Markets in a sideways zone and looking at West Asia development, tariff deadline: Dipan Mehta

Synopsis

The stock market is currently navigating uncertainty due to developments in West Asia and the impending end of President Trump's tariff pause. While some investors are adopting a wait-and-see approach, positive domestic factors like improving monsoons and interest rate cuts are providing support. Experts suggest focusing on quality businesses at reasonable valuations, regardless of their market capitalization.

Dipan Mehta, Director, Elixir Equities, says the stock market is closely monitoring developments in West Asia and the conclusion of President Trump's tariff pause on July 9th. These events are causing some investors to withdraw funds and await the outcomes. However, positive fundamental news, including improving monsoons and interest rate cuts, is supporting the equities market.

What are you making of the market moves because at one point yesterday it looked like we were very close to the 25,000 mark on the Nifty?
Dipan Mehta: It is very difficult to predict and reason why markets’ intraday movements like this. All I can say is that there are two-three major events that the stock market is looking forward to. One is what is happening in West Asia and how those skirmishes over there are going to play out and the US Fed meeting and most importantly, 9th July is the day when the 90-day pause ends for President Trump's tariffs.

These are the events that the markets are tracking and because of that, we are seeing some amount of money being taken off the stock market and waiting in the sidelines to let these kinds of events play out. At the same time, the fundamental news remains positive, monsoons are picking up, and interest rate cut also is working out in favour of the equities market.

Of course, tax cuts also have a benefit in terms of higher disposable income. So, basically, it is difficult to say why markets were up or down today, but broadly we are in a sideways zone and that will last until any of these events play out completely which I just spoke about.

While we are analysing the performance of the markets in the last 16 years, it has really been the midcap and the smallcap spaces that have outperformed the Nifty. Nifty up 473%, smallcap up 605%, and midcap up 997% almost a 1000% runup coming in. Over the longer period, given these numbers as perspective, would you still be betting on blue chips or do you believe that there are select opportunities in the broader markets that could do much better?
Dipan Mehta: Strategy has to be to buy good quality businesses at reasonable valuations and what is blue chip today may not be a blue chip tomorrow and what was not a blue chip yesterday may become a blue chip tomorrow, so we do not really look at those broader markets and blue chip and those categorisations.

All I can say is that the last 16 years have been great and ET Now has done a phenomenal job in terms of presenting all the various investment themes, the management, covering all the news as well as they have done and we are really happy for that. You have made us more intelligent investors per se and nothing changes really. The investment game has remained the same for the last several decades and going forward also will kind of remain the same.

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