Jefferies' Chris Wood Removes RIL, Adds Adani Stock To Portfolio

Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, has removed Reliance Industries' stock from his portfolio and added Adani Group-owned Ambuja Cements' shares.

Wood has also reduced his holding in Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, REC and JSW Energy. He added Le Travenues Technology (Ixigo) and Lemon Tree Hotels to his portfolio.

"Investments in Ambuja Cements, Le Travenues Technology (Ixigo) and Lemon Tree Hotels will be introduced with a 4% weighting in each," Wood said in his weekly newsletter, Greed & Fear, on Thursday. "These will be paid for by removing the investments in Reliance Industries and Axis Bank and by shaving one percentage point each off the investments in ICICI Bank, REC and JSW Energy."

Ambuja Cement is the second Adani Group stock in Wood's India long-only equity portfolio. The move comes after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman cut the goods and services tax on cement from 28% to 18% with effect from Sept. 22.

This decision to cut stake in Reliance Industries follows the conglomerate's annual general meeting, which was held on Aug. 29.

According to his India long-only equity portfolio, SBI Life Insurance along with Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone have the highest weightage, followed by PB Fintech, DLF, Macrotech Developers and Bharti Airtel. Ambuja Cements and Le Travenues Technology (Ixigo), the recently added stocks have a 4% weightage.

When talking about the ongoing trade discussion between India and US, Wood, who has long been an India bull, expects a trade deal between New Delhi and Washington could be 50% complete in the coming weeks or months. Even as India may potentially reduce its oil purchases from Russia, US pressure in itself won't seal the deal, he told NDTV Profit on Wednesday.

Disclaimer: NDTV is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Ltd, an Adani Group Company.