Foreign fund managers still back India

The rupee is caught in a downward spiral but foreign fund managers are not panicking yet. This is because they believe that the fall in the rupee should also be seen in the context of the overall decline in emerging market currencies this year. The Indian rupee breached the 71 mark to a dollar and is expected to slide further, which will erode the value of foreigners??? stock investments in India. While a lot of the hot money has moved out of India, portfolio managers who still hold that India???s economic prospects are intact will continue to stay put. The strong GDP numbers for the June quarter announced over the weekend is giving many of them a reason to stay invested, but a lot will depend on the outcome of the national elections scheduled next year. ET spoke to three overseas portfolio managers and a senior brokerage executive servicing foreign investors for their views.?

Ayon Mukhopadhyay

Director-UK & Europe, IIFL Institutional Equities?
THE 11 per cent FALL in the rupee over the last one year has been mainly due to dollar strength rather than rupee weakness. I expect the rupee to be gradually depreciating over the medium to long term as the US dollar will continue to be strong and there will be more tightening by the Fed. If there is a continuation of this sudden fall, the RBI may interfere at 73-mark to help the importers and halt an immediate inflation. The panic has not set in among FIIs. Their rationale has not changed not changed on India investments. FII flows have been weak due to the sustained negative bias on Emerging markets. That will continue. The macro economic data points for India among other EMs still remain quite strong.?

Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/foreign-fund-managers-still-back-india/articleshow/65652384.cms