New year, optimism and concern

Earnings growth is expected to accelerate as lingering toxic effects of note ban ease off and GST settles down. However, stock valuations are high and that means market is also overdue for correction

Investors had cause to celebrate going into the Christmas weekend with the indices edging to all-time highs.  There’s cause to be optimistic about the new year but there’s also several areas of concern. Earnings growth is expected to accelerate as the lingering toxic effects of demonetisation ease off and the new goods and services tax (GST) settles down. However, stock valuations are incredibly high and that means the market is also overdue for a deep correction.

The last calendar year has seen the Nifty up by 28 per cent (January 2017-December 2017). It’s been outperformed by the Midcaps Free Float