Experts foresee negative economic impact
Markets update
- Equity markets ended in green during a truncated trading week
- Sensex closed at 31,159.6, up 12.93% and Nifty closed up 12.72% at 9,111.9. Nifty 500 also gained 12.1% during the week
- India Services PMI declined to 49.3 in March 2020 from February’s 85-month high of 57.5, and below market expectations of 52.5
- India’s Industrial Production Growth accelerated to 4.5% year-on-year in February 2020, from 2.1% in the previous month
- Experts foresee a negative impact on the economy during the first half of FY21 and expect recovery only during the second half of the financial year
Other updates
- As of Friday evening, 16,11,981 cases of coronavirus and 96,783 deaths due to the disease have been reported across the world. India has reported 6,412 cases and 199 deaths
- Last week, PM Narendra Modi told the parliament floor leaders that the situation in the country was akin to a “social emergency” due to the coronavirus pandemic. He also indicated that the curbs would be extended beyond April 14th
- Both Punjab and Odisha have announced that the lockdown would be extended till April 30th
- States across India have also identified hotspots which will be locked down completely, with no person allowed to leave or enter these areas
- A localized area where 10 or more cases of infection are found is known as a disease cluster. An area is called a hotspot when there are several clusters developing in any particular region
Add stability with large-caps
- The Top 100 Stocks smallcase comprises 2 ETFs that represent the 100 largest companies. It uses a proprietary algorithm to generate a weighing scheme that minimizes risk
- These well established and reputed companies have long standing operating histories that enable them to deal with market volatility much better than their smaller counterparts
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- The 2 ETFs that provide exposure to these companies are Nifty 50 ETF and Junior Bees ETF