Sunday, July 27, 2014

Alternatives becoming less attractive

Thought for the day
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
-          Buddha (563-483BC)
Word for the day
Ardor (n)
Great warmth of feeling; fervor; passion
(Source: Dictionary.com)
Teaser for the day
All those who watched Salman Khan starrer "Kick" on weekend are still finding it painful to sit!
The movie is a part of Bhai and Nadiadwala's campaign against "sedentary lifestyle".
No pun intended.
Alternatives becoming less attractive
One of the primary conditions for a sustainable bull market in equities is relative lower expected return from alternatives like gold, fixed income, USD and oil etc.
In past six months return on Indian equities has materially outperformed gold, crude oil and USD. Considering that energy prices have remained mostly stable during recent war like situations in Ukraine and Palestine, and substantial rise in Non-OPEC oil supply in past couple of years, the general outlook of energy prices are not really bullish.
In view of the stability returning to global financial markets and US successfully unwinding its bond buying program, manly global brokerages like Goldman Sachs, SocGen etc. have extremely bearish outlook on gold prices.
The USD is becoming increasingly undervalued against most currencies. It is at a 40 years low on a real broad trade-weighted basis, it is not expected to appreciate in any big measures given that the Fed is suppressing real government bond yields through quantitative easing. Therefore, the USD will have to be more undervalued on a PPP basis to be in equilibrium. 



Domestically, With the new benchmark yield on the 10-year government securities coming in at 8.40% per annum, compared to the prevailing yield on the existing 10-year at 8.69%, fund managers and bond dealers expect the rate of interest to come down in the next few months. Since several lenders benchmark their lending rates to the 10-year gilt yield, changes in this benchmark rate leads to tweaking in lending rates in the market.
Equities therefore offer relatively better return profile at the moment!

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