Latest news with #AdityaBirlaSunLifeAssetManagementCompany
Mint
28-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Indias ABSL AMC ups long-duration government bond bets, sees more rate easing
By Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra MUMBAI, July 28 (Reuters) - India's Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company is turning overweight on longer-duration government bonds, including 10-year, 30-year and 40-year maturities as it bets on at least one more rate cut, a senior executive said on Monday. "If we look at the sovereign yield curve, the one-three year bonds have rallied, but the 10-year, 30-year and 40-year bonds are at a very good space and as a result we are overweight duration, looking at that point," said Sunaina da Cunha, co-head fixed income (credits) at ABSL AMC, that manages debt assets worth 2.23 trillion rupees ($25.78 billion). Even 10-year state government bonds offer attractive spreads, she said, adding the fund will stick to an accrual strategy. The 10-year benchmark 2035 bond yield stood at 6.36%, while 30- and 40-year yields, were at 7.01% and 7.06%, respectively. With the Reserve Bank of India's policy rate at 5.50%, the fund manager expects at least one more 25-basis-point cut. "Food inflation would be kept under control, and good monsoon and spatial distribution will also provide us benefit. This opens up reasonable amount of space for a rate cut," she said. Fiscal policy remains in consolidation mode and has already done its part; with inflation running below target, it's now up to monetary policy to respond. "A 25 basis point rate cut is definitely on the cards, and there is a possibility of another 25 bps after that." Despite the preference for longer duration government bond exposure, the fund house prefers lower tenors on their corporate bond investments. "On the shorter end, we are overweight on short-term two-three years corporate bonds, because there is still a decent spread in the two-three years bonds, so there is juice there." The AAA-rated corporate bond yields were at a spread of around 80 basis points over the corresponding government bond yields. ($1 = 86.4910 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
Reuters
28-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Indian stocks' worst run in 29 years, wiping $1 trillion in wealth, may yet have legs
Summary India's Nifty 50 worst performing global market in five months India remains a "sell-on rise" market, fund manager says Positioning in derivatives market signals further risk Financials show resilience, IT stocks hit hard in February Feb 28 (Reuters) - India's NSE Nifty 50 (.NSEI), opens new tab is set for its fifth straight monthly loss - its longest such streak since 1996 - making India the worst performing global market, with investors and derivative markets signalling the pain is likely to linger. Weak earnings, persistent foreign outflows and uncertainty regarding U.S. tariffs have dragged the Nifty about 15% lower from its September peak, eroding nearly 85 trillion rupees (nearly $1 trillion) in investor wealth. "In the current scenario of U.S. tariff uncertainty, Indian markets will struggle a bit more," said Mahesh Patil, chief investment officer at Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company, which manages equity assets worth about $46 billion. While there could be brief rallies because of oversold conditions, "India will remain a sell-on-rise market for a few more months," Patil said. Foreign investors have sold Indian equities worth about $25 billion on a net basis since the end of September, of which $4.1 billion was in February. Local institutional investors have remained net buyers due to strong retail interest but inflows are slowing, Pratik Gupta, CEO of Kotak Institutional Equities, said in an outlook note this week. Overall net inflows continue but "most local mutual funds, insurance, and portfolio management funds are seeing a slowdown in their equity inflows," he said. Small-cap and mid-cap stocks have been hit harder than large caps. In February, the Nifty small-cap 100 (.NIFSMCP100), opens new tab and mid-cap 100 (.NIFMDCP100), opens new tab indices have plunged 13.2% and 11.3%, respectively. This has brought them 26% and 22% below their record high levels last year, respectively. Flows are moving towards safer large-cap equity funds or balanced debt-equity funds now compared to a rush to invest in small- and mid-cap funds till last year, Gupta said. "Selling pressure will continue to prevail in small-caps and mid-caps. Investors will stay away and wait and watch; there won't be strong buying support in the next month or two," Patil said. DERIVATIVE POSITIONING Positioning in the derivative market has also been signalling risk of further losses. High-net-worth (HNI) individuals and retail investors have cut long positions, while foreign investors - though adding longs in stock futures - have hedged them with index shorts, data from IIFL Securities and Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research showed. Open interest (OI), which tracks outstanding futures contracts, declined across both the Nifty 50 and the broader market, reflecting weak conviction among traders heading into March. With the 22,800 level now acting as resistance for the benchmark Nifty 50, analysts at both the brokerages see further downside. IIFL Securities' Sriram Velayudhan expects a drop to 21,800, while Nuvama's Abhilash Pagaria predicts the Nifty trading between 22,000 and 22,900 in March. ($1 = 87.3825 Indian rupees) Get the latest news from India and how it matters to the world with the Reuters India File newsletter. Sign up here.
