Rupee slide to weaken equity return; IT and pharma stocks look good

Corporate India, however, remains a net importer at the aggregate level and this explains why the broader market reacts negatively to currency depreciation

The broader market doesn't like a weak rupee. Historically, stock market returns have been poor in the year when the Indian currency has depreciated against the dollar and vice versa.

The rupee is down 7.1 per cent against the dollar since January and the benchmark BSE Sensex index is up only 2.8 per cent during the period, sharply down from the 17 per cent rise in the same period last year. The rupee had risen 5.3 per cent during the first six months of calendar year 2017.

Ten of the 14 major sectoral indices are in the red so far this year.