Govt's reform push: Domestic equities and rupee likely to see a turnaround

Domestic equities and the currency are among the worst-performer in Asia this month. However, the latest measures announced by the government on Friday will help arrest this underperformance and could even see India outperform global markets in the near term. 

So far this month, the rupee, which briefly breached the 72-mark against the dollar on Friday, is the worst-performing Asian currency. In terms of equity market performance, the 6 per cent decline in the Sensex in dollar terms is the second-worst after Singapore. 

The fall in the market this month comes on the back of even steeper fall in July, triggered by the Union Budget, which was high on taxes and low on stimulus.

The finance minisiter, however, has tried to address some of the market demands, such as rollback of higher tax surcharge on foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and infusion of  Rs 70,000-crore equity capital in state-owned banks, and provided a push for the troubled automobile sector. The FM has also said there will be further set of measures this in the coming days. 

The stimulus measures will help soothe investor nerves, one can’t rule out volatility given the escalating trade tensions between the US and China and risks of a global slowdown.