Israel-Iran War: 'Investors Should Develop Portfolios Resilient To Political Surprises', Says HSBC
HSBC Global Private Banking advises building resilient portfolios amid market volatility, focusing on diversified equity, AI opportunities, risk mitigation, and Asia's growth.
Investors should develop portfolios that are resilient to political and market surprises to navigate the uncertain economic climate, HSBC Global Private Banking has recommended to its high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients.
The ongoing Israel-Iran war has dampened investors' sentiments amid rising crude oil prices.
In its latest 'Investment Outlook, Charting through Turbulence with Resilient Portfolios', the bank set out how investors should continue to expect the unexpected, even after the roller-coaster ride in the markets so far this year. With the high volume of US policy announcements, investors are likely to continue seeing two-way market volatility.
It, however, said there remain plenty of opportunities around the world. As valuations on many asset classes are now more attractive than just a few months ago, the bank said investors should look at quality stocks and bonds, areas with policy support and opportunities supported by structural trends. It concluded building a resilient portfolio that can tap into longer-term opportunities while managing short-term volatility is the way to go.
'India's Economic Resilience Sets Stage For Promising Second Half'
India's economic resilience, underpinned by strong domestic consumption, favorable trade dynamics, and accommodative monetary policy, sets the stage for a promising second half of 2025, said HSBC Global Private Banking.
'We retain our mild overweight stance on Indian equities and Indian local currency bonds. Within equities, we prefer large-cap stocks and favour more domestically oriented sectors and favour the financials, healthcare and industrial sectors," HSBC said.
Willem Sels, global chief investment officer at HSBC Global Private Banking and Premier Wealth, said, 'While we expect to see lower US growth this year, the economy should not slide into recession or stagflation. Earnings growth expectations have already been reduced, and valuations are reasonable at around historical averages."
Cheuk Wan Fan, chief investment officer for Asia at HSBC Global Private Banking and Premier Wealth, said, 'Reduced tail risks of US-China tariff escalation should help stabilise business sentiment and investor confidence in Asia. But given the outcomes of trade talks remain uncertain, we expect Asian policymakers will continue to provide further monetary and fiscal stimulus to boost domestic consumption. We favour domestically oriented sectors and quality industry leaders, including China's innovation champions, Asian high dividend stocks and high-quality Asian credit."
James Cheo, chief investment officer for South East Asia & India at HSBC Global Private Banking and Premier Wealth, said, 'While we acknowledge the elevated global uncertainty, we expect India's GDP to grow at 6.2% in 2025 making it the fastest growing major economy. We are overweight on Indian equities as we see signs of turnaround in earnings trajectory, robust GDP growth and superior RoEs offsetting valuation concerns. Resilient domestic investor-base, and recent foreign investor flows point towards supportive technicals."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
28 minutes ago
- India.com
Is It Worth Bearing Heavy Tariffs For Cheaper Russian Oil; Has India Made A Dangerous Bargain?
New Delhi: Nobel Prize-winning economist Abhijit Banerjee has urged India to reflect on the cost of cheaper Russian oil. He questioned whether paying high U.S. tariffs is worth the savings. His comments came days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25% extra tariff on Indian goods. The action targets India's continued large-scale purchases of discounted Russian crude. With the imposition of new tariff, Indian products entering the U.S. market will now face a total duty of 50%. This marks one of the highest rates imposed by Trump on any country. The additional tariff takes effect on August 27. The long-discussed India-US trade deal remains stalled. Washington seeks greater access to India's farm and dairy sectors, while New Delhi has held back on concessions. The impact could be severe. About $27 billion worth of Indian exports without special trade exemptions may lose competitiveness in the United States. Speaking to news agency PTI on the sidelines of an event at BML Munjal University, Banerjee said the government should weigh options carefully. He suggested exploring whether the United States would remove tariffs if India halted Russian oil imports. India remains the largest global buyer of Russian crude. In July, refiners purchased 1.6 million barrels per day. For August and September, no new orders have been placed. Black Sea oil now offers a discount of only about $2 per barrel. In 2024-25, India imported 88 million tonnes of Russian oil. This formed a large share of the 245 million tonnes of total crude imports. Oil contracts for August and September were finalised before Trump's tariff announcement on August 7. Banerjee emphasised that at a 25% tariff, some Indian exports had already lost their price advantage. Raising it to 50% may not change much for those products. He added that policy circles are already discussing a cut in Russian crude purchases. On the economy, he described the current year's outlook as weaker than expected. He cited low private investment and pressure on the middle class. He pointed to hiring freezes in major firms such as the Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) and stagnant wages in the information technology (IT) sector. These issues, he said, remain unresolved. India's seafood sector is already feeling the strain. The Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) has urged the commerce and finance ministries for urgent relief. It says nearly $2 billion in shrimp exports face serious obstacles in the U.S. market due to Trump's tariff. The SEAI seeks a 30% increase in working capital through soft loans, with interest subsidies and a 240-day moratorium on loans for pre- and post-packing operations. SEAI Secretary-General K.N. Raghavan told PTI the shrimp industry is under heavy stress and needs immediate government intervention.
Economic Times
28 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Tariffs to make exporting to US unviable for India Inc: Crisil Ratings
Representative Image Imposition of the additional 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods because of the country's purchase of Russian oil will make it "unviable" for India Inc to export to the US, a report said on Tuesday. In a credit alert, domestic rating agency Crisil said earnings of companies in sectors such as diamond polishing, shrimp, home textiles, and carpets are at the risk of getting impacted. It also said all eyes will now be on the bilateral trade agreement and what both countries achieve as a part of that. "Additional 25 per cent tariff to make exports to US unviable for India Inc," the rating agency said, adding that other sectors, including ready-made garments (RMG), chemicals, agrochemicals, capital goods, and solar panel manufacturing, which have sizable trade exposure to the US, also stand getting impacted. The extent of impact will vary depending on exposure, ability to pass on incremental costs to customers, and relative tariff disadvantage versus competing nations, it added. A potential second-order impact, including a slowdown in US demand and disparate tariffs across nations that could alter trade dynamics globally, also warrants close monitoring, along with any bilateral treaty between India and the US, it said. The credit impact on the sectors can be mitigated courtesy strong corporate balance sheets, potential bilateral trade agreements with other countries and the possibility of support from the Indian government. In FY25, the US accounted for a fifth of India's merchandise exports and 2 per cent of the overall GDP in the country, it said. Diamond polishing, shrimp and home textiles may see sales volume decline due to high reliance on US trade and a rise in costs due to partial absorption of tariffs, ultimately affecting their earnings, the agency said. The US accounts for a fourth of diamond polishers' revenues, it said, adding that tariffs aggravate it because the demand for natural diamonds was already tepid. In the case of shrimp exporters, the US accounts for nearly half of revenue and India is now the highest taxed country exporting the commodity to the US, it said, adding that it will be a challenge to compete with Ecuador enjoying lower tariffs. All the other sectors have a high reliance on the US for its topline and will be facing varying impacts, the agency said, stating that it will continue to closely monitor the situation and evaluate the impact on the credit risk profiles of its rated companies.
Time of India
28 minutes ago
- Time of India
Pixxel-led consortium bags L1 bid in India's first EO-PPP, Rs 1,200 crore project
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills In a first for India's space ecosystem, Bengaluru-based space startup Pixxel and its partners Piersight Space Satsure Analytics , and Dhruva Space have won the bid to design, build, and operate the country's first fully indigenous commercial earth observation (EO) satellite constellation under the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre's (IN-SPACe) public-private partnership (EO-PPP) programme will help reduce India's reliance on foreign sources and ensure data space promoter-cum-regulator on Tuesday said three consortia were shortlisted after rigorous technical evaluation: Astra Microwave Products with Bharat Electronics, Sisir Radar and Spectragaze Systems, and GalaxEye Space with CoreEL and PixxelSpace , along with its other three Pixxel consortium emerged as the lowest bidder (L1), surpassing the other two by a wide margin. PierSight's cofounder Vinit Bansal confirmed the same without revealing the exact amount of the bid. Pixxel's founder Awais Ahmed declined to disclose the consortium's exact bid a response to an ET query, GalaxEye founder Suyash Singh, part of the selected consortium, confirmed that their bid value was Rs 97 crore. Singh said GalaxEye, which is gearing up for the maiden launch of its EO Drishit satellite, was proud to be the youngest company to lead a consortium and qualify the next four years, the winning team will invest more than Rs 1,200 crore to deploy 12 satellites carrying optical, hyperspectral, and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors. These will provide high-resolution data for agriculture, urban planning, disaster management, climate monitoring, and national security.'Once operational, it will be among the most advanced EO systems in the world, designed, built, and operated entirely in India by Indian talent,' IN-SPACe said in a statement. The EO constellation will be deployed in a phased manner to ensure continuous service upgrades and expanded winning Pixxel-led consortium brings together complementary strengths. 'This PPP is about outcomes and execution speed. Our modular, software-defined radar electronics and deployable antenna heritage let us iterate quickly and align to IN‑SPACe's phased milestones,' Ahmedabad-based PierSight's Bansal known for its hyperspectral imaging expertise, will spearhead satellite design and integration. SatSure will contribute with its knowledge in geospatial analytics and value-added services for sectors such as agriculture and infrastructure, while Dhruva Space will provide its expertise in satellite platform and ground segment solutions.'Operated on a satellite-as-a-service model, the programme will provide guaranteed national access to advanced EO data while leveraging private-sector agility to deliver it at scale,' the winning consortium said in a Goenka, chairman, IN-SPACe, said the initiative signals the coming of age of India's private space industry in the space sector. 'It demonstrates the capability and confidence of Indian companies to lead large-scale, technologically advanced, and commercially viable space missions that serve both national and global markets.'As per a report by market research consulting firm Modor Intelligence, the global EO market is projected to grow from $4.3 billion in 2025 to $5.9 billion by 2030. India's push for EO capability through the EO-PPP aligns with its broader ambitions to scale its space economy from $8.4 billion to $44 billion by 2033.
