Shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) hit a new high of Rs 4,512 after surging 8 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday's intra-day trade, on the back of heavy volumes, ahead of 1:5 stock split. The trading volumes on the counter more-than-doubled today, with a combined 7.02 million equity shares having changed hands on the NSE and BSE till 11:19 am. In the past one week, the stock of the state-owned travel support services company has rallied 20 per cent after the company on September 29, 2021, said that it has fixed October 29, 2021 as the record date, to ascertain the name of shareholders entitled for subdivision/split of equity shares of Rs 10 each into five (5) equity shares of face value of Rs 2 each.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned net buyers in October after being net sellers in the previous month. In October, FPIs bought shares worth nearly Rs 8,430 crore ($1 billion) against net selling of Rs 13,405 crore ($1.6 billion) in September. Positive flows during three of the previous four months have pushed the domestic markets towards fresh all-time highs. At present, the Sensex and Nifty are less than 2 per cent shy of breaching record highs logged in October 2021. A rally in equity markets in the US and Europe is in hopes that the Federal Reserve may go soft on rate hikes after its November meeting.
Kotak Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 5 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Maruti, Axis Bank and Nestle India.
The fundamental debate remains where you stand on the long-term growth question. That is what every investor must monitor and come to their own conclusions, suggests Akash Prakash.
It's the first time in my memory that I have seen a negative expected return for equities, notes Akash Prakash. Hopefully, this implies the consensus is being too negative, and markets, as usual, will surprise everyone and deliver the least likely outcome.
Morgan Stanley on Thursday became the latest brokerage to question the valuations of Indian equities and downgraded them from 'overweight' (OW) to 'equalweight' (EW) and recommended taking some money off the table. "We move tactically EW on India equities after strong relative gains - we expect a structural multi-year earnings recovery, but at 24 times forward price-to-earnings (P/E) we look for some consolidation ahead of US Fed tapering, an RBI hike in February and higher energy costs," Morgan Stanley equity strategists, led by Daniel Blake and Jonathan Garner, said in a note on Asia Pacific markets. The brokerage has upgraded Indonesia to OW, while maintaining an EW stance on China and UW on Taiwan.
The global semiconductor shortage is turning into a headache for automotive (auto) and appliance manufacturers. But it is proving to be a boon for equity investors. Semiconductor stocks are among the best performers this year. The PHLX Semiconductor Index has gained more than 35 per cent year-to-date.
Mutual funds (MFs) are set to be net sellers of Indian equities for the first time in the past seven financial years, having sold stocks worth about Rs 1.27 trillion so far in 2020-21 (FY21), making it the highest net sales on record in a financial year. MFs had been net buyers in the previous six financial years, including purchases of over Rs 1.41 trillion in FY18, Rs 88,152 crore in FY19, and Rs 91,814 crore in FY20. The last time they offloaded Indian equities was in FY14, when they net sold stocks worth Rs 21,159 crore. In contrast, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have ramped up buying in FY21, purchasing more than Rs 2.6 trillion worth of shares.
'Recent underperformance notwithstanding, equities should constitute a major part of investors' financial portfolio.'
'Markets are factoring in a good show by India Inc in Q2.'
Investments in Indian capital through participatory notes (P-notes) rose to Rs 1.02 lakh crore till October-end, making it the highest level in 43 months.
Given the economic trends, it might make sense to allocate some savings to gold.
'Large-caps are better placed to withstand the impact of higher input cost inflation, rising rates and withdrawal of excess global liquidity.'
In a country that is often focused on the ways in which it falls short, the start of a year is a good time to remind oneself of such positives, observes T N Ninan.
The finance ministry said the sharp inflows last fiscal were due to the government's policy initiatives and economic recovery.
Foreign investors highlight growing risk to the India story.
Omkeshwar Singh, head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
For the first time since 2001, promoter stake in BSE 500 decisively below 50%
Since October, FPIs have sold over $26 billion worth of stocks, which is the largest selling ever seen in India, observes Akash Prakash.
According to global equity research firm CLSA, the Indian market is still trading with a 'premium', although it has come down considerably.
Materials and utilities were the worst-performing sectors in March.
If a retail investor wants exposure to a healthcare ETF, it should be a part of his satellite portfolio, suggests Sanjay Kumar Singh.
Most sought-after market of the past few years doesn't feature among top bets in Asia, emerging markets
Further outperformance hinges on pickup in industrial activity, buying by local investors.
So far this month, another $4.5 billion (Rs 33,000 crore) has flown into domestic stocks.
Thus far in FY21, BSE, NSE have rallied 70 per cent and 71 per cent, respectively.
Aviation companies were in focus with all the three airliners SpiceJet, InterGlobe Aviation and Jet Airways adding in the range of 2% to 3% on the BSE
India, best-performing among emerging markets in the first four months of 2017, has since ceded this position to South Korea.
It is advisable to avoid a fund until it develops a track record.
Metal stocks were trading under pressure while IT, auto, realty stocks gained in today's deals
This flight of capital began in early August due to risk-aversion created first by rising geopolitical tensions due to North Korean aggression and second by the US Fed's decision to shrink its balance sheet
Since its peak, the S&P BSE Sensex has dropped nearly 3,000 points.
Experts said banking is a play on the economy and the latest buying into this space is underpinned by hopes of a sharper-than-expected recovery in the economy.
Except for September quarter, which had net inflows of $196 million, all other quarters had outflows.
From the 30-share pack, 24 companies fell, with Yes Bank emerging as the top loser, dropping 8.36 per cent, followed by NTPC, M&M and Vedanta.
The bank says valuations are still high, foreign mutual funds are still 'very overweight' on Indian shares.
Singapore Exchange plans to launch more India-based products to provide opportunities for global investors interested in tapping the Indian market.
Here's how to get high returns from equities...
The 30-share Sensex closed 80 points lower at 21,753 levels while the 50-unit NSE Nifty index was down 38 points at 6486 levels. Benchmarks plunged to their lowest levels since March 06, 2014.
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