Stock exchanges BSE and NSE are conducting mock trading sessions for equity, commodity and currency derivatives on Saturday from the primary site (PR) and Disaster Recovery Site (DR). The mock trading is merely for the purpose of testing and familiarisation. The trades resulting from such mock trading will not attract any margin obligation or pay-in and pay-out obligation, and they will not create any rights and liabilities.

Trading members using third-party trading platforms can also use this opportunity to test their respective trading applications during the mock trading session for various functionalities (including exceptional market conditions), viz., various types of call auction sessions, risk-reduction mode, trading halt, block deals, etc.

Here’s the schedule of trading sessions:

– Log-in – 09:15 am to 09:45 am
– Morning Block Deal Window (PR): 09:45 am to 10:00 am
– Continuous Trading T+1 (PR): 10:15 am to 01:00 pm
– Continuous Trading T+0 (PR): 10:15 am to 12:30 pm

– Closing: 04:00 pm to 04:10 pm
– Post-closing: 04:10 pm to 04:20 pm
– Trade Modification T+1: 04:30 pm
– Trade Modification T+0: 03:45 pmThe exchanges have urged market participants to participate actively in the mock trading sessions.

Exchanges routinely conduct mock trading sessions to test their systems to be able to provide their members with a robust & efficient system for trading with better features.

They also seek feedback from all members. The members can give their feedback for the mock trading session to exchanges by 5:00 pm.

Indian benchmark indices fell sharply on Friday, recording their third successive decline as the Iran-Israel/US war continued to dent market sentiments. The biggest drags were metals, auto, and financial stocks. In a volatile session, the broader Nifty plunged 488.05 points, or 2.06%, to close at 23,151.10, while the 30-share Sensex declined 1470.50 points, or 1.93%, to settle at 74,563.92.

(Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)

Investing has traditionally been shaped by human judgment—port analysing companies, interpreting macroeconomic signals, and making decisions based on experience and intuition. While this approach has produced many successful strategies, it is inherently constrained by human bandwidth and individual bias.

Considering the above, research teams can track a limited number of companies, process a finite volume of information, and react within time-bound constraints.

Systematic investing represents a meaningful evolution in this framework. It combines human expertise with machine-driven analytical power to create a more structured and scalable investment process.

In essence, systematic investing brings together two complementary strengths:

• Human insight — experience, judgment, and economic understanding
• Machine intelligence — speed, scale, and analytical precision

This fusion allows the investment team to analyse vast datasets, evaluate market signals in real time, and apply consistent decision-making frameworks.

The result is an investment approach that is disciplined, repeatable, and resilient, which are qualities that are increasingly valuable in modern markets.

Why India Is an Ideal Market for Systematic Investing

India’s capital markets are undergoing a structural transformation. Over the past decade, the ecosystem has been shaped by several powerful trends, these include rapid growth in retail investor participation, Digitisation and faster dissemination of information, increasing market depth and sectoral diversity along with Greater liquidity and trading activityIn such an environment, the ability to process information quickly and identify signals efficiently can become a powerful competitive advantage.

This is where the Systematic Active Equity (SAE) strategies stand out.

SAE combines the alpha-seeking intent of active management with rules-based, data-driven execution frameworks that are cost-controlled and risk-managed. This allows investment strategies to identify opportunities more efficiently and implement them with discipline and precision at lower cost.

The Core Pillars of Systematic Active Equity

1. Data-Driven Decision Making at Scale

One of the defining characteristics of SAE strategies is their ability to process vast and diverse datasets. These include traditional financial metrics such as earnings, valuations, balance sheet indicators, Market-based signals like price momentum and liquidity trends. Furthermore, the strategies also include Alternative datasets such as News sentiment analysis, Social media signals, Satellite and geospatial data, amongst others.

The objective is to identify repeatable patterns and predictive signals that can inform investment decisions. Over time, models continuously learn from new information, refine their insights, and adapt to evolving market dynamics.

2. Dynamic and Adaptive Portfolio Construction

Unlike static portfolios or purely benchmark-hugging strategies, SAE portfolios are inherently dynamic. They continuously adjust based on:

• Signal strength
• Changing market conditions
• Factor performance cycles

This enables portfolios to rebalance efficiently and allocate capital where opportunities looks strong. In markets like India—where sector leadership and market themes can rotate rapidly—this adaptability becomes an important source of investment edge.

3. Integrated Risk Management

Risk management in systematic strategies like SAE is not a separate layer applied after portfolio construction. Instead, it is embedded within the investment framework itself.

This includes:

• Volatility targeting
• Position sizing/weighting frameworks
• Diversification across sectors and market caps
• Active Risk control mechanisms
• Analyzing factor exposures and tilting them based on strategy goals
• Focusing on risk-return metrics like IR (Information Ratio) Alpha consistency as a target
• Eliminating key-man risk

The goal is not only to generate returns but also to ensure consistency of outcomes across market cycles.

How Systematic Investing Reduces Behavioural Biases

Traditional discretionary investing, while driven by expertise, can sometimes be influenced by behavioural biases such as, Recency bias, Overconfidence etc

By reducing the influence of emotion and subjectivity, systematic strategies enable a more consistent and forward-looking investment process, thereby eliminating human biases by relying on , pre-defined investment rules, Data-backed signals and Objective decision frameworks

Ensuring Continuity Beyond Individuals

Another structural advantage of SAE lies in its process-driven nature. In traditional setups, fund performance can sometimes be closely associated with individual portfolio managers and hence lead to key man risk. Changes in personnel may lead to shifts in strategy or portfolio construction leading to very different risk and return orientations than originally anticipated. Systematic investing reduces this dependency. Despite changes in the investment team, the underlying models remain constant as data pipelines continue operating ensuring the overall investment philosophy remains undisturbed.

In many ways, it is like changing the driver while the navigation system guiding the journey remains the same.

Combining Human Expertise with Machine Precision

Despite common perception, systematic investing is not about replacing human decision-making. Instead, it is about augmenting human expertise with technology.

Humans play a critical role in

Designing robust and efficient investment frameworks is important to avoid GIGO (Garbage-In, Garbage-Out)

• Selecting relevant signals
• Interpreting macroeconomic context to decide on active risk levels
• Monitoring and refining models

Machines, in turn, excel at:

• Processing vast datasets
• Identifying patterns across markets
• Executing strategies with speed and consistency

Together, this partnership creates a powerful investment engine—where humans define the “what” and “why,” and machines optimise the “how” and “when.”

A New Paradigm for India’s Investors

As India’s markets become more complex, information-rich, and competitive, investors increasingly require strategies that can combine discipline, scalability, and adaptability.

Systematic Active Equity addresses this need by integrating:

• Data-driven intelligence
• Machine efficiency
• AI/ML techniques
• Human oversight and governance

The outcome is a robust and repeatable investment approach designed to navigate volatility, capture opportunities, and deliver alpha over time with controlled risk and reduced cost.

For Indian investors, this represents a shift towards a more institutional-grade investment framework incorporating global best practices.

(The author is CIO at JioBlackRock Asset Management)

The Iran-Israel war has entered its 15th day, causing crude oil prices to soar to $103 a barrel. They have increased by over 35% so far this year, and expectations are that they could hit the $150 mark if the war continues. In light of the ongoing crisis, brokerage Systematix Institutional Equities has recommended 6 stocks with a potential upside of 103%. Destruction of oil & gas assets amid the West Asia War triggered a strong risk premium in prices. Tightening supply dynamics—owing to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, elevated tanker freight rates and insurance premiums for vessels—will keep prices high, helping upstream companies in its view.

At first glance, everything seems to be chugging along just fine at Adobe (ADBE). Their earnings on Thursday continued to show that revenue is still growing at a double-digit rate, with operating margins remaining

Crude futures climbed higher on Friday as the Strait of Hormuz remained closed, but analysts were wary the weekend might bring surprise changes in the status of the war two weeks after it started.

Brent futures for May were up $1.59, or 1.58%, to $102.05 a barrel at 11:35 a.m. CDT (1635 GMT), heading for a weekly increase. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for April gained $1.15, or 1.2%, to $96.88 a barrel, and was also set for an uptick on the week.

“We’re getting hammered by the news,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst for ‌Price Futures Group. “We’re coming ⁠into another weekend ⁠where you could see this over by Monday. Then again, we could see the war still going on and the market will be testing highs on Sunday night.”

The U.S. issued a 30-day license for countries to buy Russian oil and petroleum products stranded at sea. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it was a step to stabilise global energy markets roiled by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

This will affect 100 million barrels of Russian crude, equal to almost a day’s worth of global output, according to Russia’s presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“Russian oil was already going to buyers; this is not bringing additional barrels to the market but it does reduce some friction,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB.
“The market is starting to get very concerned that this (war) is going ⁠to last longer. ‌The big fear is that we have severe damage to oil infrastructure, which would be a lasting loss of supply.”

OIL TO BE RELEASED FROM STOCKPILES

The announcement on Russian oil came a day after the U.S. Energy Department said Washington would release 172 million barrels of ⁠oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help curb skyrocketing oil prices.

That plan was coordinated with the International Energy Agency, which has agreed to release a record 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles, including the U.S. contribution.

Fleeting relief sparked by the IEA release, however, was shattered by a re-escalation of Middle East risks, IG analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note.

Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Iran would fight on, and keep the Strait of Hormuz shut as leverage against the United States and Israel.

Two fuel tankers in Iraqi waters were struck by explosives-laden Iranian boats, Iraqi security officials said on Thursday. An Iraqi official told state media the country’s oil ports have completely stopped operations.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday the United States stood to make significant money from oil prices, driven higher by the ‌war with Iran. But stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons was far more important, he said.

Both benchmark prices surged more than 9% on Thursday and hit their highest levels since August 2022.

Goldman Sachs predicted on Friday that Brent oil would average more than $100 a barrel in March and $85 in April, as energy prices remain ⁠volatile due to the Iran war, damage to Middle East energy infrastructure and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent is better supported than WTI because Europe is more susceptible to energy security issues, while the U.S. is able to stave off its exposure due to its domestic output, said Emril Jamil, senior analyst at LSEG.

In another sign the disruptions may drag on, sources told Reuters that Iran had deployed about a dozen mines in the strait, a move that is likely to complicate the reopening of the critical waterway.

New Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement on Thursday Iran would continue to block the Strait of Hormuz and attack neighbouring nations that host U.S. military bases.

Treasury Secretary Bessent told Sky News in an interview that the U.S. Navy, perhaps with an international coalition, would escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz when it is militarily possible.