Nomura bets on metals, media

But is neutral on consumer segment and banks

International brokerage Nomura is pitching that its clients bet on media companies and metals in addition to export oriented sectors like information technology and pharmaceuticals. It is also overweight on oil and gas.

Metals benefit from the depreciation in the currency and expectations of a pickup in in activity in China and Europe. Analysts have been bullish on media companies on the back of digitisation which aids revenues.    

Meanwhile, it remains neutral on the consumer segment and banks as well, according to an India Equity Strategy report dated September 6.

“The slowdown in output growth is now fast catching up with consumption expenditure. We expect household budgets to be increasingly constrained by a worsening labour market and higher imported inflation, especially on account of potential hikes in fuel prices,” said the report authored by research analysts Prabhat Awasthi, Nipun Prem and Sanjay Kadam.

It added that it expects bad loans to remain high in the banking system on the back of slow growth.

The brokerage has a Sensex target of 20,000 for March 2014. On Tuesday, the Sensex closed at 19997.09, or less than three points short of it after a 727 point rally, which took the benchmark up 3.77%.