Chris Wood Launches Greed & Fear's Long-Only India Portfolio; Bets On Real Estate Stocks
Jefferies' Chris Wood has launched a model India portfolio for only long-positions on equities, with the third-highest weight on property stocks, even as the nation's equity benchmarks are trading near their record highs.
The market veteran in his Greed & Fear report said he would take the opportunity at the start of the new quarter to launch a long-only India model portfolio similar to the one that exists for Japan and China.
India, according to him, has always had a significant representation in Greed & Fear's long-only Asia ex-Japan portfolio launched nearly 19 years ago but never had a dedicated one. That would change now because it would like to add more Indian stocks, which is not possible in the regional long-only portfolio. The idea, he said, is that long-only portfolios should be reasonably concentrated.
This new dedicated portfolio has been compiled in consultation with Mahesh Nandurkar, head of India research at Jefferies, and will start off with 16 stocks compared with the total 21 in the Asia ex-Japan long-only basket, Wood said, adding that much like the other Asian ones, it cannot own cash.
He acknowledged that this is not the perfect time to start an Indian portfolio since the Sensex is near its all-time high, but that's the case with other stock markets as well.
'Start Of A New Housing Cycle'
The big call remains the property sector. “India is at the start of a new housing cycle after a seven-year downturn, after the mother of all consolidations in the developer industry, leading to a 17% weight in the property sector,” Wood said. Godrej Properties Ltd., Century Textiles Ltd. and DLF Ltd. are the three real estate stocks that are included.
This portfolio of Greed & Fear will be domestic demand focused but will have a decent energy weight to hedge, in part at least, the obvious risk of higher oil price on Indian financials and other interest rate sensitive sectors, Wood said, adding it remains bullish on oil.
-
India's Troika Of Good Luck | Joining The Dots
A weaker Trump, a cooling AI trade and resilient earnings have put Indian markets back in favour. Rising inflation could spoil the party.
-
Talking Points This Week: Leadership Shock At Nvidia, Earnings Strength, And The Fog Over Hormuz
The Anthropic IPO pricing and first trading day, Nvidia's upcoming earnings, and any fresh signals from Iran will set the tone for the following week.
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
