Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. Wishing you a happy independence day! It's Wednesday, 15 August 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started.

Markets remained largely flat on Wednesday. The Sensex was up by 0.2 percent, while the Nifty 50 edged up by just 0.02 percent.

India is 78 today. Our markets reach record highs regularly, although not without volatility, and our economy is chugging along. This has been made possible due to some path-breaking economic decisions that have been taken along the way. N. Madhavan takes a look at some of these decisions that have helped India become the fifth-largest economy in the world. Some moments over the years include the green revolution, Manmohan Singh's LPG, and GST.

The recent turmoil in the markets is largely caused by foreign investors pulling their money out of Indian equities. But they have been kept in check by retail investors, who are acting as a counterbalance. Ram Sahgal writes that Indian investors have helped prop the Nifty up and perform better than its peers like Japan's Nikkei, South Korea's Kospi, and Singapore's Straits Time Index. Despite foreign investors pulling out in large numbers, domestic investors are keeping things going for the Indian public markets.

The Nifty has fallen 1.8% during the past 30 days. One of the major factors has been the announcement of the Q1 results for FY25. Manjul Paul analysed nearly 1,500 companies listed on the public bourses, which yielded moderate growth this quarter. Combined revenue increased by 9 percent annually, while net profit was up just 5 percent for the same period. Profits have been trending downwards for a few quarters, economists note. But a closer analysis shows some disparate trends: Manjul finds out that sectors like oil and gas, power, chemicals, and agriculture are performing much more poorly than their peers.

This year's Union Budget allocated nearly a billion dollars towards the National Quantum Mission. But what is that? India wants to be a hub for super-fast quantum computers, and it also wants to make semiconductor chips. The central government has also been bullish on artificial intelligence and has announced several schemes. These are good, healthy targets. Leslie D'monte takes stock of India's technological progress and how these ideas will receive policy support over the years to make the plans a reality.

Indian mangoes ruled the foreign market for decades. Farmers grew varieties like alphonso, langra, and dasheri specifically for export, as they fetched a better price in the western countries. India produces 40 percent of the world's total mangoes. However, India is losing its stronghold over everyone's favourite fruit. There's a new exporter in the market: any guesses?? It’s China. Dhirendra Kumar reports that China exported mangoes worth 59 million dollars in 2023, compared to mangoes worth 55 million dollars by India. Funnily enough, mangoes are not native to China — India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had gifted China eight mango saplings back in the 1950s. This diplomatic gift has come back to haunt Indian mango makers decades later.

Show notes:

Amid FII selling, retail investors again prop up Indian market

As Q1 profit growth retreats, can India Inc. hold its head above water?

Chips, Indic LLMs, flying taxis: Inside India’s tryst with tech independence

Seven economic moments to remember since 1947

Mango wars: China grown Indian mango varieties eat into India’ exports

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Wednesday, 14 August 2024. My name is Nelson John.

A series of explosions in South Korea has prompted discussions in Mumbai about a ban on charging electric vehicles in basements. Alisha Sachdev explains that since EV charging involves high-voltage electricity, such discussions are paramount to the safety of those who live in such buildings. Automakers have been asking for regulation on this front ever since EVs went mainstream in India. The government has taken up the mantle of creating public charging infrastructure, but hasn't formed any regulations about safer charging at home.

Another EV-related story for you: this time, about BluSmart. If you haven't heard about it, BluSmart is an EV-only cab service operating in NCR and Bangalore. Anmol Jaggi, the founder of BluSmart, is happy with the company's growth and progress. But he has one big problem: The lack of sufficient charging infrastructure. Sumant Banerji writes that, unlike their petrol and diesel counterparts, BluSmart's EVs have a considerably higher downtime. Moreover, BluSmart also owns its entire fleet, as opposed to a commission model by Ola and Uber. This is a capital-intensive setup. In his Long Story, Sumant lists out the challenges and opportunities for BluSmart. Cab hailing is already a cash-burning business; BluSmart's current business model doesn't allow for much headroom to change a lot at the moment.

According to the Securities and Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, a registered investment advisor needs to be at least 21 years old. But Sebi's jurisdiction ends when you type youtube.com. Here, teenagers can give you advice too. Sashind Ningthoukhongjam writes about kids as young as 13 advising investors to try out futures and options, or F&O, trading. They boast of turning the share market into a "sure market", with annual returns of over 36%. While Sebi has strictly dissuaded F&O trading, that doesn't stop these kids from promising their viewers the moon with their investing tips.

It's not just F&O trading that has picked up in India. Take, for example, factor funds. In July, more than 26,000 crore rupees has been invested in this kind of funds. Factor funds track attributes like size, value, momentum, and volatility to try and offer better returns to investors. Dipti Sharma writes about the rise of factor funds, which are growing in size as well as in number. These funds have risen more than 15% so far this year, as opposed to the Nifty's 12%. Read this story to see if it’s worth investing in these funds.

At some point, over the last couple of years, everyone started wearing a smartwatch. Watches that just showed the time and perhaps date were passe; now, you could know your heart rate, step count, and even pick up calls with a digital watch. In 2021, more than 12 million smartwatches were sold in India, writes Shouvik Das. In 2023, this figure jumped to 50 million. But now, smartwatch makers have run into a problem: market saturation. It seems like everyone who wanted one, has one. Buyers now only have demand for the expensive watches made by Apple or Samsung. Meanwhile, the demand for cheap smartwatches has cratered. Shouvik writes that this has become a problem for companies such as Boat and Noise.

Show notes:

Why India needs safety protocols for EV charging

Low battery: The biggest challenge hindering all-electric cab company BluSmart

Meet the new YouTube finfluencers: teens ‘making 36-40%’ returns trading options

Indian investors are discovering the power of factor investing

Indians loved to flaunt their budget smartwatches. Not any more.