The investor community may be in a celebratory mood at the turn of the year since it has been a reasonably good one in terms of financial gain. Investor wealth has grown steadily in 2012, with the Sensex rising to reach 19,317 on December 14, up by over 24 per cent from where it stood at the beginning of the calendar year.
In 2011, the Sensex had dipped a matching 24 per cent. Gold returned a decent 14 per cent in 2012, though that was lower than the previous year's 31 per cent return. Debt, too, remained strong with the year-to-date return of the indicative 10-year G-Secs being slightly over 8 per cent.
Will the good run spill over to 2013?
It's never easy to predict financial markets. The good news is that the
government's mid-year economic analysis tabled in Parliament holds out hope of a "gradual recovery" in the economy, with the index of
industrial production growing by 8.2 per cent in October, the highest in the current financial year. However, this comes at a time when the growth momentum has considerably slowed down.
The
economy is projected to grow in the current financial year at
between 5.7 per cent and 5.9 per cent, against an average growth rate of around 8 per cent in the last decade. The slowdown has cut across sectors, including agriculture, industry and services.
The global situation, too, has not been very conducive to pushing domestic growth with the euro zone continuing to be in recession.
Consumer price index inflation has remained high with an average of around 10 per cent between April-September this year.
What should be your investment strategy amid the not-so-savoury
domestic macro-economic indicators and the global situation?
In our cover package, we give you a detailed picture of the various emerging investment options for 2013 and what should be your assetallocation strategies.
It could be a year where you might have to remain cautious, and selective, on equity investment, while you will do well to spread a generous portion of your investible surplus across debt instruments.
To temper your investment returns expectations, we bring to you what could be realistic long-term returns from different asset classes, including equities, gold and real estate. And if you are into equity investment, we tell you how to value stocks, since it is not always that a stock with a low market price will be the best investment compared to its peers.
Staying with equities, we tell you whether changes in promoters' holdings in a company are a good enough trigger to decide whether to buy or exit a stock investment. We hope this wholesome year-end package will help you in adding to your wealth.
The MONEY TODAY team wishes you a very prosperous and joyous New Year.
SARBAJEET K SEN
Executive Editor
