Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies reiterated his bullish view on Indian equities, reported the Business Standard. The positive outlook comes out of the fact that the country has witnessed a steady fall in COVID-19 cases followed by a sharp economic recovery, said the report.

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“With COVID cases in India now 88 percent off their peak amid growing hopes of herd immunity, India looks right now Asia’s best post-Covid recovery story,” wrote Wood in his weekly note to investors, GREED & fear, according to the report.

The positive outlook by Wood is definitely a confident booster to the Indian economy as it comes at a time when concerns about rising inflation have emerged owing to the steep rise in oil prices. The report said that ‘With oil prices crossing $61 per barrel mark for the first time in 13 months has yet again stoked fears of inflation, especially for India that imports around 70 percent of its crude oil requirement. Since November 2020, oil prices are up over 60 percent.’

Earlier in December Wood had raised exposure to Indian equities twice in his Asia ex-Japan long only portfolio.

As per the reports, Wood still remains bullish on bitcoin and suggested investors to use any decline in the cryptocurrency to buy despite a sharp surge in bitcoin over the past few weeks. “GREED & fear remains extremely bullish on Bitcoin and advises those who are not invested to take advantage of any pullbacks. Remember that institutional ownership of Bitcoin has only just begun,” Wood said in his recent note.

He cautioned people on the risks that are building for overvalued US equities particularly high PE growth stocks but added that rising inflation expectations will boost cyclical trades going ahead, and the best way to play this is via bank and oil-related stocks, the report said.

First Published:Feb 14, 2021 1:05 PM IST