Over the last 5 years, the Nifty gave returns of 73.86% at a time when Brent crude gave (-26.13%). That is clearly a negative correlation. But, what happens if crude oil was to touch a level of $100/bbl by next year? At least, BOFA thinks that is a distinct possibility! What does that mean for…
Raises bigger questions about Indian home-grown businesses… In one of the biggest ecommerce deals, Wal-Mart bought a 77% stake in Flipkart for a consideration of $16 billion. This gave Flipkart an enterprise valuation of $21 billion. For quite some time, Flipkart was looking for an honorable exit after it became clear that it would find…
Sounds scary, but that day may not be far off… In the last few weeks, the Indian rupee has shown some distinct weak signs. From a level of around 64/$ a year ago, the INR has weakened closer to the 68/$ mark in the first week of May. Broking reports are already indicating INR at…
What explains this huge traction in SIPs? Source: AMFI India The latest data put out by the Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI) on mutual fund SIPs is quite encouraging. There has been a sharp 53% growth in total SIPs in fiscal 2018 compared to fiscal 2017. What explains this huge traction on SIPs…
Damodaran is right on calls for greater governance… The former SEBI chairman has some serious reservations about the way boards function in India. In the aftermath of the ICICI conflict of interest case, Damodaran has been quite vocal about the role that directors of the board play in such exceptional events. According to Damodaran, in…
It is a normal forecast but the room for error is quit low… The preliminary monsoon forecast for the year 2018 was put out by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) during the week at 97% of the long term average (LTA). By definition this is classified as a normal year. The IMD defines normal monsoons…
What explains the sharp selling in the Nifty…? Source: Google Finance The Nifty showed signs of getting closer to the 10,500 mark during the week but closed below the 10,200 mark. The selling in the last 2 days was quite hectic taking the markets down sharply. What were the key triggers? Politics gets shaky… In…
What could be the immediate outcome of this move…? In the aftermath of the PNB fiasco over the issue of fake Letters of Undertaking (LOU), the RBI decided to ban further issues of LOUs and Letters of Comfort (LOC). However, this move will be with prospective effect which means that all existing LOUs and LOCs…
The CAD is a lot more worrisome than the trade deficit… During the week the trade data was announced wherein the trade deficit came in sharply lower at $12 billion. This is in comparison to $16 billion reported in the month of January. Even the growth in exports of goods was sharper than the previous…
Why has IT outperformed in the last 1 year… At a time when the Indian market has been talking about commodities, banks and rural stories, there is one sector that has actually surprised with its outperformance. The NSE-IT index is up by 18.58% in the last 1 year. But, hold your breath, the NSE-IT index…
