What's Hot | India Inc’s ₹25,000 Cr Buyback Blitz! Oil, Gold & Top Stocks In Focus

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:12]Hello and welcome. You're watching Business Today television. This is what's hot, a show that focuses on the biggest buzz on the D street. Uh at the start of the show, we will focus on the stock markets as we have entered the midweek trade. Of course, it's a volatile action and we are seeing yet again some weakness spread across. This is uh as a result of the global cues that we have been also getting. The gift nifty had also started to point out that there will be a weak opening and that's where we are at. Although we've recovered from the opening lows but we are still down by about 3/10% onto the nifty. The nifty bank also although at the day's high point has recovered from the losses but is at 6% lower in trade but in just a couple of sectors pharma IT and auto rest all of the pockets are trending weak. So there is a broad-based selloff that you're looking at into the markets among sectors among uh the broader markets the mid and small cap.

[00:01:03]So we will focus a bit on that as to how do you treat this fresh um you know session and of course where to keep your focus. There are a lot of companies that are in focus on the back of the earnings that they have reported. So we'll focus on that as well. And apart from that the biggest worry that continues to be an overhang is the Indian rupee and the sharp fall that we are constantly witnessing. The rupee had opened at a fresh record low of uh uh you know 97 96.86 odd levels. We are at 96.91 now again a record low and we are inching closer to that 97 mark now and remains to be seen what is the future trajectory looking like. uh at 10:30 p.m. we also have a commodity and currency expert to help us understand how to look at rupee crude and uh the gold um you know trading at this point in time as well. So uh stay focused onto that but first up let's welcome our first guest on board we have Mr. Mr. Abishek Basumalik joining in as our market expert of the day. Welcome to you sir. Thank you so much for taking the time out. I want to begin by understanding from you. Do you also believe um apart from crude oil prices it's the rupee weakness that is emerging as the biggest concern and that is what is hitting the sentiments right now. And why is there no effort to stem the fall and why is there such a sharp fall? I think in the last two days or almost a rupee kind of a fall has actually happened onto the Indian currency. So what is the key reason behind this sharp nose dive?

[00:02:37]So first of all good morning to you and all your viewers. I think Monday I was on your show and we sort of discussed the same thing. uh my sense is that we are probably I mean everybody thinks that we're going to get to about 100 uh order on the rupee but my sense is that uh by I mean we are probably at the top end uh of where RBI will probably step in. It's just a matter of time when it does. uh like you know last time we had a spike uh a month month and a half back uh you know RBI stepped in uh and it it sort of uh stemmed the the rise and my sense is it will happen again. Uh the problem is that there is a lot of uh money outflow. Uh there is this fear of current account deficit which is there uh which is putting all of this is putting a significant amount of pressure on the currency. And if you see the government interventions like uh you know restricting imports uh on gold, silver etc. uh that is uh most uh mostly uh to actually stem this uh you know uh the currency the outflow. So you know in a it's a very dynamic uh you know fluid situation and uh at the root of all of this is uh the crude pricing and that is probably what is driving the sentiment.

[00:04:05]Right. And when we look at the markets currently, Mr. Bazum Malik, how would you look at um you know again this extreme volatile action that we are seeing? One day we are up the next day we're uh down and we almost um you know lose all the gains seen in the previous session. What should one do in such kind of a market where it seems like it's not going anywhere?

[00:04:26]>> Uh best uh thing to do in these kinds of time is basically be conservative. Don't go you know all in uh if you want to buy uh even for the long term just keep staggering your buys do SIP uh you know mode of buying uh and just just be conservative don't uh you know don't try to do too many things uh uh you know at this time it's this is not a very uh conducive market for uh you know taking uh all-in kind of positions.

[00:05:00]>> Absolutely. uh you know we had actually started to see a big move on the IT stocks over the last couple of sessions.

[00:05:06]Um how do you really look at that fact um if it was the rupee fall that was supporting the sentiments um you know will it continue to sustain its upward move and therefore um should one really bet big on this sector at this point in time? Is this the biggest um you know support that one can expect in this current macroeconomic scenario that IT sector can get and probably recover some of the lost ground.

[00:05:35]See in it what is happening definitely the rupee is playing a major contributor uh plus the fact that it has actually done really bad over the last one year right as a sector it's fallen a lot uh the entire IT pack has borne the brunt of the AI uh trade uh so to say so uh valuations have come off and that is probably what is sort of driving it right now that you know the sentiment that probably the worst is in the price and then you have the slight tailwind of the rupee. So you know combined these two factors uh probably it's driving if you look at the midcap IT uh you know like I mentioned earlier uh the midcap IT uh results have also been encouraging compared to the large cap ones. So you know if you are focused on midcap IT companies I think uh that's a much better area to look for uh you know uh companies which can give you positive results.

[00:06:38]>> Absolutely. Uh let's also focus on um you know the other sectors that are getting the support from the rupee that's the pharma index as well. Uh how are you looking at the pharma space?

[00:06:50]What are the two or three factors that are bringing this space back into focus and uh do you think uh if somebody is still looking at a 3 to five five years time of a horizon um are farmer stocks at the right setup of valuations of opportunities that lie ahead of the uh changing course of the industry the focus of the industry and the opportunities ahead.

[00:07:14]>> Yeah, I think so. I mean you know obviously one it's benefiting now because it's uh you know more uh a defensive sector so that's uh you know helping it. Second obviously for those exporting companies it gets the benefit of higher rupee and also the fact that uh you know no matter what you have to buy medicines if you have a disease. So that is what sort of uh keeps a lower uh sort of limit on uh the stock prices. So which in turn actually makes >> absolutely let's now focus on some of the key earnings that we have gotth from companies and focus on those as well.

[00:07:56]>> The glutide >> yeah absolutely I lost your audio in between Abish please continue. Yeah. So basically you know if you look at the uh you know the blue tide uh kind of uh drugs that are coming out these have very very large opportunity uh because obesity is a global uh you know disorder disease impacting huge number of people.

[00:08:19]We just look at the number of people who are starting to use uh you know semaglutide across the world and and it's just the beginning as and when the generics of it roll out to more and more countries obviously that is going to pick up and uh there are lot of other uh you know new drugs which are coming out or generics which are coming out biologicals which are coming out so the entire space is actually thriving doing well.

[00:08:45]>> Okay. Um let me actually now focus on some of the earnings that are coming in.

[00:08:49]Uh we'll uh start off with the pharma space itself. Mankind Pharma has come out with the numbers. Uh the company's reported a 31.7% surge in its year-on-year net profit which has come in at 554 crores. The revenue has increased by 11.8% at 3443 god cr rupees for the fourth quarter. Aida has risen by about 36% to 930 crores. Margins have also improved by 480 basis points coming in at 27% this quarter. Uh let's talk about this talk and um of course uh in the recent past this has proven its worth. Uh what exactly would you look at the current um setup the current valuations and the kind of earnings that uh are being posted by the company.

[00:09:36]See I think uh you know the interesting thing about uh mankind is that it's more uh driven towards uh you know the the domestic business right and that is doing quite well uh if I look at uh you know it's cardiac diabetes gastro all these segments have seen uh quite good growth and its uh chronic uh share also is increasing uh I think it's increased roughly 38 39% so overall All it's been a you know overall good show by mankind.

[00:10:10]Uh their focus on uh you know domestic markets has uh proven to be uh a very very good uh you know driver of growth.

[00:10:20]Uh they are now getting into uh exports are not getting into I mean they are also trying to drive their exports business. Uh but that has sort of got impacted due to uh the the geopolitical conditions right now. But overall I think you know pretty pretty good set of numbers.

[00:10:38]>> Absolutely. Let's also focus on some of the other key numbers that are coming in and uh um let's also get a view from uh you on those as well. We'll start off uh with another stock that's PNC infra um an infrastructure story um you know company and we've seen a 43% jump year-on-year profits have come in at 108 crores even though the revenue was down by about 5%. Aida has declined by 23%, margins have come in at 17% and uh final dividend has also been announced for the company too. Um the infrastructure story which has always been seen as uh the space where the government's focus is and a large part of capex goes towards this uh has seen um you know lesser visibility over the last couple of months and last one year entirely because of these entire global geopolitical tensions and various uh disruptions that we've been seeing. Um what's really going on in the infrastructure story? How are you looking at such companies?

[00:11:40]Yeah, I mean I've been always positive about infrastructure but uh you know the current situation uh means that government spending will have to be constrained, right? So uh food subsidies, fertilizer subsidies, uh fuel subsidies will have to take precedence over infrastructure building in the short term. So that's something that we have to keep in mind uh you know going forward. So uh we have to be very very careful about uh you know these large infrastructure companies in terms of uh you know how the next 6 months to one year is going to pan out. So you have just just a bit uh cautious of you know view from my end.

[00:12:27]>> Absolutely. Let's also focus on some of the other numbers uh that are in focus today. Uh we'll talk about one uh textile player also trident. I'm talking about this because it's a widely tracked retail investor stock. Um and this is a textile player. It has reported a 23% fall in its net profit which has come in at 102 crores. Revenue has declined by 12% at 1630 crores. Aida has shed more than 7% year-on-year and the margins however have improved to 13.9% in this period. Uh the stock has been widely tracked by retail investors. uh once a penny stock it has now come up to about double digits uh used to be trading above 30 odd levels but has cooled off your own sense of how should one look at uh trident >> I unfortunately don't track the company so absolutely no clue >> okay we'll also focus on some other names um that are in focus we'll talk about Orla in India if you track that one the FMCG products play um okay this company has reported a 7 and a half% jump. Nevertheless, uh for a net profit of 74 crores, the revenue has increased by 5% to 626 crores and Aida has risen by 7 odd%. Um we'll also focus on some of the other companies. Um uh we have another Infra projects u stock Jumar Infra projects that's reported its numbers 3 and a half% year-on-year fall in its net profit at 110 crores. Revenue here has fallen by about 3 odd% at 1585 crores. IDA has shed by 5% year-onear.

[00:14:02]Margins have contracted by 14 contracted to 14% now for the quarter. Um that's uh another stock that is under pressure at this point in time. Um we'll also talk about banking names. Maybe this is a space that you will be able to give us more insight. Abushek gi Karnataka Bank came out with the numbers here and uh the company has also seen a 61% Y surge in its net profit to 408 crores. Net interest income has risen by 8% coming in at 843 crores for the quarter. Asset quality for the bank has improved both on the gross and the net levels. We've also seen a dividend announcement of 5 rupees per share. Uh let's talk about this bank uh stock and overall banking space as a whole. How are you approaching it?

[00:14:47]>> I think you know Karnataka Bank has been actually doing quite well in the last uh you know few quarters. they're trying to they they've actually done uh you know good numbers for the last uh few quarters and even this quarter the numbers have uh been quite decent uh especially at the the uh NI the net interest margins uh the financing margins all of this has you know been quite good uh the stock has been performing uh reasonably well so overall I personally like this uh uh space of small and medium banks uh the MFIs I think uh uh we have come out we we are actually coming out of the stress zone in the MFIs uh sector now the only you know caution again here is if I look at uh uh the inflation that is rising uh at this point in time we may see a situation where the RBI is forced to raise rates uh that is the uh time when we will have to uh you know really see how these small medium banks as well as the MFIs hold out because then uh you know the the growth that we are seeing here uh for the last few quarters that might start tapering off.

[00:16:09]So that that is going to be the the challenge that we will see uh in the next maybe 3 to four months.

[00:16:16]>> Okay, got that. Uh I hope uh this has also given some broad sense. What about the PSU banks? Are you looking at that pocket at all?

[00:16:24]>> Yeah, I mean uh the entire banking space you the the main thing that we need to look at is how inflation pans out and what RBI does with the interest rates because my sense is uh inflation is going to go above the you know 5 6% kind of mark and once that happens RBI will have to get in uh and start raising rates once more. So once that happens uh that will uh you know create uh problems with credit growth. It will create problems in treasury income uh in the short term. So that is something that we need to be careful about.

[00:17:04]>> Okay. Also wanted to get a sense from you on these uh rising bond deals. Uh how are you looking at this uh and the impact that we are seeing globally because of that? What we've seen is that the US 30-year yield has u hit its highest level since 2007 and therefore the selloff is now uh weakening in trade. How are you um looking at these bond yield related impact that we are seeing in the global as well as the domestic market and how severe can it get from here? So that that's exactly the fear right I mean that I was talking about uh higher inflation uh creating higher bond yields across the world and now it seems like it's not a you know it's not going to be a short-term phenomenon it might persist and uh if we don't see a very quick end to the Iran US problem uh my fear is that uh inflation bond deals are all going to spike so the bond market is uh you know telling you that things are not fine that uh you know uh they need more money, they need more yield to uh take on risk. Uh although the the equity markets are not showing you that level of panic that the bond markets are and in times of stress uh I think it's more prudent to look at what the bond markets are telling you. Uh bond markets are telling you that it is time to be very very cautious.

[00:18:28]>> Time to be very very cautious. uh does that mean uh that uh a risk of sentiment should be in place and therefore investors who are big on equities should start diversifying.

[00:18:41]Uh I mean to an extent yes I mean you should be very very conservative like I said in the beginning of uh today's session you know uh thing uh you have to be very cautious. You don't want to go all in. I mean if you're sitting on cash don't go all in uh and and start buying because uh you know the market has uh sort of pulled back a little bit. Uh be cautious. It doesn't matter even if the market goes up from here. Uh you can you can always buy it uh you know a week two weeks a month later. Uh but it it is probably better to be conservative and cautious at this point in time.

[00:19:16]>> Better to be cautious at this point in time in case you have a a lot of cash.

[00:19:21]Do not go all in. That's the advice uh that Abhishek is giving at this point in time. Um so uh you know how are you really looking at the fresh money that's coming to you by way of SIPs and your you know clients are sending you more money uh you know to deploy in this market. how are you really uh strategizing your uh investments there?

[00:19:43]>> So, like I just said, you know, I'm I'm doing exactly the same thing that I I'm talking about right now. Being conservative, we're going to spread out the buys over uh in the next one, two months. It's not going to be a all, you know, all-in kind of thing whenever we get uh you know, client money coming in.

[00:20:01]So more a calibrated approach to buying.

[00:20:04]Uh being very very careful about the stocks that we own. Uh we need uh very clear earnings visibility uh for the next two three quarters at least uh for for us to hold on to the stocks. So that's what >> these rising yields at this point in time. They're already up about what 17% from their 52- week lows. And uh we've also seen this year itself they're up by about 8 odd percent. Um what do the valuation suggest there? Will there be some more pressure in the US markets?

[00:20:35]Will the money flow out of there as well? And then in that case what should we look at in India?

[00:20:43]>> Uh difficult call to take. I think S&P is again very very close to the uh you know to its highs >> and and primarily I think a lot of it is getting still driven by the uh the quote unquote AI pack right uh very very small narrow uh set of stocks so that is something that we have to sort of grapple with I'm not sure that uh you know there is going to be a major fall immediately Because uh what happens is uh a lot of times bubbles can continue for a long time right and for all practical purposes the AI uh you know thing seems like a bubble uh but you don't know when it will burst uh whether it will continue for the next one year two years 5 years nobody knows and that is the that is the dilemma right now and uh so again I mean very very uh difficult situation. You can't take a immediate call as to the fact that you know you know the US markets have topped out or they can continue. Uh the challenge is that unidirectionally uh when markets keep going one way it it's never very healthy. So that's something that we have to uh really think about.

[00:22:09]>> Absolutely. Let me also um get an understanding from you on therefore what should be the asset allocation like at this point in time when we look at uh you know various opportunities equities debt gold at this point in time currencies by way of dollars or uh you know what is the best way to now spread out uh the kind of um uh you know you're saying that at this point don't put all your eggs in the one basket. So how should one be spreading across?

[00:22:39]>> See that is a very personal kind of uh you know decision based on your personal you know financial circumstances. Uh somebody with very high risk uh uh can actually continue to remain invested in equities uh etc. So it it's a very personal call but in general I would always you know for me I I am always uh invested in equities uh primarily. So my personal allocation is always like 90 95% equities. Uh and and I'm comfortable with that. I'm okay with draw downs. Uh >> because the the fact is that uh if you look at Indian equities, we've been in a in a sideways or a bare market for the last one and a half years. Yes.

[00:23:20]>> And uh and historically if we see you know that's that's a pretty good time uh to start buying or you know start being overallocated to equities. If I compare that with say uh something like gold uh you know gold has had a stellar run over the last one and a half years. So the probability that it will continue that run is actually lower than uh you know good businesses are doing better. Now all of that is contingent on the fact that you know we don't sort of have some black swan kind of event a nuclear event or something like that which is again you know increasingly unlikely if I if I look at the US uh 10 year or the 30-year yield it's getting to a stage where US also is going to start feeling the pain >> right and with the midterm elections coming up US is also going to get pressured into finding some kind of resolution so uh and and this is going to be a worldwide problem, right? I mean, availability of crude and all this is going to be it's already a worldwide problem. Crude prices going up so much uh uh ultimately is going to create a contagion kind of effect. So my sense is uh sooner rather than later there is going to be intervention from the US from uh the other large economies to sort of try to stabilize uh you know uh this situation.

[00:24:43]>> Absolutely. viewers, we'll uh look at how the nifty is moving now. We have further dips coming in 23,478 once again below the 23500 mark. Only the pharma index is now hovering higher with 3/10% gains. Let's rest all of the pocket has now slipped. Uh banking space is feeling the brunt now almost a percent lower for PSU banks and the nifty bank as well. Uh even the broader market 7/10% lower. On the nifty we just have about six stocks that are into the green. Rest all of the stocks have slipped. You only have Hindalco 3.2% higher, Bajage auto, OGC. Um you have SIPLA, Sunfarma, Whipro as the only uh few stocks that are higher in the session today. Uh so the market breath is now uh increasingly weakening at this point. Let's look at the broader markets. Anything there uh that we should be marking out for our viewers?

[00:25:36]Uh there are a few and far between stocks that are higher in trade. Um uh you know we have say J Bharat Maruti that's up from the small cap space.

[00:25:45]Dredging Corp of course is higher um earnings and the reaction there that we can clearly see. You also have u GE VOVA TND second day in a row it's been moving up. Uh you know those are some stocks.

[00:25:58]Apollo micro systems is another one that's hovering higher in an otherwise very weak setup of the market. that's where some action is and those stocks are individually performing. But I also wanted to discuss with you one more trend that we have witnessed um after a long time within India Inc. Abishek and that is the buyback trend uh that we have seen um after 2 years of almost a restraint corporate India is now returning to share purchase with renewed vigor. As of May 2026 we've seen almost 22 companies announce their buybacks worth a combined 25,000 odd crores. uh this is the highest uh that we've seen since 2023. 48 firms have mopped up shares worth about 48,000 odd cr rupes uh already and uh analysts do expect this momentum uh to hold on for the rest of the year too uh going forward even as the Indian equity markets continue to reel under some pressure. Um so how are you first looking at uh this buyback mode of India Inc. What does this uh really lead for investors to understand at this point and what should one do for those stocks that they own in their portfolios if the companies announce buybacks what should be their strategies?

[00:27:11]>> So one I am never a you know a big proponent of buybacks because one it it basically tells me it it can signal two things right one is that uh the stock is really really cheap and the management thinks that it is cheap. Uh the second is that the management has cash and has no way to utilize it better. Right? So I I'm you know in a growing economy uh if the management is unable to deploy capital or cash uh to boost its growth boost its prospects uh I find it uh you know uh I I don't find uh that that is a very compelling story right uh this in a mature market like the US or Europe buybacks are good in the sense that you know you might not find growth opportunities but in an economy where nominal you know GDP growth is 10% odd uh more if you are unable to find uh growing growth opportunities for your business then uh you know that's something that I don't would I I would not be very comfortable with.

[00:28:13]>> Absolutely. um towards uh the end I'd also like to understand from you uh for this year we're already almost approaching the um you know middle point of the year already calendar year if we talk about uh the second half uh which usually uh you know brings out a lot of opportunities by way of a lot of festivities celebratory kind of spending that comes in the kind of market setup and the external environment there is is there any hope of a recovery in the markets in the second half.

[00:28:47]>> See, I think the entire uh texture or the know the market is dependent on what happens with food. If the Iran US uh you know gets resolved tomorrow, you will see a resurgence uh of quote unquote animal spirits. You will see uh markets just going up. You will see in with a lag of maybe a quarter corporate results getting better you know right now we are seeing corporate results actually coming out very very well but the point is that the the pain is going to come up in the next quarter in next quarter results and if this uh you know problem is not resolved so I'll just give you one small example if you look at the latest uh you know uh inflation data if I remember correctly WPI is about 8 8.1% and CPI is 3.8 8 or something like that.

[00:29:41]So that is a difference of nearly four odd percent.

[00:29:46]uh which basically means that at the wholesale rate at the P2B level uh prices have are going up at an 8% click and at it's not getting passed on to the consumer which again you know the the crude uh simplificate flight version of understanding this is that companies are not able to or are not passing on uh you know all the raw material input to the customers which means that their margins are going to get squeezed. Now that is going to come up in the numbers uh you know at some point in time probably in the next quarter. So all all of the second half you know whether it will be good bad ugly uh depends on how crude behaves uh how soon uh things get resolved. If things continue like this second half will could actually be much worse than the first half.

[00:30:38]>> All right. Okay. All right. Thank you so much then Abhishek for being with us on the program and for giving us these insights for our viewers. Uh always uh good to have you with us to explain all these uh fascinating insights to our viewers as well. Thank you. Appreciate your time. We're back at 23,523 viewers and now we're getting into the second segment where we are going to be truly focusing on uh commodities and currencies and what exactly should you be reading into the fine print when it comes to the macroeconomic uncertainties that are grappling us right now. So in the second uh part of what's hot today we are going to be focusing on one the sharp free fall in the rupee and what to really expect going forward from here.

[00:31:20]What truly is the current picture of the crude oil prices? Will there be a further spike? And therefore, should you continue to brace for higher fuel prices and pump prices back home? We will also try and understand on gold investments because recently there's a new form of investing in gold and that is the electronic gold receipts. For those who are still looking to invest in gold, are these better options than the physical gold options that you have in the market right now? and we'll try and understand and decode that for all of you too. Let me welcome our guest on board. We have Suganda Sachdeva now joining in on the program to share with us her fresh insights on all of these and much more.

[00:31:57]Thank you so much Suganda for taking the time out. uh while I'm sure uh uh you know your phone wouldn't stop ringing when we look at the kind of rupee fall that we are seeing into the markets every minute every hour uh the kind of fall that we are seeing it's actually taking everybody uh by shock and surprise and uh you know seems like uh you know there is no end to this free fall because uh we're not seeing any instance of a recovery in just a matter of two days almost a rupee fall is what we have seen um on the Indian currency and we are now inching towards that 97 per dollar mark as well. Um I mean give us a sense of how sharp has this uh depreciation been uh right from the start of the West Asia war till now.

[00:32:45]What are the concerns that are constantly pinning down the rupee?

[00:32:51]>> So hi Sachi first of all thanks for having me. So yes, it's been a broad-based depreciation that we have seen in the Indian rupee to a dollar. We are currently also we witnessing uh that Indian rupee today also has witnessed a record low close to the 97 mark. Uh this year itself rupee has depreciated close to 7.5% and if we compare with May last year it's more than 13% depreciation that we've seen. So the major pressure that has come on the rupee this year is uh the rise in crude oil prices. If we look at crude prices, they are up by almost 82% this year. And in fact, since last year also, there have been significant FI outflows from the Indian economy. That's been another reason which has been putting pressure on the Indian rupee. So last year, we have almost 1.6 lakh cr of outflows. This year again in the first four months itself, we have seen fi outflows of around 2 lakh cr. So it's putting a lot of pressure on the Indian rupee. Apart from that the rise in crude oil prices has raised concerns about the India's trade deficit in F26 also our trade deficit sold to dollar 119 billion that was up by almost 26% and now with the crude basket hovering above the $100 per barrel mark for the last two months this is going to put much more pressure on the Indian exchange were almost dollar 72 billion and silver imports were also dollar 12 billion in April also there has been a significant spur in gold and silver imports so all of these factors along with the global cues wherein the dollar index has also been strengthening the US 10year treasury yields which were almost below the 3.95 mark in February of this year they have spiked to almost 4.65% 65% mark. So investors are moving back to the safety of US government debt. So all of these factor in combination are putting a lot of pressure on the Indian.

[00:34:52]As far as the outlook is concerned, uh RBI has been taking a lot of measures.

[00:34:56]They've already sold dollar worth$ dollar 38 billion since the beginning of this war but that has not been sufficient. We are still witnessing this state of depreciation. As I see Indian rupee, it's look likely to head lower towards 98.5 mark as well.

[00:35:12]Unless we see FI coming back to the Indian markets, I don't see this scenario improving anytime soon. And unless we see a major deescalation in this war and crude oil prices witness a significant fall, I don't see this uh reversing this trend to reverse. We had seen similar scenario in 2013 also when there were a lot of concerns about our current account deficit and rupees slipped significantly lower. RBI had to come out with lot of measures and they are planning to take out much more measures this time around also. They've already hiked the import duty on gold and silver and have imposed import restrictions also on gold as well as on silver to curb uh the huge outflow of money the dollar outflow from the country.

[00:35:53]So all of this overall looks slightly weak and inflation is also rising as the other expert recently pointed out India's WPI inflation has risen to a 45month high. So that is also another concerning figure. So all of these factors looks slightly uh I think weak for the Indian economy as of now. But yes, one major silver lining if this war ends, crude prices witness a big fall then yes, we could see some reversal in the EU rupee.

[00:36:19]>> But uh do you see that uh mark of 100 per dollar getting breached because that being a psychological level everybody is worried about that and one is wondering what will happen if we uh slip towards that level too.

[00:36:34]Sachi as for the charts it doesn't look likely as of now. One for one I feel that group prices will reverse even if there may be some more spike but then they don't look to sustain at high level unless there is a major escalation. See uh there is lot of progress in the diplomatic talks and the the ceasefire is still holding even though President Trump has time and again warned that they're likely to do more attacks on Iran. But then it seems that internally also in the US Senate also there is uh I mean opposition about this continuation of this war. So I think this war is likely to end soon at least a cease fire hold and state of might open. In case that opens, crude prices will witness a fall and we are likely to see some reversal in the rupee. Apart from that, one more figure is important. Uh I see a major hurdle in dollar index at 100.5 mark. Unless that is not breached, I don't see the rupee breaching the 100 mark. But yes, uh a word of caution in case 100.50 mark breaches for the dollar index and fed continues to maintain a hawkish stance in that scenario only I see uh rupees slipping lower even below the 100 mark. We have to see the stance of the new Fed chair Kevin Bosch even though he has been considered to be an impatient hawk.

[00:37:49]>> Yeah.

[00:37:50]>> But then President Trump has time and again maintained that he wants the new Feder to cut interest rates aggressively. In case we see any hints about interest rate cut in the US then that's likely to lead to pressure on the dollar index and that would be supportive for the Indian rupee and we could see some money returning back to the domestic shores as well. and uh and in fact in terms of the valuations also the valuations are quite comfortable. We have largely underperformed all other emerging market economies. So now it's time that India is likely to witness some inflows and we could see a spade of recovery in the Indian markets. We are already seeing that somewhat from 22 200 odd levels. We have already seen levels of close to 24 400 levels but yes in case we see a sustained uptrend and the resumption of inflows that's likely to support the rupee. I don't see rupee reaching 100 mark at least in the immediate near term.

[00:38:42]>> So that's the concern. Uh as far as uh the current depreciation of the rupee is concerned, we'll have to keep an eye out on uh all the aspects as pointed out.

[00:38:52]But let's also talk about uh commodities. Um you know gold is something that I wanted to discuss with you at length because uh one there has been a lot of advisory uh given by the prime minister to not buy gold for the next one year that has led everybody to think about as to what should one do with their own investment journey. One is uh you know of course these governments time and again have constantly said that one should not be obsessed with purchasing gold and gold jewelry. uh but as investors as experts you have always guided that uh the asset allocation should be followed about 15 to 20% of investment should be u in gold and silver as well so what happens to those investors who still are looking to fulfill that gap in their own portfolios of asset allocation what should they do >> so sachi NC has introduced a new product I mean gold has always held a unique place in India valued for tradition gifting trust purposes and a store of value. Now there is a new product category gold EGR has been introduced.

[00:39:56]It is actually a way to mobilize the gold that you already own as well or it's it's a digital way of holding gold.

[00:40:04]So we already had gold ETF and we have always been investing into physical gold. So now it combines the best of both world. They're essentially dematerialized security backed by physical gold which is deposited with semi-registered vault managers. M >> so here you can take actual ownership of hold. So there are a lot of variants available. You have 1 g, you have 10 g, you have 100 g and 100 mg variant also.

[00:40:29]And there are two options available 999 995 purity and 999 purity. So it's a very advanced way of investing in gold.

[00:40:38]NC has already created a lot of golds and gold has been deposited in those walls. So now what you do is you can take an electronic receipt which actually represents physical ownership of gold. In ETFs you do not get physical ownership of gold. So here also redemption is also very easy. So in case you want to redeem in cash, you can easily redeem in cash or in case you want to convert your electronic receipt into physical gold. So you can easily do that. Same weight, same purity you will get. uh in case you want to redeem that trading is very easy like you trade stocks on the exchange platform.

[00:41:14]Similarly, you can buy, sell, hold or you can hold it for a longerterm perspective also for a long 10 year, 15 years time frame whatever you want to do. So, it's an easy way timings are like very flexible very so you will have lot of uh ease of transaction as well from 9:00 a.m. till 11:30 and as for the daylight saving time 11:55 a.m. timings.

[00:41:35]So a lot of benefits even if you are holding gold at your home and it passes the purity standards risk by NC you can also deposit your gold with their uh exchange vaults.

[00:41:46]>> Okay.

[00:41:47]>> Uh and you will be I mean save of the hassles of storage of gold theft any purity concerns. So it's a very easy way and it represents the best of both worlds I would say. So it's a digital way of u owning owning gold in an electronic form.

[00:42:03]>> Okay. So the EGR or the electronic gold receipts as Suganda says is the new way of owning physical gold uh digitally because you receive electronic gold receipts for the physical amount of gold that you will own after you invest in EGRs for whatever quantum that you invest your money for uh the exact quantum of gold uh you know with the SEBI registered vault owners managers that will continue to store your physical hold you know as to how much you keep on buying these are traded on the exchanges so you can buy sell or hold just like how traders do in stock markets. Uh but the other interesting aspect that Suganda is talking about is that your own physical gold if you want to deposit with Sebie Walt managers is also something that is possible. So your uh you can derive money out of that uh deposited gold as well. We'll come to that. uh but uh like you pointed out also Suganda that beyond ETFs, EGR is now giving you uh the opportunity uh to ensure that when you redeem your investments, you can redeem them in actual physical gold form rather than just cash. Uh that's an addedon benefit.

[00:43:18]So do you think all those investors who have so far been investing in ETFs over the last couple of years, we've seen how gold and silver ETFs have seen massive flows from Indian retail investors. It became a choice of investment tool uh for investing in gold for investors.

[00:43:37]Should they also shift out from ETFs and now look at EGRs? Is EGR a better way now of investing in gold digitally?

[00:43:48]No, it's actually I will not say it's a better way. It's a different way. So they different they differ in terms of the structure and features. In 2007 government launched uh I mean SEI launched these ETF. 2015 government launched world bonds. In 2017 I think digital gold came in but that's not regulated. Now this is a regulated way wherein uh NSE has tried to integrate the spot market with the exchange traded platform. So ETFs give you exposure to pri gold prices but yes they are mutual fund units. So you don't get actual ownership of gold. They are not denominated in 1 g 10 g. So you actually buy even if you buy 100 rupees the mutual fund will issue you certain amount of units. So you can increase your allocation but there the mutual funds the AMC is actually holding gold but you are not actually holding gold.

[00:44:37]You definitely get the returns similar to gold but it's not actually gold. But EGR is actually physical ownership account of gold. So that's a key difference. Second is it is backed by AMC. Here it is the direct gold which is being traded in different denominations on the exchange platform. So that's the major different but yes both are good products. ETFs have been there for a long time and we have seen that uh I mean channels like you have been promoting uh awareness about gold ETF and this is another way it will pick up gradually. As of now, it is not easily available with all the brokers. But yes, if you have a DMAT account and you have access to an EGR segment enabled broker, you can certainly start looking at this product category.

[00:45:21]You can trade, you can invest in gold in different denominations. So slight difference here, but yes, both are good product categories. It all depends on your risk appetite, your time horizon and your goal. So if you just want exposure to gold and something which is very liquid ETF is very good because they have been there for a long time and there's so much of awareness about that also. In fact last year gold ETFs have witnessed inflows of almost fi26 68,000 cr. Silver ETFs have seen inflows of around 30,000 cr. In April also in Q1 also there has been a surge of almost 186% yearon-year basis in terms of the overall investment. In fact, investment demand in gold has seen a significant surge in Q1 of 2026 a 54% surge that was led majorly by inflows into gold ETF. It also factors in the price appreciation and then overall there has been growth in volume terms also. EGRs will pick up gradually once there is lot of awareness but it is a very good product. So as I maintain it is a it combines the features of ETF also gives you ownership of gold and the best part is you can redeem it into gold. ETFs you cannot redeem as gold.

[00:46:32]You will have to cash it.

[00:46:34]>> Okay. So, Sugandaf who all can trade and what do investors need for trading in EGR? For somebody who starting out absolutely fresh, what all do they need?

[00:46:44]Will they need a DMAT account? Where will they access? What is the price of the current EGR uh that they want to invest in and how do they go about it?

[00:46:54]>> So, first thing is you have to open an account with a uh broker. then you also have need to have a DMAT account. Uh the way you trade stocks on the exchange platform similar is the way if you trade uh I mean if you trade in EGRs you can actually have it reflected in your DMAT account and in terms of price uh comparisons whatever price you have bought in case you see the current price which is slightly higher than what you bought you actually in gains. So similarly the way you track shares on the exchange platform similarly you can track it here on your broking apps uh it's very easy to track that but yes your broker has to be EGR segment enabled many of the brokers are still not EGR segment enabled but yes eventually that will happen and you can you would be easily able to track the prices the beauty of EGR is that you have one transparent pricing standardized pricing in physical markets in different cities you have different prices in ETFs also there are lot of categories I mean lot of ETFs which are there in the market but yes in case of EGR it's one product one nation one's standardized price and once transparent price so that's also another beauty of EGRs >> okay uh for uh you know I wanted to understand when it comes to buying EGRs on the exchange um is the route similar to other securities with a few product specific checks that they need to do and uh you know what all is needed there to be seen plus will this be a T+1 trade so which means if I invest today will I get it tomorrow what are the differences there if you could explain then >> so it's the same thing Saki as I pointed out the way you invest in different securities similarly >> uh you can enter into a transaction in gold uh EGS four denominations are available in 999 purity and four denominations are available in uh 995 purity and in terms of the symbol it's G O L 10 G 99. So for somebody who's new into this segment, there are four symbols which you can just locate in your broker's app. And similarly for 995 purity, it's 95 at the end as I maintain for 99. So variance 100 mg, 1 mg uh sorry 1 g, 10 g and 100 g. So let's say if you are buying a gold of 10 g. So you would be getting it for 1 lak 60,000 odd levels as for the current prices. So in case you enter into a transaction, it will be reflected in your demat account and it will actually represent physical ownership of gold. So if you want to sell it any point of time, it's it would be T+1 settlement and you can actually redeem it for cash or in case you want to have delivery of gold that is also possible. But then you need to have 10 g of gold at least. If you're buying in smaller denominations like if you're buying in one gram of gold, you need to accumulate this quantity which would match 10 grams of gold and then you can actually have delivery.

[00:49:48]>> Okay. So till 10 g you will need to keep accumulating before you need to uh redeem your own investment. That's the minimum uh that you need to redeem your investment up till 10 g. Okay. What about taxation here? And if you could help us understand when it comes to the various other forms of gold, uh what will be the difference in taxation? Uh will taxation here be similar to what happens in the stock markets? Will we have to incur LTCG and STCG? So how should one be understanding that?

[00:50:18]>> So very similar to the stock market. Uh but there's a difference as compared to physical gold. So gold ETF and EGRs are taxed similarly. So in case you you're holding it for a less than 10 12 month period, a short-term capital gains tax will be applicable as per your income tax slab. But then if you buy and sell them after 13 months, you would be charged LTCG 12.5%.

[00:50:41]Similar is the uh tax slab which is applicable in gold ETF also. But then in physical gold it's 24 months. In case you are holding it for 24 months and you sell it sorry if you sell it before 24 months you would be charged short-term capital gains tax as per your income tax slab only if you sell it after 24 months uh you you would be charged a lower 12.5% LTCG tax. So that is one major reason one uh same product but different treatment in terms of the tax structure that is the reason we have seen huge uh inflows into gold ETF because the taxation structure is very positive for gold ETFs that's largely one of the reasons why why we have seen that this product has really picked up and EGR is also very similar >> EGR is also similar okay got that uh now also when it comes to uh the investors who are looking at this option various other options are also present. Um you know how should one decide which option is better for me at what stage? Can you give us an understanding there? So EGRs have come in, ETFs are already present.

[00:51:47]Then we also have a lot of mutual funds that invest in gold and silver. Then we also have the physical aspect. So uh at what stage and at what time what should one choose?

[00:51:58]>> See uh ETFs are very liquid because they have been there for a very long time. In case you want to gain exposure to gold prices, ETFs is a very good product. But yes, somebody who actually wants gold at a future point of time for some weddings in the family or for gifting purposes or for any other reason. So then EGR is a very good product. And secondly, if you do not understand so many mutual funds which have launched their own gold ETF, the prices are very different, right? So somebody who doesn't understand all of that for that person gold uh EGR is a very good product because you only have few variants and the price is standard you you track it from any app you have just one single price which is there for these variants. So it would be very easy for you to invest in gold e all you have to do is you have to have your DMAT account and same is the case with gold gold ETF also. So in both the cases you are spared of the hassles of storage theft purity concerns and one more beauty in gold EGR is that you do not have to pay GST while you are trading in gold EGRs only when you redeem them for gold then only you have to pay that 3% GST. So that's also another factor which I missed out while talking about the taxation structure. So that is also another BT. So while you're buying physical gold you have to pay upfront 3% GST. Here you do not have to pay any GST at least up front only if you redeem it for physical gold then only you have to pay.

[00:53:24]>> So a lot of advantages but yes somebody >> who doesn't understand both these product categories and wants to still have exposure to gold mutual funds is also a very good option. You do not even need to have a demat account. You can actually keep accumulating gold through sips uh with in different uh I mean whatever is your risk appetite and your uh time horizon in small I mean amounts you can start accumulating gold uh through gold mutual funds also that's also a very good product but if you want the flexibility and the liquidity and the ease of transaction these are the two product categories for EGS liquidity is still uh as of now low but yes it will gradually pick up once the market participants understand this product and accept accept this product eventually.

[00:54:09]>> All right. Okay. Suganda, thank you so much then for sharing these uh insights on uh rupee on crude as well as on gold and this new form of investing in gold as well. What are the benefits there over ETFs and the other forms of gold that are getting invested. I hope our viewers have definitely benefited from all of these aspects there and will be able to take better decisions when it comes to their gold investments too.

[00:54:33]Thank you so much Huganda. Good to have you with us on the program to uh get all these insights uh with our viewers as well. Viewers uh we're at uh 23,539 on the Nifty 80 points lower in trade.

[00:54:46]Um on the Nifty you do see now some gains that are coming in on the oil and gas space about half% higher. You also have pharma auto and some gains coming in on the IT pack as well. Uh but the rest of the pocket still is weak. So the banks and the financial services are still under pressure but it's uh these IT and pharma stocks that are benefiting from the falling rupee remember because of their exportoriented nature that's up oil and gas because of the constant rise in the crude oil prices remember is also higher in trade and we do have some earnings reactions also coming in on the nifty you have hindalo baj auto you also have reliance industries by the way that's up and about in trade providing some support to the sentiment uh let's leave you at that on what's hot. But do stay tuned as up next there's a lot of action coming up. So stay tuned on Business Today television.