Worries over a spike in coronavirus cases, fears of this health emergency resulting in an economic recession and FII outflows came together to drive the Indian equity market into its seventh straight week of decline. In a holiday-shortened week, BSE Sensex tanked 7.46 per cent, while Nifty shed 6.65 per cent. Dalal Street consensus says the market is unlikely to look up on a sustainable basis until the number of infections subsides or a cure is found for the virus. Based on the tweets that some of the top Dalal Street mavens circulated through the week, here’s a lowdown on what they make of the market moves, what are they seeing into the future and what is needed to revive the market. Independent market expert Sandip Sabharwal has called for more stimulus from the government.
He also made a case for RBI to fund government spend as a one-time exercise to the extent of 1% of GDP, which can be rolled back once the economy recovers. Sabharwal hailed the three-month moratorium on loans, but said it cannot compensate for a fiscal package, which is required to provide real relief to businesses and individuals. He stressed on aggressively pushing public investment in infrastructure post the crisis.
Here's why. Value investor Safir Anand too shared that view.
“India can't be sitting with no stimulus to businesses," he said.
Anand believes spending now will save trillions later. Meanwhile, Sanjay Bakshi, an eminent teacher and practitioner of value investing and behavioural economics, advised young investors to endure the current market shocks as it will make them much stronger. iThough co-founder Shyam Sekhar said from the bottom of 2020, it is possible to create a strong portfolio, but he called for patience and singular focus. Sabharwal said the fully-secured HFCs that are getting beaten down will be the first to revive when financials bounce back.