Market Snapshot USD/INR ₹95.27 +0.3% Nifty 50 Index 23,483.55 +0.4% India 10-Year Bond Yield 7.01% -0.01 Spot Gold ($/oz) $4,481.45 -0.2% S&P 500 Futures 7,621.25 -0.0% Market data as of 08:10 AM IST, Jun. 3, 2026, or the previous close for Indian markets. Data is subject to provider delays. Good morning... I’m Pratigya Vajpayee in New Delhi with your mid-week dose of market news and analyses. The...
Market Snapshot USD/INR ₹95.27 +0.3% Nifty 50 Index 23,483.55 +0.4% India 10-Year Bond Yield 7.01% -0.01 Spot Gold ($/oz) $4,481.45 -0.2% S&P 500 Futures 7,621.25 -0.0% Market data as of 08:10 AM IST, Jun. 3, 2026, or the previous close for Indian markets. Data is subject to provider delays. Good morning... I’m Pratigya Vajpayee in New Delhi with your mid-week dose of market news and analyses. The Nifty 50 staged a strong comeback on Tuesday, ending a four-day losing streak, as shares of software services firms surged. The rally came after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang rebuffed concerns that AI will disrupt the industry (more on that later). For the broader market, the near-term outlook remains tied to developments in the US-Iran conflict, especially its impact on oil prices, and whether corporate earnings can regain momentum. Oil is higher for a third day on pessimism over the prospects of a US-Iran peace deal and fresh fighting in the Middle East. Asian stocks, though, have edged up after renewed enthusiasm for the AI trade drove US equities to records. In today’s newsletter, we cover: The rebound in IT shares Nomura’s target for the Nifty The outlook for power utilities But first, a look at the spike in borrowing costs for firms and individuals. Markets Buzz: Rate Hike Odds Rise India’s short-term borrowing costs have climbed around 25 basis points over the past three weeks as tighter liquidity conditions and the growing odds of RBI rate hikes push yields higher. Yields on Treasury bills have now caught up with swap rates, which started factoring in a less accommodative monetary policy after the US-Iran war broke out. Tighter liquidity is expected to support the rupee and help rein in creeping inflation. Markets are now pricing in at least two interest-rate hikes, with the gap between the 364-day bill and the RBI’s policy rate widening to the most in more than three years. Shorter-dated securities are also pricing in tighter liquidity, even if the authority leaves rate...
Thanadon Naksanee/iStock via Getty Images Performance Recap • The PGIM Jennison Blend Fund declined but outperformed the -4.0% return of the Russell 3000 Index during the quarter. • Relative to the Index, stock selection within the financials and consumer discretionary sectors, along with overweight's to industrials and energy and an underweight to information technology added the most value. • Th...
Thanadon Naksanee/iStock via Getty Images Performance Recap • The PGIM Jennison Blend Fund declined but outperformed the -4.0% return of the Russell 3000 Index during the quarter. • Relative to the Index, stock selection within the financials and consumer discretionary sectors, along with overweight's to industrials and energy and an underweight to information technology added the most value. • The top absolute contributors over the quarter were Exxon Mobil ( XOM ), Shell ( SHEL ), Walmart ( WMT ), Tower Semiconductor ( TSEM ), and Cheniere Energy ( LNG ). • The top detractors over the quarter were Microsoft ( MSFT ), Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Amazon ( AMZN ), Broadcom ( AVGO ), and Eli Lilly ( LLY ). Positioning & Outlook • No material changes were made to the Fund this quarter. • From a growth perspective, our fundamental research continues to focus on companies with secular growth opportunities that we expect will extend over the next 3-5 years. These multi-year fundamental opportunities (both in magnitude and duration of the earnings growth profile) have been a long-term driver of stock returns, and we believe the business models in the Fund are poised to offer improving rates of relative growth versus the average stock. • From a value perspective, companies have continued to make improvements on operating efficiencies and productivity, which should bode well for ongoing free-cash-flow generation along with intrinsic value growth. Free cash flow durability and consistency remains our focus and will continue to be the driver of long-term wealth creation for equity owners. Additionally, companies with high quality business models should continue to drive a premium valuation from investors, with increasing capital returns to shareholders to be expected. • From a small cap perspective, we continue to identify attractively valued companies that have strong fundamentals, along with stable and high-quality balance sheets and profit margins. Quality and durability of the busi...
Dan Ives, Wedbush Securities Global Head of Technology Research, describes the bull run in AI equities as a "party" that is set to continue until late in the night - projecting confidence in a long-term run of high equity prices. He speaks after Alphabet stocks slid following the announcement of a billion-dollar equity round to pay for AI infrastructure. (Source: Bloomberg)
Dan Ives, Wedbush Securities Global Head of Technology Research, describes the bull run in AI equities as a "party" that is set to continue until late in the night - projecting confidence in a long-term run of high equity prices. He speaks after Alphabet stocks slid following the announcement of a billion-dollar equity round to pay for AI infrastructure. (Source: Bloomberg)
Investors are betting that optical components and photonic networks will become essential for moving massive amounts of data between AI chips, servers, and racks.
Investors are betting that optical components and photonic networks will become essential for moving massive amounts of data between AI chips, servers, and racks.
Feds Seize Over A Ton Of Cocaine At Massive US-Mexico Drug-Smuggling Tunnel Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times, Authorities charged four suspects on June 1 with felony drug distribution violations after finding a hidden tunnel used by drug runners inside a retail store in San Diego County that led into Tijuana, Mexico. Investigators also seized more than a ton of cocaine worth about $...
Feds Seize Over A Ton Of Cocaine At Massive US-Mexico Drug-Smuggling Tunnel Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times, Authorities charged four suspects on June 1 with felony drug distribution violations after finding a hidden tunnel used by drug runners inside a retail store in San Diego County that led into Tijuana, Mexico. Investigators also seized more than a ton of cocaine worth about $45 million in connection with the subterranean tunnel, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Homeland Security’s Tunnel Task Force in charge of the operation. “For these defendants, it wasn’t a light at the end of the tunnel. It was lights and sirens,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. Federal agents with the tunnel task force started surveilling a Buy 4 Less warehouse on the 2400 block of Roll Drive in San Diego in late December 2025 after they became alerted to suspicious activity at the location, according to prosecutors. A group of seven or eight “employees” at the Buy 4 Less showed up regularly at the store, but very few customers were seen coming in and out of the location, investigators said. The supposed employees were seen taking multiple suitcases out of the store and into vehicles or walking the suitcases, which appeared to be empty, across the border into Mexico, according to the court complaint. Investigators say that on May 29, a man loaded three large, heavy items into a white van that left the warehouse and parked on a street near a mechanic shop. Another man on a bicycle was seen looking around and into parked cars, allegedly conducting counter-surveillance for the van, investigators said. Federal agents watched as people removed three deep freezers from the first van and placed them into the bed of another truck, then load the deep freezers with packages, according to court documents. After the vans were loaded onto a truck, the truck left and parked a short distance away. Another man took the truck keys and drove away. San Diego County Sherif...
PM Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images In this continuous series, I will screen for high-quality dividend growth stocks based on Seeking Alpha's Quant rating system. Beginning with the Industrials sector, I applied the following filters to screen for the highest-rated stocks, but also for certain metrics I believe would help focus on the quality of the stock as well. The filters are as follows: ...
PM Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images In this continuous series, I will screen for high-quality dividend growth stocks based on Seeking Alpha's Quant rating system. Beginning with the Industrials sector, I applied the following filters to screen for the highest-rated stocks, but also for certain metrics I believe would help focus on the quality of the stock as well. The filters are as follows: A Market Cap of at least $2B A Quant Rating of Strong Buy or Buy A Dividend Yield above 0.00% As a dividend-focused investor who tends to concentrate on high-quality companies, I expect using these filters will help my readers, and me, target established businesses with reliable dividend growth. Below I will highlight 5 of the highest-rated Industrial stocks by Quant score, as well as share my thoughts on the company's recent performance, dividend growth, and try to ascertain whether the stock is over or undervalued based on my custom free cash flow valuation model. So without further ado, let's dig into the Industrials sector. Fedex Corporation ( FDX ) - Quant Rating 4.86/5.00 The first company that screened well is Fedex Corporation which everyone knows as one of the leading shipping companies in the world. The stock has performed well year-to-date up about 17%, and slightly outpacing the S&P 500 Index ( SP500 ), which has risen just under 11% in 2026. The company boasts a decent forward yield of 1.41%, which is basically in-line with the sector median which sits at 1.45%, giving the dividend yield a C+ rating via the Quant rating system. Dividend growth is really where FDX shines, thanks to the 3-year dividend growth rate which is a tick above 8%, and the 5 & 10-year CAGRs which sit closer to 18%. This earns a Quant rating of B, which I actually believe is low given those numbers I just referenced. And lastly, before we move on to the valuation part of the write-up the payout ratio comes in with an A rating, as the payout ratio has consistently been at or below 30% over ...