Welcome to ETMarkets’ Investors Guide, a show about asset classes, market trends, and investment opportunities. This is Nikhil Aggarwal.
The week gone by was a forgettable one for the domestic market, with the benchmarks bleeding profusely in four out of the five sessions. Rising global bond yields and surging Covid cases back home have made investors dial back their optimism for equities.
Some investors have even started to wonder if it is time to build some cushion in their portfolios by loading up on defensive stocks. We caught up with Prakash Goel, a senior fund manager at ICICI Prudential AMC, to try and find out if defensive stocks may become the flavour of the season going ahead and what is his outlook for the midcap and smallcap universe.
Welcome to the show, Mr. Goel.
Q. With the emergence of a second wave of Covid infections and its implications for the domestic economy, will you be less optimistic about midcap and smallcap space right now?
Q. Cyclicals remain the hot picks currently, but given the expectation of increased volatility do you see merit in increasing exposure to defensive sectors like IT, Pharma?
Q. How bullish are you about value style finally outperforming growth and quality this year and within that factor which sectors do you prefer?
Thank you Mr. Goel, that was indeed an insightful conversation that will surely help our listeners to take an informed portfolio decision.
That’s it in this week’s edition of the special weekend podcast. Do come back next Saturday for this weekly special. You can check out our regular podcasts on the equity market twice every week day.
