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In prior literature it was conjectured that the Indian stock market responses on domestic macroeconomic surprises are expected to be significantly influenced by global surprises. In this paper we empirically established that hypothesis. We used both the Event Analysis and VAR model. We found that global surprises consistently dominate Indian stock market and the influence of domestic macroeconomic surprises on it is relatively less. The understanding of stock market dynamics against domestic macroeconomic surprises and global factors can provide assistance to the policy makers for augmenting policy effectiveness and the corporate finance professionals for enhancing decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portfolios of companies with high book-to-market (BTM) ratio (low Price-To-Book (PB) ratios, Value firms) outperform those with companies with low BTM ratio (high PB ratios, Growth firms). In literature, this is known as the Value Anomaly. This anomaly is related to the third factor in the three-factor model of Fama and French, and is commonly used to explain the cross section of returns. Studies on the Value Anomaly in the Indian Stock Markets have yielded mixed results. Using a longer span of data and a larger set of companies, this study explores and observes the Value Anomaly in the Indian Stock Market. The contribution of size and systematic risk towards the behaviour of the Value Anomaly is studied. We observe that Value Anomaly exists in India, but with growth portfolios outperforming value. A critical analysis reveals possible linkages to firm size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on assessing the role of various bank-specific, industry-specific and macroeconomic determinants in Indian commercial banks performance. Performance of the Indian banks has been measured by Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE) and Net Interest Margin (NIM) and Pre-provision profit ratio. The study analyses impact of various bank-specific factors like bank size, capital ratio, risk, cost to income ratio, funding cost, revenue diversification, labour productivity and bank age on bank performance. It also tries to assess the relationship between various bank-specific and industry-specific variables like bank concentration, inflation rate and GDP growth rate with bank performance. Fixed effects estimation model and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) have been used on a panel data of 19 years for 64 commercial banks of India. The findings reveal that private sector banks are more profitable than the public sector banks. Additionally, the results of the study show that bank size, non-performing loan ratio and revenue diversification are the major determinants of the commercial banks performance in India. Furthermore, the results reveal that during the crisis period the impact of bank size, bank age, labour productivity and revenue diversification on the performance of the Indian banks is robust. The higher non-government stake leads to the enhanced performance of the commercial banks in India. The higher capital adequacy leads to the increase in the performance of the banks. The larger banks are less profitable. The results provide better insights about the determinants of Indian banks profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines signaling, excess cash flow, substitution, leverage, agency cost, stock and liquidity hypotheses by considering firm-specific parameters to find out their impact on selection between tender offer and open market method while doing buyback. This study is based on the basic premise that the rules and regulations those govern these two methods are completely different and have different objectives. This study takes 430 non-financial buybacks from 1998–1999 to 2017–2018 for analysis and these buybacks segregated in terms of tender offer (176) and open market methods (254). In this study, both univariate and multivariate tests have been employed. T-test and Wilcoxon rank sum test are used for univariate analysis, and logistic regression is used for multivariate analysis. The empirical findings corroborate the evidence that free cash flow hypothesis, leverage hypothesis, agency cost hypothesis and liquidity hypothesis are the prime motivators for choosing of tender offer than open market share repurchase. This study finds that dividend paid and choosing of tender offer are substitutes. The results also support the notion that for correcting short-term undervaluation firms choose tender offer rather than open market methods. This study is the first comprehensive analysis in the Indian context to find out the motivations behind the selection of share repurchase methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the governance sensitivity of foreign institutional investors' (FII) ownership in a large emerging market setting of India, characterized by highly concentrated insider ownership. More specifically, we focus on the moderating role of firm size and price to book value (PB) in determining the relationship between FII ownership and board characteristics, such as board size, outside director ratio, CEO duality, and board meeting attendance. Our methodology emphasizes the importance of contextual analysis in studies relating to institutional investors' preferences. We find that FIIs prefer bigger boards and greater board independence in larger and growth firms (higher PB). Further, FIIs prefer firms that have separate CEO and Chairman of the board positions in growth firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volatility is one of the most important factors of investment decisions. Unexpected information forces the investor to trade abnormally in the market which in turn affects the volatility of the market. But this kind of trading behavior has a different impact on the different market segments. This study investigates the effect of unexpected DII and FPI flows on the volatility of large-cap, mid-cap and, small-cap stocks in Indian markets. Using ARMA (1, 1) and TGARCH (1, 1) model, we estimate the impact of unexpected FPI and DII flows on volatility. The main result of the study shows that unexpected flow of FPIs has a positive impact on market volatility but this impact is reduced by unexpected flow of DIIs. Further, results show that unexpected selling of FPIs increase volatility more than unexpected purchase. Impact of unexpected flow of DIIs flow is more dominating in small-cap stocks. Results from this study are useful for policymakers and regulator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Banks have a vital role in the financial system and its survival is crucial for the stability of the economy. This research paper attempts to create an efficient and appropriate predictive model using a machine learning approach for an early warning system of bank failure. This paper uses data collected for failed and survived public and private sector banks for the period of 2000–2017 located in India. Bank-specific variables as well as macroeconomic and market structure variables have been used to identify the stress level for banks. Since the number of failed banks in India is very less in comparison to surviving banks, the problem of imbalanced data arises and most of the machine learning algorithms do not work very well with such data. This paper uses a novel approach Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) to convert imbalanced data in a balanced form. Lasso regression is used to reduce the redundant features from the failure predictive model. To avoid the bias and over-fitting in the models, random forest and AdaBoost techniques are applied and compared with the logistic regression to get the best predictive model. The result of the study holds its application to various stakeholders like shareholders, lenders and borrowers etc. to measure the financial stress of banks. This study offers an analytical approach ranging from the selection of the most significant bank failure specific indicators using lasso regression, converting data from imbalanced to balanced form using SMOTE and the choice of the appropriate machine learning techniques to predict the failure of the bank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the determinants of working capital to forecast the future requirement of working capital of BSE-listed top 150 companies in India. The study is conducted by collecting the data of 150 top-performing BSE listed companies for the time period of 2009–2017. The ten firm-level explanatory variables and one dummy variable to characterize the nature of business i.e. manufacturing and service sector companies are used to discover the significant determinants of gross and net working capital of selected companies. The four alternative methods are used to verify and validate the results obtained from each other viz. Ordinary Least Square (OLS), fully modified OLS (FMOLS), dynamic OLS (DOLS) and generalized methods of moments (GMM). The empirical findings of four different methods indicate that tangibility, leverage, nature of business and board size are observed as significant factors to forecast the future requirements of net working capital. Return on common equity (ROCE), board size; indicate the positive association with gross working capital. On the other hand, tangibility, nature of business and size of the firm show a negative relationship with gross working capital requirements. The findings from different methods have resulted in similar significant determinants to predict the future requirement of the net and gross working capital. The outcome of the study will be useful for management authorities for maintaining the optimum level of working capital and to forecast future requirements of working capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional measures of assessment of mutual fund performance (alpha) are based mostly on Capital Assets Pricing Model which presupposes fixed sensitivity of risk exposure of a fund to its market proxy (beta). However, changing economic conditions will alter this relationship. In conditional performance evaluation, the betas as well as alphas are allowed to vary in response to changing economic conditions over time. We hypothesize that true skill in fund management goes beyond altering the portfolio in response to changes in macroeconomic indicators. Therefore, this study examines the existence of superior performance of open-ended equity mutual funds in India in a conditional setting. We use a survivorship-bias-free database including all schemes since inception (2006–2015). We find evidence of selectivity and timing skills by the Indian fund managers even after controlling for changing macroeconomic variables. The evidence is weaker on aggregate basis than at fund level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine whether foreign institutional investors (FII) and mutual funds (MF) show a higher preference for fundamentally stronger firms. We employ Pitroski's F score and its constituents (profitability, efficiency, and leverage) to measure the fundamental strength of firms. Further, we examine the preferences of FIIs and MFs by conditioning on size and book-to-market ratio. Overall, the results indicate that both types of institutional investors prefer firms with higher expected profitability and are willing to take higher risks. FIIs show a higher preference for riskier firms and MFs prefer firms with higher profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses inter-dependencies between dividend, capital structure, and cost of capital, factoring the ownership structure of listed firms in India, using 3SLS system approach. The study finds that family firms are dominant with concentrated ownership. Dividend, leverage, and average cost of capital are inter-linked. However, family firms pay lower dividends, consistent with family owners extracting rent from external minority shareholders. Additionally, these firms have high leverage and lower cost of capital, suggesting that family control (reputation) provides intangible value to the firms. Ownership structure plays a critical role in understanding the policy decisions in emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although several empirical studies report significant positive long-run abnormal stock returns following share buybacks, a recent event study paper claims that such anomalies have disappeared in the most recent decade and this disappearance of abnormal performance is not sensitive to the methods used. The present paper makes an attempt to investigate this claim using 63 Indian share buybacks which took place between July 2008 and June 2012. We consider the application of several event study methods and our findings are a bit mixed. We conclude that the long-run anomalies following stock repurchases in India are still sensitive to the employed methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Concern about the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains and about morbidity and/or mortality related to rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease has been a continuous impetus for the development of a safe, effective vaccine against group A Streptococcus (GAS). To date, >120 GAS M types are known, as identified by serological typing. in general, serum immunoglobulin G directed to the hypervariable NH2 terminal portion of M protein leads to complement fixation and opsonophagocytosis of the homologous streptococcal serotype by polymorphonuclear leukocytes, and the protection is type specific. The sequence variation at the N terminus ultimately affects the binding of opsonic antibodies. Because of hypervariability in these opsonic sequences from different M types, it was relevant to use epitopes derived from these multiple sequences in a "multivalent vaccine" design for evaluation of protection against these M types of GAS. Thus, any attempts to design vaccines for a given community will require information on N terminal-sequence typing and variation. Methods. in the present study, we performed molecular characterization of isolates recovered from patients in northern india-to our knowledge, for the first time-in an attempt to study the circulating M types and their N terminal sequence variability. Results. We report tremendous diversity in GAS strains recovered from symptomatic patients, with implications on the design of appropriate vaccines. Fifty-nine isolates represented 33 different sequence types. Very few novel types and no predominant clones were found. Conclusions. The high diversity of emm types encountered in a single year suggests that any M protein-based multivalent vaccine would have to be specifically tailored for this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the idiosyncratic volatility (IV) puzzle in the Indian stock market for the period 1999–2014. Univariate and bivariate sorting, as well as cross-section regressions, suggest a positive relation between idiosyncratic volatility and future stock returns. However, this relation is sensitive to the choices of portfolio weighting schemes, types of stocks (small, medium, and large), model specifications, and sample periods. Additionally, this study also contests the assumption that the relation between stock returns and predictor variables (including IV) remains same across different points of the conditional distribution and argues that an insignificant relation at the mean level may be significant at the extreme quantiles of the conditional distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Premier stock exchanges in India, viz. National Stock Exchange of India and Bombay Stock Exchange, introduced call auction in the pre-open session from 18 October 2010. This paper analyzes the impact of introduction of pre-open call auction on price discovery at the open. Empirical analysis is based on the familiar market model in an event study framework. The result shows a decline in the market model R2 for both opening and closing returns of stocks forming the part of call auction and also control sample. However, the magnitude of decline is less in the opening prices for the call auction stocks compared with control sample. Furthermore, analysis carried out using the second pass β and R2 regressions shows that the introduction of pre-open call auction does not have any significant impact on market quality. The findings of the study have implications for the future policy-making on the call auction framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging markets equity indexes are usually seen as high return with a high degree of volatility associated with them. However, this should not be the case, if you choose high-quality firms that have increasing returns and lower volatility. The intent of this paper is to introduce the risk weighted alpha (RWA) indexation method that helps identify stocks that have stable increasing returns with lower volatility. In order to review this method in the context of emerging markets scenario, this paper takes the example of the Sensex index listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that comprises India's top 30 stocks by market capitalisation. Results show that some stocks like Hindustan Lever do show increasing returns and lower volatility. The RWA Sensex index outperforms the BSE Sensex index, while still maintaining a beta that is the same as that in the BSE Sensex index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disease spectrum caused by Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis resembles that of S. pyogenes (group A streptococcus [GAS]). These two bacterial species are closely related and possess many common virulence characteristics. While some GAS strains express virulence factors called streptococcal inhibitor of complement (SIC) and distantly related to SIC (DRS), some S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis isolates express an orthologue of DRS, which is referred to as DRS-G. We reported previously that seropositivity for either anti-SIC or anti-DRS antibodies (Abs) is associated with poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (PSGN). However, only seropositivity for anti-SIC Abs is associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We now extend the study to test whether seropositivity for anti-DRS-G Abs is also associated with these renal diseases. Stored serum samples collected for our previous study were tested by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for Abs to DRS-G. The samples represented sera from 100 CKD adult patients, 70 adult end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, 25 PSGN pediatric patients, and corresponding age-matched control subjects. The proportion of PSGN, CKD, and ESRD patients who showed seroreaction to anti-DRS-G Abs was significantly higher than that of the corresponding age-matched controls, who in general exhibited seropositivity rates commensurate with the isolation rate of drsG-positive S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis in the community during this study period. Since higher rates of seropositivity for anti-DRS-G Abs in the renal disease categories are resultant of previous infections with DRS-G-positive S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis strains, we conclude the seropositivity is an additional risk factor for these renal diseases. In this regard, anti-DRS-G Abs have attributes similar to those of the anti-SIC Abs., (Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.)

Group A streptococcus (GAS, Streptococcus pyogenes) type emm1 is widely associated with streptococcal invasive disease. This type is prevalent worldwide but is rare in India. Instead, emm1-2 type which is closely related to emm1 but is a distinct type is more prevalent. Although emm1 has been well characterized, information available on emm1-2 is rare. In this study we present a comparative study of both types. DNA microarray analysis showed segregation of emm1 and emm1-2 isolates into two distinct clusters. Out of 229 arrayed genes, 83-87% were present, 6-9% absent and 4-8% genes were ambiguous in emm1 isolates. emm1-2 strains harboured only 68-77%, 11-13% were absent and 10-20% ambiguous genes. Fourteen genes, present in all emm1, were completely absent in the emm1-2 isolates. sfb1 is a gene which encodes for Streptococcal fibronectin binding adhesin and invasin which has restricted distribution among different emm types of GAS. A variant of sfb1 (sfb1-2) was the only gene which was present in all emm1-2 isolates, but absent from all emm1 strains. Sfb1 and Sfb1-2 differ in sequences in the aromatic domain and the proline rich repeat region, whereas the fibronectin binding region was conserved and exhibited similar fibronectin binding activity. The presence of Sfb1-2 in emm1-2 strains was concomitant with significantly higher fibronectin-binding and invasion efficiency of HEp-2 cells when compared to emm1 isolates. The role of Sfb1-2 in invasion was confirmed by latex bead assay. emm1-2 isolates follow membrane ruffling mechanism during invasion and intracellularly follow classical endocytic pathway. Further studies are required to understand the correlation between the presence of emm1-2 isolates and the disease pattern in North India., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Streptococcus pyogenes causes a wide variety of human diseases and is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Attempts to develop a vaccine were hampered by the genetic diversity of S. pyogenes across different regions of the world. This study sought to identify streptococcal antigens suitable for a region-specific vaccine in India. We used a two-step approach, first performing epidemiological analysis to identify the conserved antigens among Indian isolates. The second step consisted of validating the identified antigens by serological analysis. The 201 streptococcal clinical isolates from India used in this study represented 69 different emm types, with emm12 being the most prevalent. Virulence profiling of the North and South Indian S. pyogenes isolates with a custom-designed streptococcal virulence microarray identified seven conserved putative vaccine candidates. Collagen-like surface protein (SCI), putative secreted 5'-nucleotidase (PSNT), and C5a peptidase were found in 100% of the isolates, while R28, a putative surface antigen (PSA), and a hypothetical protein (HYP) were found in 90% of the isolates. A fibronectin binding protein, SfbI, was present in only 78% of the isolates. In order to validate the identified potential vaccine candidates, 185 serum samples obtained from patients with different clinical manifestations were tested for antibodies. Irrespective of clinical manifestations, serum samples showed high antibody titers to all proteins except for SCI and R28. Thus, the data indicate that PSNT, C5a peptidase, PSA, HYP, and SfbI are promising candidates for a region-specific streptococcal vaccine for the different parts of India.

Infection of the skin or throat by Streptococcus dysgalactiae subspecies equisimilis (SDSE) may result in a number of human diseases. To understand mechanisms that give rise to new genetic variants in this species, we used multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) to characterise relationships in the SDSE population from India, a country where streptococcal disease is endemic. The study revealed Indian SDSE isolates have sequence types (STs) predominantly different to those reported from other regions of the world. Emm-ST combinations in India are also largely unique. Split decomposition analysis, the presence of emm-types in unrelated clonal complexes, and analysis of phylogenetic trees based on concatenated sequences all reveal an extensive history of recombination within the population. The ratio of recombination to mutation (r/m) events (11:1) and per site r/m ratio (41:1) in this population is twice as high as reported for SDSE from non-endemic regions. Recombination involving the emm-gene is also more frequent than recombination involving housekeeping genes, consistent with diversification of M proteins offering selective advantages to the pathogen. Our data demonstrate that genetic recombination in endemic regions is more frequent than non-endemic regions, and gives rise to novel local SDSE variants, some of which may have increased fitness or pathogenic potential.

Streptococcus pyogenes [group A streptococcus (GAS)], a human pathogen, and Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis [human group G and C streptococcus (GGS/GCS)] are evolutionarily related, share the same tissue niche in humans, exchange genetic material, share up to half of their virulence-associated genes and cause a similar spectrum of diseases. Yet, GGS/GCS is often considered as a commensal bacterium and its role in streptococcal disease burden is under-recognized. While reports of the recovery of GGS/GCS from normally sterile sites are increasing, studies describing GGS/GCS throat colonization rates relative to GAS in the same population are very few. This study was carried out in India where the burden of streptococcal diseases, including rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, is high. As part of a surveillance study, throat swabs were taken from 1504 children attending 7 municipal schools in Mumbai, India, during 2006-2008. GAS and GGS/GCS were identified on the basis of beta-haemolytic activity, carbohydrate group and PYR test, and were subsequently typed. The GGS/GCS carriage rate (166/1504, 11 %) was eightfold higher than the GAS carriage (22/1504, 1.5 %) rate in this population. The 166 GGS/GCS isolates collected represented 21 different emm types (molecular types), and the 22 GAS isolates represented 15 different emm types. Although the rate of pharyngitis associated with GGS/GCS is marginally lower than with GAS, high rates of throat colonization by GGS/GCS underscore its importance in the pathogenesis of pharyngitis.

The development of a group A streptococcal (GAS) vaccine has focused on the M protein, a major virulence factor. Antibodies against the amino terminal domain of the M protein are generally protective but only provide type-specific immunity. J14, a 29-mer peptide sequence which contains a conserved epitope from the C-repeat region of the M protein, offers the possibility of a vaccine which will elicit protective opsonic antibodies against multiple GAS strains. In this study we have shown that antibodies raised against J14 are capable of opsonising 37 GAS isolates representing different emm types derived from a region in which GAS infection is endemic. We also demonstrate that J14 antisera is capable of opsonising GAS isolates containing J14 homologues but not J14-specific sequences, further increasing the strain coverage of this vaccine candidate. Isolates with three C-repeats were opsonised more efficiently than isolates with two repeats. Opsonisation of a strain with only a single C-repeat was dramatically lower than other strains tested. The number of C-repeats present in the M protein of individual isolates therefore appears to be the critical factor in determining bactericidal capacity of J14 antisera. The reduced opsonic capacity of sera against this strain was shown to correlate with a reduced capacity to bind J14 antisera, as demonstrated by immunofluorescence microscopy and FACS analysis. In vivo challenge experiments also confirmed the protective efficacy of immunisation with J14 peptide.