India is among the least favoured markets in Asia: Sunil Tirumalai of UBS

As liquidity starts drying up, banks rates start rising and market returns struggle, we expect some level of softness in household market allocations, he said

Rising interest rates and winding down of the bond-buying program by the US Federal Reserve has dented the equity markets across the globe. SUNIL TIRUMALAI, strategist at UBS Securities India, tells Puneet Wadhwa in an interview that the marginal retail investor is already sitting on over 10 per cent losses on the money s/he incrementally invested in 2021. Edited excerpts:

Do you think equities as an asset class will underperform other investment avenues? 

Overall, while Indian bonds have themselves become expensive in an emerging market (EM) context, the relationship between Indian equities and bonds is also skewed in favour of