European shares were little changed on Friday, as investors refrained from placing major bets ahead of crucial U.S. jobs data, with persistent trade tensions adding to the uncertainty.

A recent World Economic Forum report reveals that younger investors find crypto more understandable than traditional investments. Millennials and Gen Z, digital natives, are actively building wealth through emerging technologies like blockchain and DeFi. India, a Web3 hub with over 1,200 startups, sees youth driving this innovation, seeking transparency and ownership.

An ICICI Bank relationship manager in Kota allegedly siphoned off Rs 4.58 crore from over 110 customer accounts between 2020 and 2023, losing it all in stock market trades. The accused, Sakshi Gupta, manipulated FDs, altered mobile numbers, and intercepted OTPs to execute the fraud. She was arrested on May 31 and is now in judicial custody.

IndusInd Bank shares: Governor Sanjay Malhotra emphasized that the central bank will fulfill its responsibilities if additional measures are required. The issue originated from a forensic audit by Grant Thornton, which identified irregularities in the bank’s accounting of specific internal currency derivative transactions over the last six years.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) surprised markets by front-loading pro-growth measures, including a 50 basis point rate cut and CRR cut, leading to positive reactions in both bond and equity markets. Nilesh Shah of Kotak AMC suggests the RBI may now focus on other areas of the economy after injecting significant liquidity into the system.

The spike in Bajaj Finance shares came after the RBI slashed the repo rate by 50 bps and CRR by 100 bps, unlocking Rs 2.5 lakh crore in liquidity. The move is expected to lower borrowing costs for NBFCs, support loan growth, and ease margin pressures, with analysts seeing strong tailwinds for credit expansion and consumption demand.

Devina Mehra of First Global suggests remaining invested in Indian markets. They are underweight in the US since January. They favor Europe and maintain overweight positions in China and India. Recent rebalancing in India includes overweighting pharma and auto components since early 2024. FMCG and banks have seen increased weight. However, banks remain underweight despite recent additions.

Seven defence stocks, including Garden Reach, Bharat Dynamics, and Solar Industries, have surged 50–100% in CY25, far outperforming the Nifty 50 and Nifty Defence index.

China and Hong Kong stocks ended slightly lower on Friday, as investors remained cautious after a call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping failed to provide clear signals of progress in easing trade tensions.

Bajaj Finance shares saw a surge following the Reserve Bank of India s repo rate cut. The rate reduction is expected to benefit NBFCs more than banks due to their borrowing structures. Market experts believe NBFCs will gain significantly in this rate cut cycle. The RBI also reduced the Cash Reserve Ratio to inject liquidity into the banking system.