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Informist, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Brokerages see new insurance bill as negative for PB Fintech

 

MUMBAI--0855 IST--Global brokerage UBS has maintained its 'sell' rating on PB Fintech with a target price of INR 1,660, indicating around 9% downside from Tuesday's close. The brokerage sees the newly passed Insurance Amendment Bill as a negative for the company as it proposes to limit commissions payable to insurance players, NDTV Profit reported, citing UBS. "For every 1% reduction in unit economics, earnings could be impacted by 3–4%," the brokerage said. On Tuesday, shares of PB Fintech closed 5.5% lower at INR 1,820.50. 

 

Parliament Tuesday passed the Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Bill, 2025, which will help revamp India's insurance framework, with a host of changes to the Insurance Act, 1938, the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956, and the IRDAI Act, 1999. The bill also proposes to allow the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India to set limits to any commission or reward received by insurance agents, according to media reports. 

 

Among other brokerages, Kotak Securities said that the proposal to cap insurance commission could weigh on PB Fintech's stock. IRDAI already has the flexibility to fix commission caps and the amendment reinforces this power, the brokerage said. 

 

Meanwhile, Citi has maintained its 'buy' rating on PB Fintech with a target price of INR 2,225, indicating an over 22% upside potential. There is only a low probability of the regulator backtracking on the current democratised commission framework, the report citied the brokerage as saying. Penalising efficient distributors runs counter to the regulator's objective of improving insurance penetration, Citi added. (Arya S. Biju)

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Equity Alert: Morgan Stanley sees earnings upgrades for RIL every qtr in 2026

 

MUMBAI--0841 IST--Morgan Stanley expects earnings upgrades and valuation re-rating for Reliance Industries in every quarter of 2026, considering the strong outlook for its business and cash flows, according to a post by CNBC-TV18 on X. The brokerage maintained its 'overweight' rating for the company and raised its target price to INR 1,847, indicating an upside of nearly 20% from the current market price. On Tuesday, shares of Reliance Industries closed at INR 1,542.30 on NSE.

 

The brokerage expects the company's investments of $80 billion to start giving benefits from 2026. Reliance Industries is likely to redeploy capital into "new growth frontiers," the brokerage said. "Fourth monetisation cycle is underway as all verticals turn free cash flow positive," Morgan Stanley said. (Anshul Choudhary)

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Equity Alert: Asian indices open higher, data shows Japan exports up 6.1%

 

MUMBAI--0817 IST--Most Asian indices opened on a positive note after trade data in Japan showed that the country's exports grew 6.1% for November, beating the expectation of an average 4.8% growth and sharply higher than 3.6% in October. Japan's Nikkei was up 0.2% and South Korea's KOSPI rose 0.6%. The South Korean index rose after falling for two sessions. 

 

China's CSI 300 index was up 0.5% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.4%. Both these indices rose after falling for two consecutive sessions. The shares of Japanese financial institution SBI Shinsei Bank rose over 12?ter an initial public offering of $2.1 billion. The shares were priced at 1,450 yen, CNBC reported.     

 

The November job data in the US came in better than expected, with the addition of 64,000 jobs beating the market expectations of 45,000 jobs additions. However, the unemployment rate rose to an over four-year high of 4.6% which sparked concerns among investors.  

 

Following were the levels of key Asian indices at 0810 IST:

 

Level	Last	Change in %
KOSPI	4020.93	0.54
Nikkei 225 Day	49537.19	0.31
CSI 300 Index	4518.40	0.46
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	3371.65	0.03
Hang Seng Index	25310.09	0.30
SSE Composite Index	3827.51	0.07
TAIEX	27664.33	0.46

 

(Adhithya Aji)

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Equity Alert: Indices may open flat amid mixed global cues, weak rupee

 

MUMBAI--0815 IST--Benchmark equity indices are expected to open largely flat after closing in the red for two sessions in a row. Mixed global cues, a weak rupee, selling by foreign investors, and uncertainty over the India-US trade deal are expected to continue to impact market sentiment Wednesday. 

 

Overnight, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed in the red as investors accessed key US jobs data for October and November, which had been delayed due to the 43-day federal government shutdown. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended the session 0.2% higher. The US unemployment rate rose to a four-year high of 4.6% in November against the backdrop of economic uncertainty stemming from US President Donald Trump's aggressive trade policies, Reuters reported. 

 

US employers added 64,000 jobs in November, which followed a drop of 105,000 jobs in October, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. This included the departure of more than 150,000 federal employees who took deferred buyouts as part of the Trump administration's push to cut government jobs earlier this year, Reuters reported. 

 

Equity indices in Asia were mixed in early trade after the mixed US jobs data failed to move the needle on the rate outlook by the US Federal Reserve, leaving investors awaiting further cues to guide their next move. Bets of an interest rate cut by the US Fed have not changed much following the job data, with the CME FedWatch Tool showing only a 25.5% probability of a rate cut in the January meeting, compared to a 24.4% chance a day before. Further, trade data from Japan showed that the country's exports grew 6.1% on year in November, more than the 4.8% rise estimated by economists polled by Reuters.

 

The GIFT Nifty contracts suggest the Nifty 50 may open largely flat. At 0810 IST, the December contract of the GIFT Nifty was trading at 25922.50 points, 62 points above the Nifty 50's close on Tuesday. The Nifty 50 ended at 25860.10 points on Tuesday, down 0.6%. (Arya S. Biju)

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Equity Alert: US indices end mixed as investors assess Nov jobs report

 

MUMBAI--0740 IST--US indices, barring the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite, ended lower Tuesday. Nasdaq composite gained 0.2%. Investors assessed the November jobs report that was released on Tuesday, which came in better than expected. However, the unemployment rate came in at 4.6%, higher than economists' forecast of 4.5%, raising concern about the state of the US economy. The artificial intelligence stocks weighed on the S&P 500 index as investors continued to take profits from AI trade and move on to other areas of the market such as healthcare and utilities. 

 

The November jobs report showed an addition of 64,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 4.6%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists surveyed by the Dow Jones expected an addition of 45,000 jobs for the month, CNBC reported. The unemployment rate rose to 4.6% which was above the economists' forecast of 4.5%, raising concern about the state of the US economy, as per the CNBC report. There are lower chances of another rate reduction by the US Federal Reserve at its upcoming policy meeting on Jan. 28 as the figures from CME FedWatch tool showed that 74.5% of investors expect interest rates to remain unchanged.

 

The S&P 500 index ended lower for the third consecutive session as key artificial intelligence stocks such as Broadcom, Oracles, and Microsoft extended losses. Health stocks fell 1.3% with Pfizer slipping 3.4%. The company forecast a challenging year ahead due to weaker sales of COVID-19 products and squeezed margins, Reuters reported. Nasdaq submitted paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking to change the timing of the trade of stocks, as per the Reuters report.  

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Tuesday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6800.26	(-)0.24
NASDAQ Composite	23111.462	0.23
Dow Jones Industrial Average	48114.26	(-)0.62

     

(Adhithya Aji)

 

US$1 = INR 91.03

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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