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Indian markets have had a rough ride in 2025, with Nifty barely up 4% while gold and silver soared. Amid global uncertainties — from tariffs to geopolitical tensions — investors are looking for direction. Chirag Muni, Executive Director at Anand Rathi Wealth, shares why, despite the volatility, the current market setup could be an opportunity for long-term investors, and how mutual funds and retail participation are shaping the outlook.Excerpts:Q. Let’s start with the markets. 2025 has been tough for Indian equities, while commodities like gold and silver have done well. What’s your take on Sensex and Nifty?Chirag Muni: As you rightly mentioned, global uncertainties—tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and wars—have kept markets on edge. Gold and silver have performed well because they are sentiment-driven assets. Gold demand rises in uncertain times, with central banks like India and China buying to diversify from the dollar. Silver’s demand is partly industrial, for EVs, solar panels, and semiconductors.Equities, however, historically deliver better long-term returns. Over a five-year horizon, Nifty has given more than 10% returns 82% of the time, whereas gold and silver range between 40–50%. Despite global uncertainties, the Indian market has cushioned itself. From a long-term perspective, this presents an opportunity rather than a risk.Q. Could Trump’s 100% tariff on drugs affect mutual funds in the pharma sector?Chirag: The tariff mainly affects branded and patented drugs, not generics, which constitute most Indian exports to the U.S. Mutual fund exposure to pharma is around 8–9%, so overall impact is limited. Specialty drugs might see some effect, but it’s not a major long-term concern.Q. How should investors approach the rest of 2025?Chirag: The market has undergone price and time corrections. From a peak of 26,000 last year to a low of 22,000, and now back to 25,000, it's an opportunity. Long-term investing is driven by macro factors, and India’s fundamentals remain strong: GDP growth around 6.5%, low inflation at 2.1%, and interest rates already cut by 100 bps. Valuations are fair, and earnings are expected to rebound.From a short-term perspective, FIIs have been selling, but DIIs and retail SIPs continue to provide liquidity. This makes it a favorable environment for investors with a 3–5 year horizon. The one-year forward PE suggests the market could reach 26,500–27,000 by year-end, implying a potential 10–11% return.Q. Quant funds have not been performing well. What’s happening with Quant Mutual Funds?Chirag: Quant faced challenges last year due to regulatory investigations and market conditions, which limited fund manager flexibility. However, negative news is mostly cleared, and recent performance has improved. Quant Largecap, in particular, is showing strong recovery due to its flexible, data-driven investment approach.Q. For long-term investors, how should they approach the market now?Chirag: Avoid chasing themes or timing the market. Focus on diversified funds:55–60% largecap20–25% midcap15–20% smallcapFunds to consider include DSP Large & Midcap, Kotak Midcap Fund, Invesco Smallcap, HDFC Flexicap, and ICICI Prudential Focused Equity. A basket of these four to five funds, with a 4–5 year horizon, provides diversification and long-term growth potential. Lump-sum investments are fine after a market correction, as short-term volatility will smooth out over time.Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts/brokerages do not represent the views of Economic Times.

Coinbase Global Inc., the largest US crypto exchange, is seeking a national trust company charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the company said Friday.Payments have become a big area of focus for Coinbase in the past year, as the use of stablecoins has taken off. President Donald Trump signed a law in July regulating stablecoins, fueling the industry’s growth. Coinbase has already struck partnerships with companies including Shopify Inc. to rev up the use of USDC, the world’s second-biggest stablecoin, which it supports and shares revenue from with issuer Circle Internet Group Inc.“An OCC charter will streamline oversight for new offerings and enable continued innovation to integrate digital assets into traditional finance,” Tusar’s blog said.Other crypto companies and financial-technology firms have been pursuing or considering national bank charters.Circle applied for a national trust charter in June, while blockchain providers Ripple Labs Inc. and Paxos Inc. did so in July and August, respectively. Crypto custodian Anchorage Digital Bank NA, for instance, has already been granted one.Coinbase is applying for the charter as Congress is working on a market-structure bill that’s expected to better define oversight and regulation of the crypto industry. It’s expected to go through markup in the Senate in late-October but may not pass until some time next year.Coinbase’s shares are up 53% since the beginning of the year, to $380.02, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Tamil Nadu government has banned the sale of cough syrup 'Coldrif' and ordered its removal from the market following suspicions linking it to the death of 11 children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.With effect from October 1, the sale of the cough syrup manufactured by the city-based firm, has been prohibited across Tamil Nadu, an official of the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department said.Inspections were conducted at the pharmaceutical company's manufacturing facility in Sunguvarchathram in neighbouring Kancheepuram district during the last two days and samples have been collected, he said.The company, he said, supplies the medicines to Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry.The samples would be sent to the government run laboratories to test for the presence of the chemical 'Diethylene Glycol', he told PTI.Taking cognisance of the infant deaths, the Union Health Ministry on Friday issued an advisory to all States and Union Territories, directing that cough and cold medications should not be prescribed to children under the age of 2 years.The advisory, issued by the Directorate General of Health Services, comes amid reports of child deaths allegedly linked to contaminated cough syrups in Madhya Pradesh and similar reported incidents in Rajasthan.The food safety official said, "The department has been asked to prevent the sale of the syrup and freeze the stocks from October 1."The samples collected from the facility would be also be tested by the Union government.Responding to a query, he said, the syrup has been supplied to Puducherry, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh by the company.According to the Drug department, the company has been ordered to halt production of the syrup at the facility till the reports from the laboratories are out."We expect the report to be released in the coming days," he said.Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath blamed mixing of 'brake oil solvent' in cough syrups for the deaths of children with a suspected kidney ailment in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district since September 7.The toll in the case reached 9 in Madhya Pradesh while media reports said of two infants died in Rajasthan.

Mumbai: India's equity indices eked out gains on Friday after early losses as the optimism around the Reserve Bank of India's dovish policy stance fizzled out and trading turned stock-specific.The NSE Nifty closed at 24,894.25, up 0.2% or 57.95 points, while the BSE Sensex ended 0.3% higher at 81,207.17, a gain of 223.86 points. "Although the market advanced in the last two sessions, it is expected to be a pullback move rather than a reversal," said Bhavik Joshi, Business Head at INVasset PMS. "Stock-specific rallies are becoming common in the current set up as investors chase momentum while the indices remain flat." Both indices gained nearly 1% in this truncated trading week after declining 2.7% last week. Financial markets were shut for trading on Thursday for Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti and Dussehra. 124300966Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea gained 2.7% on Friday, while Japan and Taiwan rose 1.9% and 1.5% respectively. China and Indonesia advanced around 0.5% each. Hong Kong moved 0.5% lower.At home, the Nifty Midcap 150 and Smallcap 250 index moved 0.9% higher on Friday. Out of the 4,339 shares traded on the BSE, 2,636 advanced and 1,568 declined. Over the past week, the midcap and smallcap indices gained around 2% each.The Nifty Metal index rose 1.8% while the PSU Bank and consumer durables indices moved over 1% higher on Friday.Joshi said that metals and PSU Bank indices are close to record highs of October last year and both have been underperformers in the last few months. "Since metals are priced in dollar terms, the fall in the dollar as it loses value is supportive for metal companies," said Joshi. "The government announcement of the merger of banks in the PSU space is a tailwind for that sector.""Any dips towards the support zone of 24,400-24,600 can be used as a buying opportunity and the index might face a hurdle at 25,000 levels in the near term," said Ruchit Jain, Head Technical Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.