Rate cut, RCom bankruptcy: Investor worries go beyond Modi's election angst

Polls may pose a near-term risk for equities, but beyond that markets will focus on the trajectory of earnings.

Japan’s shut, most other Asian equity markets aren’t doing much. So we’re going to use this opportunity to talk about India, where an unpredictable election looms. Even before the ballot takes place, a host of worries is raising questions about whether the country’s benchmark stock index can repeat last year’s outperformance.
 

First off, recent gains have been narrowly focused this year, with only a handful of stocks, including Reliance Industries Ltd. and software exporters Infosys Ltd. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., driving the NSE Nifty 50 Index of India’s large caps. That advance has pared, and the gauge is almost