Stick to known FMCG names: HDFC Sec

The September futures and options series began today. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, VK Sharma, HDFC Securities says he is not too much gung-ho on the market for the first part of the series. "The market is less confident of itself now,” he adds.

According to him, one would like to wait for the level of 5,350 to be broken on the higher side to take a bullish view. "At this point of time, I think it is safer to stick to the known names in the FMCG space like Tata Global," he asserts. Multibaggers: SP Tulsian's picks for long-term returns Below is the edited transcript of his interview with CNBC-TV18's Udayan Mukherjee and Sonia Shenoy. Q: How are you positioning yourself for the first part of the September series now? A: For the first part, we are not too much gung-ho on the market per se. Today, we would like to keep quiet. We would like to take a call on Tuesday. My own sense is that the market is less confident of itself now. The Nifty OI (open interest) is highest since February this year. The OI stock futures is lowest in the last three months. The market doesn’t seem to be very confident of itself. So, I think one would like to wait for the level of 5,350 to be broken on the higher side to take a bullish view. At this point of time, I think it is safer to stick to the known names in the FMCG space like Tata Global. Q: How would you approach something like JSPL, which has both an overhang of the metal sector weakness as well as negative news flow? A: I think this is a stock that needs to be avoided. I think puts are pretty liquid here. So, I would suggest the positions, which are already there, need to be protected with the put. I don’t envisage taking any fresh short positions at this point of time, till we get some more idea about what’s happening on Monday. More importantly, if you really want to pick something up in the metal space then I think Hindustan Zinc is much better placed. It is a stock that did well in the last series also, went up as compared to the stocks that went down. There is a positive trigger also in case the government does accept the offer of the Vedanta Group then the stock could do well. I think that is a stock that can be bought at dips.