest refers to positions carried forward. While put-to-call volumes hit a multi-year high, the open interest PCR fell, reflecting fear among option sellers of carrying forward short put positions. If the Nifty falls in sessions ahead, the put sellers will be subjected to huge losses. That's why they sold fewer puts than calls by the end of day, a signal of heightened caution, said market analysts. 'While panic didn't strike stock market investors today (Thursday), following news reports of a rise in escalation between the two sides, they surely became more cautious, something which we didn't see since the Pahalgam attacks," said Rohit Srivastava, founder of IndiaCharts. The heightened caution was also reflected by fear gauge India Vix rising by 10.21% to 21.01, the highest since 7 April when Vix surged 65.69% to 22.79 in the wake of the global trade war intensifying. Vix rises when uncertainty increases and falls when investor confidence increases. A rise in Vix raises the price of puts relative to call options, while a fall means put prices rise less than calls. Weekly Nifty options now indicate a range of 2.17% up or down from 24300. The Nifty closed at 24,273.8 on Thursday, down 0.6%. Data indicates a range of 23,771-24,829 over the next few sessions, with a bias for the downside. Market expert Swarup Mohanty, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Mirae Asset Investment Managers, said his policy was to stay invested in Indian equities at all times and any drawdown is used to invest in 'quality'. Nilesh Shah, managing director of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company Ltd, expects any potential conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours to be limited and not prolonged despite the two sides climbing up the escalatory ladder on Wednesday and Thursday. He expects the markets to stabilise in light of a limited conflict.
Mint
08-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
FPIs turn bullish on index futures amid escalating India-Pakistan tensions, but risks loom
MUMBAI : Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) are showing growing confidence in India's markets, undeterred by the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. On the heels of India's air strikes across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, FPIs made a notable shift by turning net long on index futures (Nifty and Bank Nifty) for the first time in seven months. While this move signals optimism, analysts warn that any retaliatory action from Pakistan could change the market's trajectory. On Wednesday, FPIs turned net long by 458 contracts—their first net long position since 4 October, when they held 27,662 contracts, according to IndiaCharts. Read this | FPIs bet on limited Nifty movement amid simmering India-Pakistan tensions This shift in index futures follows their return as net buyers in the cash market after six months of relentless selling, during which they offloaded ₹2.85 trillion worth of Indian shares through March, NSDL data shows. The reversal suggests a partial diversion of funds from the US to other markets amid a weaker dollar and trade war uncertainties. FPIs' renewed buying has helped fuel a 12.3% rebound in the Nifty, which rose from a low of 21,743.65 on 7 April to 24,414.40 by Wednesday's close. In April alone, FPIs invested ₹3,243.03 crore in the cash market—their first net buying since October—with additional inflows of ₹7,954.17 crore in May, per NSDL data. Their buying of index futures reflects a shift in sentiment toward India after a prolonged period of bearishness in both the cash and derivatives segments. This shift comes amid ongoing global tariff tensions and India's retaliatory air strikes on Pakistan following the 22 April terrorist attack in Pahalgam, where 26 people were killed, according to the defence ministry. "Markets haven't really priced-in any retaliatory action from Pakistan, after the Indian air strikes," highlighted Nilesh Shah, managing director, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company, attributing the strong institutional flows to investor optimism. But he warned that any escalation from Pakistan could negatively impact the markets. Read this | Tensions are rising on the border but FPIs aren't worried Rohit Srivastava, founder of IndiaCharts, said he would wait to see a few more sessions of FPI behaviour before concluding that there's been a "change of slant" in the cash and derivatives segments. FPIs had been building short positions in index futures since October, reaching a record high of 200,890 contracts by 24 February this year. Since then, they have been steadily closing out those bearish bets, eventually turning net long on Wednesday. Before the recent shift, FPIs held a record high long position of 130,719 contracts on 4 July last year, per IndiaCharts data, adjusted for the Nifty lot size revision to 75 shares from 25 shares effective November. Also read | Will lower tariffs lure back FPIs from other emerging markets? Srivastava noted that the Nifty is approaching a key resistance level of 24,545, representing a 61.8% retracement of its fall from a record high of 26,277.35 on 27 September 27 to the 7 April low. The index would consolidate unless it "decisively breaks" the important resistance of 24,545, according to Srivastava.
Economic Times
30-04-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
We should be ready for some pullbacks; go for value theme in 4 sectors: Rohit Srivastava
Rohit Srivastava, Founder, Strike Money Analytics & Indiacharts, suggests preparing for midcap and smallcap underperformance until valuation consolidation occurs, favoring stocks with clear growth. A shift towards largecaps and outperforming sectors like banking and PSUs is expected to persist. Value themes in financials, PSUs, and metals, alongside interest rate-sensitive sectors like automobiles and realty, are anticipated to gain traction due to stable to accommodative interest rates. ADVERTISEMENT What are you making of the market moves we are seeing today? There is no move at all. We are totally lacklustre and very range-bound. Given the kind of outperformance that Indian markets have seen recently, do you believe this is the start of a little bit of a correction or do you believe this is just a one-off and we could see better days going ahead? Rohit Srivastava: It has been a long rally. At some point of time we will come to the end of at least the first leg. What I mean by that is that on a six-month basis, we probably are in an uptrend, but every uptrend will have ups and downs and once we complete this first leg, then we can actually get the first meaningful pullback. Now, have we already reached that point? It is slightly hard to say because we are not really seeing a clear-cut breakdown in the Nifty. I can say that we are in the final stage of the up move from where that can happen. But we will have to watch it for a day or two for an actual price reversal to be able to say that okay now the pullback has actually started. To do that, we probably look at 24,200 levels could be one important support. If we break 24,200, then possibly we could start somewhat of a corrective phase. As long as we are holding that, there is always the possibility that it will still stretch a little more towards maybe 24,600 before that happens or maybe even a little higher. So, keeping some upside open, watching if prices actually break and confirm a reversal, once we do get a reversal, then we will look for a retracement of the entire rise that we have seen from 21,700, so that will be more meaningful, maybe more time based, but as of now we are just waiting and watching what happens. Talk to us about the banking pack as well because Nifty Bank especially the PSU bank have been a clear outperformer, but today we saw a bit of a reversal coming in in the banking pack. In fact, the financial pack is getting weighed down by the Bajaj twins today, but on technicals, what do you make of Nifty Bank? Rohit Srivastava: Banking itself is made up of private sector banks. The weakness you are seeing is coming from the NBFC space. Initially Shriram Finance reported poor results. Now the Bajaj Group is doing the same and that is causing a pullback. But if you look at the last year's results on an ongoing basis, this is a sector that had been outperforming as well. So, it could be something that we are seeing temporarily, but in the short term it is causing a pullback. ADVERTISEMENT Now, financials have also been outperforming and therefore what we are really looking at is that at each stage, whenever there is a pullback, we really make a higher bottom than the last time. For example, the last time we were at 41,154 and we have actually moved up to 55,000. There was a case it could have gone on till 56,500. Now, we will watch key supports closer to around 54,800. If that does not break, there is a possibility we can still head towards 56,500. If that does break, then we will probably see a pullback of this rally from 49,200 and some retracement but eventually, that should give us a bottom that is higher than the previous one at 49,200. So that is the overall progress that slowly and steadily we move higher in the medium-term, but in the short term, we need to be ready for some pullbacks as we have had a strong up move. ADVERTISEMENT What about the broader end of the market? On the fundamental side, lots of actions are coming in on the earnings front on the mid and the smallcap space. But on the charts, how are you seeing the SMIDs placed right now because we have seen the midcap and smallcap have been underperforming the benchmarks, which is not a trend that we usually saw in the leg up before the correction in August or September last year. We are seeing a little bit of trend reversal. Rohit Srivastava: While the midcaps and smallcaps move up and down with the market, the expectation has been for quite a while that they will underperform the rest of the market. Now, underperforming means in the end, they go up less and that largecaps end up doing better. Basically, the outperformance of the midcap, smallcap has gone away and it might be a trend that we might see for several months before it changes – may be – in a year. So, we have to be a little prepared to see underperformance on the midcap, smallcap side for quite some time till there is further consolidation in the valuations. It may only be stocks that are able to show clearcut growth that might do well in this phase. At a very broad level, the shift has been towards largecaps that are seeing outperformance and that will continue. We will continue to see segments like banking outperform, PSUs which we have seen do well, will hold out much better than the midcaps and smallcaps. ADVERTISEMENT What are the pockets of value for you? What are the sectors you are bullish on right now in this next leg once the correction is over? Also, what sectors are you bullish on? Rohit Srivastava: There are two themes; one is a value theme where you look for undervalued segments of the market that did not get overpriced in the last rally and have corrected quite a bit and second is interest rate sensitive stocks because we are now entering a phase where the interest rate cycle has turned from rising interest rates to stable interest rates. We are now into accommodative interest rates as per the RBI policy which means that interest rates and bond yields will continue to go down and that will bring down the cost of borrowing and thus push interest rate sensitive sectors. In the value sectors, I would say on top is the financials followed by PSUs and after that, I will put metals and on the side of interest rates, it is automobiles and realty which will get some attention over time. You mentioned autos and realty. Auto, of course, on the back of the tariff reduction from the US. So, that is largely fundamental. But what is driving this surge that we are seeing in the Nifty realty index today? After quite some time, we have seen this index find its footing and once again outperform the market. How sustainable is it? Rohit Srivastava: Near-term, there is still a case for some more consolidation in the realty sector till lower rates are able to stimulate enough demand for especially housing in the lower cost region. So, giving it a quarter, if you slightly look outside a quarter then realty will be set to outperform as rates continue to come down and demand starts coming back. That is how you will have to look at it. Keep a slightly high time horizon. The bump up today might be just performance happening for a day, but in the short term, it can also pull back with the rest of the market and we should keep that in mind. But serious outperformance of the sector would probably happen a quarter or two down the line. ADVERTISEMENT (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
Time of India
30-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
We should be ready for some pullbacks; go for value theme in 4 sectors: Rohit Srivastava
Rohit Srivastava , Founder, Strike Money Analytics & Indiacharts , suggests preparing for midcap and smallcap underperformance until valuation consolidation occurs, favoring stocks with clear growth. A shift towards largecaps and outperforming sectors like banking and PSUs is expected to persist. Value themes in financials, PSUs, and metals, alongside interest rate-sensitive sectors like automobiles and realty, are anticipated to gain traction due to stable to accommodative interest rates. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like What is the best way to earn $2,700 per week as a second income? News Portal Learn More Undo What are you making of the market moves we are seeing today? There is no move at all. We are totally lacklustre and very range-bound. Given the kind of outperformance that Indian markets have seen recently, do you believe this is the start of a little bit of a correction or do you believe this is just a one-off and we could see better days going ahead? Rohit Srivastava : It has been a long rally. At some point of time we will come to the end of at least the first leg. What I mean by that is that on a six-month basis, we probably are in an uptrend, but every uptrend will have ups and downs and once we complete this first leg, then we can actually get the first meaningful pullback. Now, have we already reached that point? It is slightly hard to say because we are not really seeing a clear-cut breakdown in the Nifty. I can say that we are in the final stage of the up move from where that can happen. But we will have to watch it for a day or two for an actual price reversal to be able to say that okay now the pullback has actually started. To do that, we probably look at 24,200 levels could be one important support. If we break 24,200, then possibly we could start somewhat of a corrective phase. As long as we are holding that, there is always the possibility that it will still stretch a little more towards maybe 24,600 before that happens or maybe even a little higher. So, keeping some upside open, watching if prices actually break and confirm a reversal, once we do get a reversal, then we will look for a retracement of the entire rise that we have seen from 21,700, so that will be more meaningful, maybe more time based, but as of now we are just waiting and watching what happens. Live Events You Might Also Like: 'Equities are no longer optional': Qode's Rishabh Nahar on navigating market uncertainty with quant strategy Talk to us about the banking pack as well because Nifty Bank especially the PSU bank have been a clear outperformer, but today we saw a bit of a reversal coming in in the banking pack. In fact, the financial pack is getting weighed down by the Bajaj twins today, but on technicals, what do you make of Nifty Bank? Rohit Srivastava: Banking itself is made up of private sector banks. The weakness you are seeing is coming from the NBFC space. Initially Shriram Finance reported poor results. Now the Bajaj Group is doing the same and that is causing a pullback. But if you look at the last year's results on an ongoing basis, this is a sector that had been outperforming as well. So, it could be something that we are seeing temporarily, but in the short term it is causing a pullback. Now, financials have also been outperforming and therefore what we are really looking at is that at each stage, whenever there is a pullback, we really make a higher bottom than the last time. For example, the last time we were at 41,154 and we have actually moved up to 55,000. There was a case it could have gone on till 56,500. Now, we will watch key supports closer to around 54,800. If that does not break, there is a possibility we can still head towards 56,500. If that does break, then we will probably see a pullback of this rally from 49,200 and some retracement but eventually, that should give us a bottom that is higher than the previous one at 49,200. So that is the overall progress that slowly and steadily we move higher in the medium-term, but in the short term, we need to be ready for some pullbacks as we have had a strong up move. What about the broader end of the market? On the fundamental side, lots of actions are coming in on the earnings front on the mid and the smallcap space. But on the charts, how are you seeing the SMIDs placed right now because we have seen the midcap and smallcap have been underperforming the benchmarks, which is not a trend that we usually saw in the leg up before the correction in August or September last year. We are seeing a little bit of trend reversal. Rohit Srivastava: While the midcaps and smallcaps move up and down with the market, the expectation has been for quite a while that they will underperform the rest of the market. Now, underperforming means in the end, they go up less and that largecaps end up doing better. Basically, the outperformance of the midcap, smallcap has gone away and it might be a trend that we might see for several months before it changes – may be – in a year. You Might Also Like: Short-term geopolitical jitters may pause market, but earnings will regain focus: Nischal Maheshwari So, we have to be a little prepared to see underperformance on the midcap, smallcap side for quite some time till there is further consolidation in the valuations. It may only be stocks that are able to show clearcut growth that might do well in this phase. At a very broad level, the shift has been towards largecaps that are seeing outperformance and that will continue. We will continue to see segments like banking outperform, PSUs which we have seen do well, will hold out much better than the midcaps and smallcaps. What are the pockets of value for you? What are the sectors you are bullish on right now in this next leg once the correction is over? Also, what sectors are you bullish on? Rohit Srivastava: There are two themes; one is a value theme where you look for undervalued segments of the market that did not get overpriced in the last rally and have corrected quite a bit and second is interest rate sensitive stocks because we are now entering a phase where the interest rate cycle has turned from rising interest rates to stable interest rates. We are now into accommodative interest rates as per the RBI policy which means that interest rates and bond yields will continue to go down and that will bring down the cost of borrowing and thus push interest rate sensitive sectors. In the value sectors, I would say on top is the financials followed by PSUs and after that, I will put metals and on the side of interest rates, it is automobiles and realty which will get some attention over time. You mentioned autos and realty. Auto, of course, on the back of the tariff reduction from the US. So, that is largely fundamental. But what is driving this surge that we are seeing in the Nifty realty index today? After quite some time, we have seen this index find its footing and once again outperform the market. How sustainable is it? Rohit Srivastava: Near-term, there is still a case for some more consolidation in the realty sector till lower rates are able to stimulate enough demand for especially housing in the lower cost region. So, giving it a quarter, if you slightly look outside a quarter then realty will be set to outperform as rates continue to come down and demand starts coming back. That is how you will have to look at it. Keep a slightly high time horizon. The bump up today might be just performance happening for a day, but in the short term, it can also pull back with the rest of the market and we should keep that in mind. But serious outperformance of the sector would probably happen a quarter or two down the line.
Time of India
30-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Women occupy just 7% of executive roles across 121 unicorns in India: Report
In boardrooms and leadership meetings across India's unicorn ecosystem, a pattern continues to emerge. Startups may have reshaped industries and created new opportunities, but the representation of women at the top remains weak. #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack PM Modi-led 'Super Cabinet' reviews J&K security arrangements Pakistan's General Asim Munir is itching for a fight. Are his soldiers willing? India planning to launch military strike against Pakistan within 24 to 36 hours, claims Pak minister According to an analysis by staffing consultany Longhouse, women make up a meagre 7% of executive roles across 121 unicorn startups in India. This includes founders, cofounders, chief technology officers, chief information officers, etc, who shape high-level tech strategy and decision-making. 'The issue of low female representation starts with the talent pipeline, which is limited due to low female enrolment in engineering education. Startups get a small pool to begin with,' Rohit Srivastava, senior partner at Longhouse, said. Most of the female talent, about 79%, seems concentrated in mid-senior level positions like heads and directors, contributing to execution and team management. 'The transition from middle management to CXO roles often demands sponsors — not just mentors — who advocate for women at decision-making tables,' Priyanka Chopra, managing partner at seed investment firm IIMA Ventures, told ET. 'Also, the demands of leadership can sometimes be harder to navigate alongside the broader societal expectations still disproportionately placed on women,' she added. Live Events A smaller segment of 14% holds vice president and senior vice president positions, overseeing major tech functions and strategic initiatives. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Ruchi Kalra, cofounder of two unicorns, OfBusiness and Oxyzo, said the situation is much better than when she started her entrepreneurial journey two decades ago, in terms of women at middle and senior levels. 'More structured programmes in existing organisations, where venture capitalists and private equity investors are active, and more rounded leadership development programmes will nurture middle-level talent to rise to leadership positions in the coming five years. So, we mustn't lose this talent now that we have raised them up in organisations,' Kalra said. The report also notes that the youngest unicorns in India, those founded between 2020 and 2024, have the weakest representation of women in top leadership roles, with female professionals occupying about 1% of senior positions. During this period, 87 startups became unicorns. In 2020, 12 companies attained a $1-billion valuation, followed by 45 in 2021 (a record high), 22 in 2022, two in 2023 and six in 2024. Companies founded between 2008 and 2013 have the highest share of women CXOs, at about 49%. In terms of functions, women tech leaders are majorly in product roles, indicating strong representation in product strategy, management, and development. This is followed by engineering (33%) and design (13%). Artificial intelligence (AI) and data science roles, which have seen a surge in the job market in the past few years, see a mere 4% presence of female talent. Srivastava said AI jobs are new, so the talent pool is limited as of now, and may not necessarily suggest a gender-based bias. Chopra hypothesised that product management is cross-functional and user-centric, which values not just technical skills but also empathy, collaboration, and communication — areas where many women excel. 'In contrast, fields like engineering, AI, and data science continue to have heavily male-dominated talent pipelines starting right from the undergraduate level,' she said. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and deep tech startups lead the way with about 31% of top tech roles occupied by women. Ecommerce and direct-to-consumer startups follow at 28%, and fintech at 17%. The report also reveals that about 40% of women tech leaders have no prior startup experience and about 15% have a moderate 1-3 years of experience in the ecosystem.
