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U.S. Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rates Steady

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OneWater Marine Inc. (ONEW) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

The U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold as officials consider the implications of elevated oil prices on efforts to contain inflation. James Marple, Associate Vice President and Senior Economist with TD Bank Group, discusses the impact of the oil shock and whether rates may have to stay on hold longer than previously expected.

Transcript

Anthony Okolie: As widely expected, the US Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged. Joining me now to discuss the latest decision is TD Senior Economist James Marple.

And James, what stood out to you today?

James Marple: Well, no change in the decision itself. They talked about, obviously, the Strait of Hormuz and the oil price shock, and how much uncertainty that’s created for the outlook. That was certainly front and center. But not really any changes to the statement. They kept the characterization of interest rates exactly as it was, and even their forward guidance.

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The, perhaps, most interesting thing was that there were four total dissents in the statement. And that’s the most there have been since 1992. One was the obvious one, Stephen Miran, who dissented, wanted a 1/4 rate cut. But then there were three dissents from regional Fed governors that wanted a little bit of forward language that suggests, perhaps, an easing bias. And that’s the way it was characterized in terms of their dissent. They wanted that removed from the statement. So, more hawkish in tone there just on the dissents more than anything in the statement itself.

Anthony Okolie: OK. With that backdrop, we still have the US-Iran conflict. It’s still unresolved. Energy prices are still elevated. How worried should the US be about stagflation risk?

James Marple: Well, I’m not sure I’d call it stagflation, per se. When people hear stagflation, they really think of the 1970s and

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Kotak Mutual Fund temporarily suspends subscriptions in its 4 international funds

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Kotak Mutual Fund temporarily suspends subscriptions in its 4 international funds
Kotak Mutual Fund has announced temporary suspension of subscriptions in its four international funds: Kotak Global Emerging Market Overseas Equity Omni FOF, Kotak Global Innovation Overseas Equity Omni FOF, Kotak International REIT Overseas Equity Omni FOF, and Kotak Quality Overseas Equity Omni FOF, with effect from April 30.

The fund house said that acceptance of fresh or additional lump sum or switch-in transactions, and fresh SIP or STP registrations in these schemes, will be discontinued with effect from April 30, 2026, while permitting fresh or additional lump sum or switch-ins or registration of SIP or STP up to Rs 1 lakh per PAN per month in the respective schemes.

Also Read | International funds deliver up to 50% returns in a year, subscriptions halted. Should investors book profits or stay invested?
The unitholders were informed about these changes through a notice-cum-addendum. The notice-cum-addendum also said that all purchase or switch transactions of the schemes timestamped on or before 3.00 pm on April 29, 2026, shall be accepted and processed at applicable NAV. However, instalments falling due under existing SIP or STP registered prior to the effective date will be processed under respective Plans or Options of the schemes at applicable NAV.

As of March 2026, Kotak Global Emerging Market Overseas Equity Omni FOF, Kotak Global Innovation Overseas Equity Omni FOF, Kotak International REIT Overseas Equity Omni FOF, and Kotak Quality Overseas Equity Omni FOF had an AUM of Rs 935 crore, Rs 604 crore, Rs 98 crore, and Rs 58.02 crore, respectively.

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These four international funds are managed by Arjun Khanna. In the last one year, Kotak Global Emerging Market Overseas Equity Omni FOF, Kotak Global Innovation Overseas Equity Omni FOF, and Kotak International REIT Overseas Equity Omni FOF gave returns of 65.96%, 43.51%, and 20.74%, respectively.
Kotak Quality Overseas Equity Omni FOF was launched on March 25, 2026, and has delivered a 5.12% return since inception.
Also Read | Best mutual fund SIP portfolios to invest in May 2026
Apart from these four international funds, Kotak Mutual Fund manages one more international fund, Kotak US Specific Equity Passive FoF, which is also managed by Arjun Khanna and has delivered a 56.20% return since its inception on February 2, 2021.

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

If you have any mutual fund queries, message on ET Mutual Funds on Facebook/Twitter. We will get it answered by our panel of experts. Do share your questions on ETMFqueries@timesinternet.in alongwith your age, risk profile, and twitter handle

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25 equity MFs deliver over 25% in April; Nippon India Taiwan Equity Fund tops list. Will momentum continue in May?

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25 equity MFs deliver over 25% in April; Nippon India Taiwan Equity Fund tops list. Will momentum continue in May?
Around 25 equity mutual funds have delivered over 25% return in April 2026, an analysis by ETMutualFunds showed. There were 613 equity funds, which included the equity mutual funds and equity oriented SIFs.

The top 10 funds were sectoral and thematic funds. Out of 613 funds, 248 funds gave double-digit returns, 363 gave single-digit returns and two gave negative returns.

Also Read | Low-cost index funds & ETFs should form backbone of your portfolio: Vishal Jain, CEO, Zerodha Mutual Fund

Indices movement

In April, Indian and global indices remained in the positive territory with Nasdaq being the biggest gainer as the index went up 12.96%, followed by S&P 500 which was up 8.52%. Nifty50 and BSE Sensex were up 6.60% and 5.96% respectively.

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Dow Jones, Hang Seng and DAX were up 4.93%, 3.23% and 2.81% respectively in the month of April.

How equity funds performed

Nippon India Taiwan Equity Fund delivered the highest return of 27.83% in the month of April, followed by Motilal Oswal Nasdaq 100 FOF which gave 26.19% in the same period. Mirae Asset NYSE FANG+ETF FoF and Quant Infrastructure Fund gave 21.46% and 20.24% respectively.
Invesco India – Invesco Global Consumer Trends FoF posted a return of 20.16% followed by three funds from Quant Mutual Fund. Quant Commodities Fund, Quant PSU Fund and Quant Manufacturing Fund delivered a return of 20.14%, 19.74% and 18.85% respectively in April.
Bank of India Small Cap Fund and HDFC Defence Fund delivered 17.27% and 17.03% returns respectively. Three small cap funds – JM Small Cap Fund, Groww Small Cap Fund and Bajaj Finserv Small Cap Fund offered 15.41%, 15.38% and 15.34% returns respectively in April.
Two funds from Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund – Motilal Oswal Small Cap Fund and Motilal Oswal ELSS Tax Saver Fund offered a return of 15.02% and 14.96% respectively. Aditya Birla SL Infrastructure Fund and Quant ESG Integration Strategy Fund gave 14.93% each.

Mirae Asset Infrastructure Fund and DSP India T.I.G.E.R Fund posted a return of 14.19% each. SBI Energy Opportunities Fund delivered a return of 13.74% in April. Quant Small Cap Fund and Axis Global Innovation FoF delivered 13.02% each.

Two friends from Quant Mutual Fund – Quant ELSS Tax Saver Fund and Quant Large Cap Fund gave 12.48% each in April. SBI Small Cap Fund delivered a return of 11.65% in the said time period.

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Two funds from SBI Mutual Fund – SBI Focused Fund and SBI Midcap Fund gave 11.31% each in the mentioned time period. Abakkus Flexi Cap Fund posted a return of 11.01% in April. Abakkus Small Cap Fund gave 10.55% return. DSP Midcap Fund, ICICI Pru Commodities Fund and Tata Multicap Fund gave 10.20% each. Axis Greater China Equity FoF was the last one to deliver a double-digit return of around 10.02% in April.

Helios Financial Services Fund and HDFC Consumption Fund gave 9.95% return each in April. Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund, the largest active fund and flexi cap fund based on assets managed, gave 5.81% return in April.

Edelweiss ASEAN Equity Off-Shore Fund was the last one to deliver positive returns as the fund gave 0.05% return in April.

Also Read | Can Rs 70 lakh grow to Rs 5 crore? Expert says a 10% step-up SIP may fall short of the goal

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Negative performers

ICICI Pru Strategic Metal and Energy Equity FoF and Axis US Specific Treasury Dynamic Debt Passive FoF lost 2.42% and 0.21% in April.

What should investors do?

Rajesh Minocha, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Founder of Financial Radiance shared with ETMutualFunds that in April, equity funds saw gradual recovery, led by mid and small cap stocks, while large caps maintained steady performance.

“The sector trends diverged, with PSU and infrastructure sectors remaining strong and the IT sector showing early signs of improvement and international funds remained stable due to stronger global market indicators.”

Minocha further said that market fluctuations are expected in May, large cap stocks are likely to offer more consistent performance than mid and small caps, which require careful stock selection and investors are advised to use SIPs for flexi-cap funds and also include some mid-cap funds in their portfolio.

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

If you have any mutual fund queries, message on ET Mutual Funds on Facebook/Twitter. We will get it answered by our panel of experts. Do share your questions on ETMFqueries@timesinternet.in alongwith your age, risk profile, and twitter handle

Add ET Logo as a Reliable and Trusted News Source

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Australian Travellers Warned to Stay Vigilant as UK Raises Terrorism Threat to ‘Severe’

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has endured a rocky period in ofice so far
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has endured a rocky period in ofice so far
AFP

Australian travellers are now being advised to stay vigilant when travelling to the United Kingdom after the latter upgraded the terror threat from “substantial” to “severe.”

The upgraded of the terror threat follows the stabbing of two Jewish men in London.

Aussie Travellers Advised to Stay Vigilant

According to a report by 9News, the “severe” terror threat level is the second-highest level out of five. Per the report, the change in threat level is an indication that intelligence agencies believe a terrorist attack is highly likely to happen in the next six months.

Australian travellers are being warned to exercise an extreme level of caution during their stay in the UK.

“Be alert to the risks and take official warnings seriously”, the Australian government’s Smartraveller has advised.

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Starmer Reacts to Stabbing Attack

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to act against those “venerating the murder of Jews.”

Starmer also acknowledged that there is fear in the Jewish community following the stabbing attack. Fortunately, both victims survived the attack.

“People are scared, scared to show who they are in their community, scared to go to synagogue and practise their religion, scared to go to university as a Jew, to send their children to school as a Jew, to tell their colleagues that they are Jewish, even to use our NHS,” Starmer said.

He added, “Nobody should live like that in Britain, but Jews do.”

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Starmer has committed to do “everything in our power to stamp this hatred out,” according to a report by The Guardian.

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Politics And The Markets 05/01/26

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OneWater Marine Inc. (ONEW) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

This is the forum for daily political discussion on Seeking Alpha. A new version is published every market day.

Please don’t leave political comments on other articles or posts on the site.

The comments below are not regulated with the same rigor as the rest of the site, and this is an ‘enter at your own risk’ area as discussion can get very heated. If you can’t stand the heat… you know what they say…

More on Today’s Markets:

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Moderation Guidelines:

We remove comments under the following categories:

  • Personal attacks on another user account
  • Anti-Vaxxer or covid related misinformation
  • Stereotyping, prejudiced or racist language about individuals or the topic under discussion.
  • Inciting violence messages, encouraging hate groups and political violence.

Regardless of which side of the political divide you find yourself, please be courteous and don’t direct abuse at other users.

For any issue with regards to comments please email us at : moderation@seekingalpha.com.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

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MJ Gleeson sees profits in line with forecasts despite softening demand

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MJ Gleeson sees profits in line with forecasts despite softening demand

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Meridian Mining begins trading on London Stock Exchange

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Meridian Mining begins trading on London Stock Exchange

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Taxpayer bill for Mt Lawley hospital revealed

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Taxpayer bill for Mt Lawley hospital revealed

The total taxpayer bill for the purchase and fit-out of St John of God Mount Lawley by the state government has been revealed.

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Zuckerberg links Meta layoffs to AI spending, won’t rule out more cuts

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Zuckerberg links Meta layoffs to AI spending, won't rule out more cuts

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday the company’s latest round of layoffs is tied to increased spending on artificial intelligence, while leaving the door open to additional job cuts.

Zuckerberg made the remarks during a company town hall, his first time addressing employees since Meta confirmed plans to cut roughly 8,000 jobs — about 10% of its workforce.

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The layoffs, which are expected to begin May 20, come as the company ramps up investment in AI and infrastructure, FOX Business previously reported.

“We basically have two major cost centers in the company: compute infrastructure and people-oriented things,” Zuckerberg said, according to Reuters.

ELON MUSK SAYS HE WAS A ‘FOOL’ FOR FUNDING OPENAI: REPORT

Mark Zuckerberg sits at a witness table

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company’s latest layoffs are tied to increased spending on artificial intelligence. (Alex Wong/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“If we’re investing more in one area to serve our community, then that means we have less capital to allocate to the other,” he added. “So that means we do need to take down the size of the company somewhat.”

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Zuckerberg said the cuts are not tied to Meta’s shift toward an “AI-native” structure or efforts to build autonomous AI agents.

“Getting everyone internally to use AI tools and getting to do the work more efficiently is not the thing that’s driving layoffs,” he said.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
META META PLATFORMS INC. 611.91 -57.21 -8.55%

Still, Zuckerberg declined to rule out additional job cuts.

FEDERAL RESERVE LEAVES INTEREST RATES UNCHANGED AS POWELL’S CHAIRMANSHIP NEARS END

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Meta headquarters

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company is cutting jobs as it ramps up investment in artificial intelligence. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“We’ll see how all this stuff trends” he said, adding that the company would “be able to share more soon.”

“I wish that I can tell you that I have a crystal ball plan for the next, like, three years of how all this stuff is going to play out,” he said. “I don’t. I don’t think anyone does.”

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has also begun tracking employee activity — including clicks, shortcuts and how workers navigate apps — as part of efforts to train its AI systems.

US ECONOMIC GROWTH BOUNCES BACK, AS AI BUILDOUT AND CONSUMER SPENDING FUEL FIRST QUARTER

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A technology executive stands on stage presenting new hardware during a company event.

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., appears during the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 17, 2025. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Reuters reported the layoffs and monitoring efforts have sparked internal criticism, with employees voicing concerns on company message boards.

Meta referred FOX Business to comments from CFO Susan Li, who said during an earnings call that the company’s long-term size remains uncertain.

“We don’t really know what the optimal size of the company will be in the future,” Li said, citing rapid changes in AI capabilities.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

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Meta previously cut 11,000 jobs in November 2022 and another 10,000 months later. The company employed nearly 79,000 people as of Dec. 31, according to its latest filing.

FOX Business’ Louis Casiano and Reuters contributed to this report.

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'There were letters I didn't want to open': Rise in unpaid debt court cases

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'There were letters I didn't want to open': Rise in unpaid debt court cases

The number of county court judgements rose by 17.5% in the first quarter of this year compared to last, data suggests.

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Tourists feel petrol pinch and cut down on day trips

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Tourists feel petrol pinch and cut down on day trips

Tourist attractions in the West report falling numbers as people spend more on essentials.

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