Matthews Asia's Asnani: The outlook for India's stockmarket

Sunil Asnani, portfolio manager at Matthews Asia, gives his views on the most exciting investment opportunities in India and what lies ahead for the country in H2 2018.

How has India's stockmarket performed so far in 2018? Despite solid investment flows and improving growth trajectory, India's market corrected in the first quarter, led by cyclical stocks (such as state-owned banks, metals and commodities, real estate, and automobiles) and by small and mid-cap companies, where valuations have been much higher than historical averages. The unearthing of a $1.8bn scandal at India's second-largest state-owned bank, the tightening of norms by the Reserve Bank of India for early recognition of bad loans, and fears over the possibility of a rate increased we...