Concerns over growth slowdown and political instability pull down markets

Indian stock markets closed in the red for the second-straight week as concerns over economic growth slowdown and political instability weighed on the minds of overseas investors, resulting in their selling into the domestic shares. Risk appetite was frail after the country's industrial production barely grew by 0.6 per cent in February from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday.

Globally, Asian markets posted gains for the week after the Bank of Japan's monetary policy stimulus to fight deflation, sending the yen tumbling and stocks soaring. Also, the US markets were on an upswing buoyed by encouraging data from China and better-than-expected US jobless claims.

Only three of the six fund managers remained active during the week.(Click her for tables)

A K PRABHAKAR
Sr VP (Equity Research), Anand Rathi Financial Services
Prabhakar added Cummins India and Hindustan Unilever to his portfolio over the last one week as the stock prices corrected.

Currently, his portfolio consists of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Cummins India, Pfizer, Everest Industries, and Natco Pharma.

Prabhakar's net worth was up by 0.88 per cent at Rs 10.08 lakh.

SHARDUL KULKARNI
Head, Technical Research, Angel Broking
Kulkarni was active through the week, balancing his portfolio with some value buying and booking marginally losses in several counters on a day when the markets fell over 1 per cent.

Some of his prominent sell calls were from the OMC (oil marketing companies) space. ICICI Bank, NTPC, MCX and MRF some were the other stocks, which fell out of favour.

State Bank of India (SBI), Shree Renuka Sugars, Karnataka Bank, Jindal Stainless and Bank of Baroda were his top holdings.

Kulkarni's net worth was up 16.33 per cent at Rs 11.63 lakh.

NAVEEN FERNANDES
Fund Manager, Centrum Wealth
According to Fernandes, Q4 results are likely to be similar to Q3 with about 3 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in net profit for broader indices such as Sensex and Nifty. However, mid-cap stocks (outside these indices) could do about 10 per cent y-o-y growth in profit after tax.

Private sector banks, pharmaceutical companies, private oil and gas producers, and fast moving consumer goods will outperform. Cement, automobiles, real estate, construction and IT are likely to underperform. His top holdings include Karur Vysya Bank, MRF, ITC, NESCO and Hindustan Zinc. Fernandes' net worth stands at Rs 10.72 lakh, up 7.20 per cent.

KISHOR OSTWAL
CMD, CNI Research
Ostwal is of the opinion that Q4 will be no better than Q3 with the out performance coming in from healthcare and under performance from realty and auto sectors. He adds it would be better to go long on large-cap stocks that have underperformed such as Reliance Industries, SBI, IOC and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) as results factor in valuations, while the rest of the pack may remain at the receiving end. His holdings are Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), RIL, Power Finance Corporation, Tata Motors and Karnataka Bank. Ostwal's has net worth slipped to Rs 9.74 lakh, down 2.64 per cent.

SACHIN SHAH
Fund Manager, Emkay Investment Managers
With regard to Q4 numbers, Shah is optimistic about private banks and pharma, which stand to gain on account of rupee depreciation. However, sectors such as auto and cement are expected to report below par results. As of now, his holding constitutes ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Cipla, Divis Laboratories and Biocon. Shah's net worth is at Rs 10.60 lakh, up 5.99 per cent.

TAHER BADSHAH
Sr VP and co-head equities, Motilal Oswal AMC - PMS
Badshah tweaked his portfolio by selling heavyweight RIL, while he added Cipla and DLF. He expects not many positive surprises in Q4 with the growth numbers remaining flat.

His top holdings include Maruti Suzuki, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, United Spirits and DLF. Badshah's net worth is at Rs 11.03 lakh, up 10.32 per cent.

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