Bulls & Bear Hfund of India

Correction is a chance to allocate more to equities: S Naren The Indian markets have tumbled nearly 22 per cent from their peak levels, due to many issues, global and domestic. S Naren, chief investment officer, ICICI Prudential AMC, talks to Puneet Wadhwa on this. He feels India remains an attractive destination and the recent sell-off has made valuations attractive in the large-cap space. Edited excerpts: What is your analysis of how global equity markets have played out in calendar year 2016? Do you see more pain ahead for the global financial markets? What about India? Indian equity markets corrected in the first month of 2016, mirroring global sentiment on oil prices and developments in China. Currently, the markets are valued at close to the long-term average price to earnings multiple and we feel a slow and gradual upswing would make it a compounding market over the next three to five years. We believe a correction due to these non-fundamental reasons is an opportunity...

Markets end near two-year low on PSU banks woes Markets ended at their lowest level since May 2014 amid a sell-off in state owned banks after they reported huge losses because of higher provisioning on account of rising non-performing assets. The S&P BSE Sensex ended down 262 points at 23,759 and the Nifty50 closed 83 points lower at 7,216 In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were down 1%-1.4% each. Market breadth remained weak with 1994 losers and 654 gainers on the BSE. "We continue to remain cautious on the markets and view the current downside in the markets driven by global factors (China instability, US corporate earnings, fears of global banks) rather than domestic factors (weak earnings, sustained asset quality worries). The recent correction in the market only underscores the extended recovery for the Indian economy in current circumstances and especially PSU banks having asset quality woes. Foreign portfolio flows are unlikely to bot...

Cro mpton Greaves Crompton Greaves plummeted 22 per cent to a fresh 52-week low on Wednesday, led by multiple disappointments. First, the market was unhappy, given the company rejected an offer for its struggling global power systems business, to which loans worth Rs 1,000 crore had been advanced. As Crompton had an exclusive agreement with the tentative buyer, it now needs to scout for a new buyer, which might take time. Kunal Sheth of Prabhudas Lilladher says with the offer  rejected, it may take over a year for the firm to sell its stake in global operations. While the Street was also unhappy on the lack of clarity on listing and the December quarter performance of the recently demerged consumer products business, the current promoters have little to do with it, given they exited the business last April. The operationally weak December quarter results and muted outlook impacted sentiments further. Weak show in the global power systems business pulled down consolidated r...