Fireworks seen till Diwali

Euphoria has again gripped the majority of fund managers who feel that the market is headed for new highs. Billionaire investor and trader Rakesh Jhunjunwala says there is no stopping the market from here on.

"I am bullish. We will scale new peaks. The only concern for me is the fear of the unknown. Only something which is not known can upset this market. Investors are returning to the market and that is the reason why the market has turned around so quickly," Jhunjunwala said.

Mukarram Bhagat, CEO and managing partner, ASKRaymond James & Associates, also says the market momentum will continue. He expects the Sensex to touch 13,000 level by Diwali.

"We have been bullish... India is among the very few high performing markets in the world and it will continue to perform exceedingly well," he says.

Admitting that valuations are quite demanding at this stage, especially in big-cap stocks, Bhagat points out that there are several good mid-cap and small-cap stocks that are expected to catch up, in the current bull run. "The rise from the current levels will be stock specific," he says.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Motilal Oswal, however, prefers to be cautious. "We expect the market to consolidate at these levels. There are risks for investors in short-term. But, if they are looking at a two-three year horizon, they can expect good returns," he says. "We are bullish on information technology, telecom and cement," Oswal adds.

Manish Kanchan, CEO of Ambit Capital Pvt Ltd, feels another 500-700 point upward movement is achievable in short-term.

"We have a strong corporate performance in second-quarter where we are seeing a growth in both earnings-per-share and return on investments. Oil prices are at a one-year low and interest rate seems to have peaked," he explains.

Nirmal Jain, chairman and managing director of India Infoline, also does not find the market expensive. "We should keep in mind that mid-caps and small-caps quote at even lower price-earnings multiples. Besides, the indices have a significant component of the software and services sector which deserves a higher multiple," he points out.