With the Greek crisis showing no signs of abating, global markets are in turmoil. Though Indian markets opened in the red with the BSE Sensex falling about 600 points, the markets showed resilience by recovering some ground later. The Sensex finally ended 166 points down.
We asked fund managers on how will the Greek crisis impact our markets.
Amit Tripathi, Head - Fixed Income, Reliance Mutual Fund said that that the Greece crisis is unlikely to have a direct impact on the Indian economy unless the contagion spreads to Euro zone. “The risk would arise if the contagion spreads to Euro zone. The Greece crisis has no direct impact on our market. Our markets are impacted indirectly because of the volatility in forex market. Most FIIs we spoke to are bullish on Indian bonds which have seen correction of 20-30 basis points. Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong with our economy. Investors should not take impulsive decisions and watch the situation for one month.”
Pankaj Tibrewal, Fund Manager, Equity, Kotak MF says that he is not expecting any panic selling in Indian markets. “Like global markets, Indian markets would also correct. However, we do not see any panic selling in our market. It is not like 2008 Lehman crisis situation. We were already expecting it for some time now. Our economy is showing some early signs of recovering so I would urge investors to see this as a buying opportunity.”
Soumendra Nath Lahiri, Head – Equity, L&T Mutual Fund says that fundamentals will automatically drive flows in our markets. “Ultimately, fundamental will draw inflows in our market. Unlike earlier, our markets are strong now. Events like this will have only short term impact. We expect things to settle down by next 3-6 months. More than our markets, the Greek crisis would affect Euro zone markets.”
Dwijendra Srivastava, CIO, Debt, Sundaram Mutual Fund says “We have no direct linkage to Greece but our markets might see some volatility in the near term because we are integrated to Euro zone. The European Central Bank has started its quantitative easing program and it has enough cash to buy out debt of peripheral nations. I would advise investors opt for low duration funds at this juncture.”
