The markets seem to be on a post-Diwali high, as the Sensex crossed the much-awaited 13,000 mark on Monday on the back of strong buying in index pivotals.
The Sensex has hit four milestones of 1,000 points during this year; i.e. 10,000, 11,000, 12,000 and 13,000. It took a total of 135 days for the Sensex to move from 12,000 to 13,000.
The banking and IT sectors seem to have risen the most in this rally towards 13K. While the Bankex was up 10%, the BSE Tech Index was up 16%.
So what is slated for these sectors ahead and which stocks should one bet on within these sectors? Experts reveal.
Upendra Kulkarni of Fortress Financial Services is very positive on the IT sector, and believes that there will be no let-up in its rally ahead too.
He says, "I am very positive on the IT sector, it is one of my hot favourites. I especially like the top companies in this sector. The only worry for this sector could be slowdown in the US economy, which could lead to cost pressures. However that apart, IT will do well and I see most companies growing."
He adds that while frontliners like Infosys, Wipro and TCS continue to look good, from the second rung stocks Tech Mahindra looks good. "Tech Mahindra has risen up at every correction and thus I have been and will continue to be positive on it," says Kulkarni.
As regards the banking sector he says, "For the banking sector, interest rates will always remain a question mark. However, in the current scenario with liberalisation, things will remain positive for banking. Banking has been an underperformer in the past, so we saw it performing in this rally. One should invest in it, but selectively. I am positive on SBI, PNB, ICICI Bank, UTI and HDFC."
Sumit Rohra of Antique Stock Broking says that while both these sectors have done well in this rally, he would not be very bullish on them now.
He says, "The IT sector has done very well in this rally, the prices are up 25-30%. IT will do decently well but I am not very gung-ho on it yet, since the rupee is also doing fine now. But I am very positive on midcap IT stocks, especially Tech Mahindra. Same is the case with banking, while it did perform in the previous rally, ahead I don't have so much of a comfort level with it. One should hold the banking stocks that one has, but taking fresh positions is not recommended."
He adds that going ahead, he is more positive on the hotels, media and property stocks.
