Rising oil prices are bad for economic fundamentals but history suggests India's performance rises with crude's early rise and ebbs with crude's further rise, Citigroup said in a note.
Citi has maintained its target of 18,400 for the 30-share benchmark index for December 2012, saying investors should look not just at crude oil but the market's fair value and portfolio positioning as well.
"A graphical view ... suggests that a Brent crude level of about $110 is where India switches from an outperformer to an underperformer," Citi said in a report on Friday.
Earlier, research house Macquarie had said that India should brace for an oil shock as crude oil has hit an all-time high in rupee terms and that could raise macro concerns leading to a de-rating of Indian equities.
