You know the Robinhoods, right?
The first-time investors who describe investments in cool slang and Internet memes, and use hip mobile-trading apps like Zerodha or Upstox. Yes, the same breed Warren Buffett compared to gamblers last month and Marathon Trends’ Atul Suri is having nightmares about.
So the little birdie tells us that during the day, a sudden swing in the market towards red territory caused some retail investors to fret that the reckoning of greed was finally here. We heard there was some liquidation from retail counters as if Judgement Day had arrived, but fortunately, the reality is much more boring, at least, so far.
Retail investors did find their composure sooner rather than later as the benchmarks barely fell even 1 per cent.
But a price was paid
That said, the price was paid by the market’s favourite these days – the high-beta stocks. The Nifty High Beta 50 index, a measurement of 50 high beta stocks in the market, fell 1 per cent during the day, underperforming Nifty50, which fell 0.7 per cent.
Similarly, another favourite of retail investors, smallcap stocks, fervent profit booking in the day with the Nifty Smallcap 100 index having the worst day among most major indices in the market. The smallcap index slumped 1.4 per cent as retail investors rushed for exit fearing that their party had finally come to an end. Only time will tell if that’s the case.
Frustrating bet
Banks are slowly becoming the most unpredictable trade on Dalal Street. The banking pack which in late May surged as if all the fears of investors were out of the way is back to throwing tantrums as its correction extended downtrend to the second successive day. While on one hand, investors have been happy about reduced stress in the system, on the other, they are still not convinced that sector is out of the woods. This after even Morgan Stanley is getting bullish on state-owned banks.
Betting on cold drinks
Varun Beverages, the bottler for Pepsi, saw its stock rise 3 per cent in a weak market. Ventura Securities believes that as more people step out, investors can count on the bottle of Pepsi on retail shops going on sale like hot cakes. The brokerage firm expects sales growth of 20 per cent annually in the next three years. Perhaps, the best bet to make will be manufacturers of diabetes drugs.
