India fares better than developed markets

But comes last among BRIC as Brazil, China gain.

Indian equity indices have fared better than their counterparts in developed countries in the past month. However, they have not done as well as the other BRIC nations, which have logged positive returns in the past month.
India’s domestic growth story is still intact and in that sense India is better placed compared to other world economies, said Mr Dharmesh Mehta, Head of Broking, Enam Securities.
Currently, insurance companies are getting high inflows from premium collections and are providing buying support by investing heavily in domestic equities, said Mr Gaurav Dua, Head of Research, Sharekhan Ltd.
In February, while major indices such as Dax of Germany, FTSE of London, CAC of France, New York’s Nasdaq and Dow of US have fallen in the range of four to 11 per cent, the Indian benchmark index, the Sensex, is down by 1.25 per cent. The broader index Nifty has fallen by 1.62 per cent during this month.
Germany’s Dax witnessed its four-year lows last week (closing at the lowest level since November 2004) on concerns that the Government measures will fail to revive the global economy. The Dow Jones index was also at its 12-year low during this month as the US economy continued to battle the slowdown.
The indices of the developed economies such as US and those in Europe are performing badly due to the weak macroeconomic data in those countries, said Mr Dua.
Another reason for the Indian markets to have fallen less compared to the US and European indices, marketmen said, is that the Indian markets had already seen a major fall in the past year.
The Indian markets were heavily battered in the past year’s bear rally due to heavy selling by FIIs, said Ms Anita Gandhi, Head of Institutional Business, Arihant Capital Markets.
Also, according to analysts, the Indian economy has got a boost in the form of the stimulus packages announced by the Government and to some extent oil prices, commodity prices and inflation are under control.
Among the BRIC nations, Brazil’s Bovespa is up by 1.58 per cent, Russia’s RTS Index is up by 5.74 per cent and China’s Shanghai SE Composite index is up by 8.97 per cent in February.
Brazil’s economy has been relatively unaffected by the global economic crisis as the country’s main policy is seeking stability rather than growth at any cost, according to experts.
Russia and China’s stock market indices have performed better as both the countries had witnessed a sharp fall in the past year, said marketmen.