Traders shy away from Modi stocks in shift to defensives

“There’s a pronounced shift in focus from infrastructure to agriculture and consumer sectors,” said Sonam Srivastava, founder and fund manager at Wright Research and Capital Pvt. — Bloomberg

MUMBAI: Investors in India are shunning stocks that were expected to benefit from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s re-election and instead piling into defensive sectors.

An index of the so-called Modi stocks, a term coined by CLSA, has climbed only 2% as the prime minister completed his first 100 days in office after winning a third term in early June. In contrast, consumer and software stocks have rallied 20% and 34%, respectively.