The last time the BSE Sensex crossed the 20,000 mark was on January 15, 2008, when it ended at 20,251 points. In the 32 months till date, the Sensex and the Nifty have given negative returns of a little over a percentage point each.
It?s been a tumultuous and erratic ride for our market, no doubt. But the journey has been even more painful for the world markets, which have been reeling from concerns of a prolonged slowdown, sovereign debt defaults and double dip recessions. In fact, only a handful of these markets have managed to outperform our benchmark indices.
In China, the Shanghai Composite has been languishing at the bottom of the heap among Asian markets with negative returns of more than 50%. The Chinese market has been largely spooked by the government?s decision to tighten monetary policy to stem a plausible realty bubble. Yet, at this point, the Chinese market looks quite expensive with a current PE of around 17-plus. But it is slightly cheaper than the Indian markets which are currently trading at price to earnings (PE) multiples of over 19.
Japan?s Nikkei 225 has not fared well either, with negative returns of 31%. The only two Asian indices that have beaten our key indices are South Korea?s Kospi and Indonesia?s Jakarta Composite, the most overvalued market in Asia with a current PE of 34.39.
