The first half of the year has been quite tumultuous for all countries. The war continues, and this has had ramifications for crude oil prices, which, in turn, have affected currencies as well as bond yields. The Trump ‘hide-and-seek’ game with Iran has cast a shadow on the possible end of the war. Further, the USA has brought back the 100% tariff issue on countries that are trading with Russia. In this situation, financial markets have been jittery most of the time. The Federal Reserve has shown character and persevered with what it should do notwithstanding the constant haranguing from the top. All this has transpired under the phenomenon of inflation, which is rising everywhere.

India’s inflation has averaged 4.2% so far and is poised to cross 5% by the end of the year. In such a scenario, how have the returns on different instruments fared during this half of the year? This is important because when the financial year began for us, it was expected that sanity would unfold on the war-front and that volatility would largely be curbed. Any decision taken by households on where to invest money would have been difficult. For those who were willing to wait, the journey continues, while for those who wanted to reap quick returns, things would have been different.

Equity markets deliver modest returns

The stock market has been the main driver of capital markets and, given the mood swings on the war as well as commodity prices and........

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