CLSA raises banks' weight in India portfolio, exits Eternal and most Vedanta stocks
XLF•CLSA raises banks in India portfolio
Brokerage CLSA raises its weight on banks in its India portfolio, naming ICICI Bank ICBK.NS, HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and State Bank of India SBI.NS preferred plays.
It says banks could emerge as the market's favoured sector if foreign inflows continue.
The brokerage cites attractive growth-adjusted valuations relative to global peers, and also expects higher potential net interest margins and stronger growth in an inflationary environment.
Indian banks .NSEBANK are down 4.9% year-to-date, outperforming the Nifty 50's .NSEI 9.6% decline; however, they continue to lag global bank benchmarks.
CLSA says relative valuations versus global peers have rarely appeared this supportive.
Exits Eternal and most Vedanta entities
CLSA also exits Eternal ETEA.NS and all Vedanta entities except Vedanta Aluminium VEDO.NS.
Nifty Bank falls 0.2% and Eternal slips 0.5%.
