LARGE-CAPS STEAL THE SHOW IN AUGUST

Investors seem to have shifted their focus to large-caps, with the benchmark indices outperforming the small- and mid-cap indices for the first time this year in August. The bluechip focused Sensex and Nifty rose 9.4 per cent and 8.7 per cent, respectively, while the Nifty

Midcap 100 rose 2.2 per cent, and

Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 2.5 per cent. The strong showing in

August was supported by domestic investor inflows, say experts. “We have had 12 months of really strong foreign flows until June. But this quarter, we have seen softness in FPI flows. But domestic flows are really holding up the markets. Our view is that since we have seen India perform really strong despite not delivering the kind of earnings growth that other emerging markets have given, there could be some consolidation,” said Sunil Tirumalai, equity strategist, UBS Securities. The brokerage has a 12-month Nifty target of 16,000, indicating some correction from current levels.