Indian bourses costliest among emerging markets

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: The government admitted on Thursday that the Indian equity market was the costliest among the prominent emerging markets, including South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan.

According to the Economic Survey 2007-08, the markets were more stable in 2007 compared with the previous year. “The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was higher at around 27 by end-December 2007 as compared to around 21 at end-December 2006,” the Survey said.

The valuation of Indian stocks as reflected in P/E multiples of around 27 times by December end was the highest among the select emerging markets. “In India, as on December 30, 2007, market capitalisation of BSE 500 at $1,638 billion was 150% of the GDP which compares well with the other emerging economies as well as select matured markets,” the Survey said.

It added the strong fundamentals of economy in tandem with higher growth would help in sustaining the interest of domestic and foreign investors in the domestic capital market.

According to the Survey, corporate earnings are expected to remain encouraging. “Strong projected economic growth and supportive policy initiatives would enhance the investors’ preference to invest in the financial instruments like equity and debt papers,” the Survey said.

Performance of the stock prices in the secondary market hinges on the long-term and short-term factors. In the long run, strong output growth is important to sustain investment activity across the globe. India would continue to attract significant cross-border portfolio investments since its growth performance was better among the emerging economies, it added. “In the short term, expectations of higher relative returns from investments in India, favourable risk perception of investors and improved global liquidity would help the country in being an attractive destination for investment,” it noted.