Indian indices are likely to open with modest gains as trends across the Asian peers are subdued. The SGX Nifty indicates Nifty is likely to open around 10,958, up by 33 points. Many corporates are likely to report earnings today and some of the key names include AU BANK, Federal Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Mastek, Rallis, LTTS and Reliance Industries. The regulator SEBI has now decided to further ease norms for mutual funds to take derivative exposures. SEBI has issued modified rules which allow mutual funds to also write call options under specific conditions.  
  

The following stocks would be in focus during Thursday’s trading session in light of their results announcement on January 17: AU Small Finance Bank, Aditya Birla Money, Cyient, Hindustan Unilever and Reliance Industries. 

Mobile entertainment service provider On Mobile Global informed that Telefonica Moviles, Spain has renewed its contract with the company for a period of five years.

Post the 2018 budget in February, the market kept flashing in red throughout the year ahead. While going through the data of small-cap companies, we considered companies having market cap between Rs. 100 to Rs. 1,000 crore and came out with top 10 losers in the last one year.

White Organic Agro, an organic agro product company, reported stellar quarterly performance in Q3FY19. The company’s revenue grew almost 90 per cent. 

The diamond and jewellery industry was hit in 2018 after one of the biggest banking scam was revealed in India. Celebrated diamantaire Nirav Modi cheated Indian banks of Rs. 13,000 crore. A steep erosion in the value of Nirav Modi brand was inevitable.

Calendar 2018 had been a heart wrenching year for investors holding stocks of small-cap and mid-cap companies. Close to 85 per cent of these stocks failed to beat the benchmark BSE Sensex, with small-caps on the forefront facing the heat during the year.

Among mutual funds, the small-cap category MFs are the one which gave luring returns over the long-term period. However, people look at only one parameter, that is, returns. So let’s find out whether the small-cap category is suitable for parking your investments or not.

Following stocks are close to their 52-week low as at 12.51 p.m. on January 16, 2019.

The markets on January 16, 2019 opened gap up. BSE Sensex is trading at 36,417.50, up by 99.17 points and the Nifty is trading at 10,918.70, up by 31.90 points.