Worst week for equities as fear grips mkt

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Mumbai, Oct 10: Nothing seems to be stopping the downward spiral in the markets at the moment. So, even when central banks around the world came together and demonstrated a concerted effort to shore up liquidity, the markets all around the world tanked. However, Indian fund managers still see hope.

For India, it clearly was one of the worst weeks in the past 18 years as the Sensex lost around 15.95% in the week and is now threatening to reach the four-figure mark.

Not only the major index took the beating, but all the sectors in the BSE sectoral indices also witnessed their 52-week low mark.

Barring public sector undertaking (PSU) sector, all the other 12 sectors in the BSE sectoral indices group saw their yearly low mark on Friday.

In the US, stocks sank, capping the worst week ever for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, on concern the escalating credit crises will snuff out consumer spending.

“At this point, investors are just focussing on getting through the day,” said Alan Gayle, the Richmond, Virginia-based senior investment strategist at Ridgeworth Investments, which oversees about $70 billion. “The markets are being driven by emotion and rumour.” The S&P 500 has plunged for eight straight days, its longest losing streak since 1996.

Such was the effect of the fear psychosis that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said governments may shut financial markets as the credit freeze pummels stocks and threatens a global recession.

As equities suffered their worst week since the 1970s, Berlusconi said in Naples, Italy that markets may be shut while policymakers “rewrite the rules of international finance.”

The discussions were revealed as finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven nations sought a united front aimed at thwarting the crisis. Among the options: Pumping taxpayer funds into loss-ridden banks and guaranteeing lending between them and their deposits.

In India, fund managers have not given up hope. AK Sridhar, executive director, UTI Mutual Fund said that the domestic market might bounce back by May. It will take a minimum of eight months or longer time to revive.

The market will be in range bound during this period. The market is waiting for clarity on the current US financial turmoil.

However, the valuations in the domestic market may change and some of the stocks may be more attractive. The FII have sold lot of their stakes in the market that have come below the level in lot of stocks.

Pankaj Rajdan, deputy chief executive, Aditya Birla Sun Life Financial Services thinks the revival could be faster as the dip also has been fast. He said that the global liquidity position was strained and the market sentiment was weak which was a concern.

However, the domestic fundamentals are strong. He has faith in the co-ordinated effort from the global regulatory agencies in terms of CRR and rate cut will improve the liquidity position. Presently, the valuations are good, he said.