Sensex could end year at 32,640: analysts

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The benchmark BSE Sensex is only three per cent below its record high. According to consensus analysts' forecasts, the Sensex could end the year at 32,640, up around 13 per cent from the current levels. The consensus profit estimate for Sensex companies in 2015-16 is Rs 1,750, compared with the 2014-15 forecast of Rs 1,470, implying earnings growth of about 20 per cent. The market has largely discounted sluggish performance in the March quarter. The earnings forecasts for the next financial year are also seen as optimistic and the market will eye an improvement in earnings over the next few quarters. Share prices of a lot of companies in the small- and mid-cap space have rallied significantly this month. Analysts say such companies will remain vulnerable to earnings disappointments.