If you ask a Manchester United fan when they think the team will next win the Premier League, you’re likely to get an answer that is a mix of fact, opinion and a healthy dose of fantasy.
We will attempt to do something similar for stocks – minus the fantasy, of course.
Brace yourselves: brokerages are predicting a weak October as foreign investors ramp up shorts. The Nifty 50 fell 6.7% in the September derivative series, making it the worst performer among Asian markets. You can read more about that here in a report by my colleague Bharath Rajeswaran.
The finance ministry’s September Monthly Economic Review cautioned that volatile energy prices, supply disruptions and global uncertainty could pose near-term risks to inflation, the rupee and capital flows. If that’s not enough, there’s always the havoc that a super-strong El Nino could wreak. Read more about that here.
India’s top IT companies are set to report another quarter of weak earnings. IT was the one sector that ended last week in the green but has been among the market’s worst performers over the past year. Read more on that in this report by my colleagues Bharath Rajeswaran and Haripriya Suresh.
But just like the optimism of the United fans yearning for a return of the glory days, there might be reason for hope.
Analysts at Kotak Institutional Equities believe there is still value to be found in Indian large-cap stocks, especially after the sharp correction. They attribute the apathy among domestic retail investors to a need for quick returns but believe that the focus should turn to value instead of prices.
Meanwhile, Indian firms have defied the stock market slump raising a record $25 billion in equity in the first half of fiscal 2027. You can read more on the underlying reasons behind that in this report by Vivek Kumar M and Haripriya Suresh.
Mihir Vora, CIO at Trust AMC, says it's only a matter of time before foreign investors return.
"Given the relative underperformance of India for almost one and a half years, valuations relative to other markets have become very attractive and growth is good so it is just a question of time before FIIs come back," Vora said.
"For the earnings season in the June quarter there were more positive surprises than negative and the broader market did well. For the September and December quarters we need to observe whether the expected margin pressures will come through or not."
