Indian stocks and country-specific exchange traded funds have been selling off, with the benchmark gauge at a five-week low, potentially opening a buying opportunity for value investors.
The S&P BSE Sensex rose 1.6% Tuesday, the most in over two weeks, after falling 0.9% on Monday to its lowest level since November 21 in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hints at hiking taxes on income earned from share trading, Bloomberg reports.
Meanwhile, the iShares MSCI India ETF (BATS: INDA) rose 0.4%, PowerShares India Portfolio (NYSEArca: PIN) gained 0.3% and WisdomTree India Earnings ETF (NYSE: EPI) was flat on Tuesday. Over the past three months, INDA declined 12.0% PIN dropped 9.0% and EPI fell 9.2%.
“The market looked a bit oversold and investors used the opportunity to value-pick stocks,” Jitendra Panda, chief executive officer at Peerless Securities Ltd., told Bloomberg. “But we can’t say that the worst is behind us. Market will remain volatile till we get more clarity on foreign investors’ plan for the emerging-markets. ”
While Indian stocks may look more attractive after the sell-off, many market watchers are still wary of emerging market exposure, especially with a strengthening U.S. dollar and still uncertain policies under a Trump administration.