Economist P.K. Basu Explains Where Indians Should Invest Amid Volatile Market Conditions

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]I think you should be buying into or at least holding on to the market not abandoning it.

[00:00:12]Well, now is not the time to pull out of the market.

[00:00:16]Valuations are improving as stock prices fall. So, you shouldn't be pulling out now. You should be looking to find some bargains in the market.

[00:00:27]Valuations have improved a great deal.

[00:00:29]India is no longer looking that expensive relative to others.

[00:00:33]Many companies are reporting pretty decent earnings. And so, of course, there are some exceptions. Those that are affected by higher oil prices are perhaps the ones that you should avoid. But, in general, we've seen we've seen very strong car sales, cement sales, etc. And that will flow through to to better earnings for Indian corporates. And so, at this time with valuations having improved, with earnings likely to look look better as we go forward, I think you should be buying into or at least holding on to the market not abandoning it.

[00:01:21]Yeah, yeah, I mean I think uh commodity players uh you know, uh as well as things like autos are are worth buying into. So, you know, the likes of say Vedanta for instance, we've seen higher commodity prices. Uh They aren't as you know, they aren't a big user of uh of uh of oil.

[00:01:47]Uh or largely their oil use is hedged.

[00:01:50]And and so, I think that is is one sort of company that that'll be benefiting.

[00:01:54]Uh the the the auto companies are seeing very strong sales. So, uh, the likes of Tata Motors, uh, Mahindra and Mahindra, uh, Maruti, you know, they are they are uh, holding on and and seeing uh, good top line growth uh, and their bottom line should be reasonably robust.

[00:02:16]So, uh, those are some of the areas and I think there's been a fairly major sell-off in the banks. Uh, I would selectively be looking at some of the some of the private banks as well. Uh, the likes of HDFC, Axis Bank, and uh, uh, and ICICI Bank.