Earnings show that equity markets are no longer held hostage by rupee

Evidence supports market view for 15%-20% earnings growth

India's rupee has been battered along with its emerging-market peers in recent weeks, but stock investors would do well to look beyond the currency’s slump and pay attention to an improving earnings picture, according to the nation's largest brokerage.

"We have moved away from the past when currency sneezed and the equity markets caught a cold,” Shilpa Kumar, chief executive officer of ICICI Securities Ltd., said in an interview. “The broad view is for a 15 per cent to 20 per cent earnings growth from here on for the next two years and the evidence of that is there.”

Indian equities have