The domestic equity market ended the passing week in red ahead of the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections. The benchmark equity index BSE Sensex shed nearly 2% to settle at 73,961.31 for the week ended May 31. The index was at 75,410.39 on May 24. Overall, the index edged lower in four out of five trading sessions during the week.
Amar Ambani, Executive Director, YES Securities believes that the market is presently in a wait-and-watch mode. A clear mandate would reinforce confidence in India, ensuring policy continuity. “Positive FII flows can be anticipated with a clear majority in the election results,” he said adding after the completion of this mega event, the Indian economy will continue on its growth path.
“We expect capital markets to be buoyant in the year ahead,” Ambani said. Data available with Ace Equity showed that foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth over Rs 34,000 crore in the first two months of FY25. On a year-to-date basis, their net outflows stood at Rs 23,364 crore since January 2024.
The market watcher is positive on select power, bank, telecom, and railways stocks. He suggested buying NTPC for a target price of Rs 419. Shares of the company closed at Rs 358.90 on May 31.
Ambani is also bullish on State Bank of India (TP: Rs 1,000), Bharti Airtel (Rs 1,680), Texmaco Rail & Engineering (Rs 250) and GMR Airports Infrastructure (Rs 100).
Of late, India’s GDP numbers came in at 8.2% for FY24 and 7.8% for Q4 of FY2023-24. Commenting on the GDP numbers, Anish Shah, President, FICCI said, “The strong India GDP numbers are in line with our expectation and prediction in December 2023 of an 8% GDP growth in FY24. The GDP growth rate of 8.2% for FY24 and 7.8% for Q4 FY24 is the highest among the major economies of the world making India the fastest-growing major economy globally. It is a reaffirmation of India’s story as it shows the Indian economy to be resilient and buoyant despite global challenges.”