Overweight on IT; ITC & HUL unattractive: Credit Suisse

Sakthi Siva, Credit Suisse says while the price-to-book gap between Indian cyclicals and defensives has narrowed from a recent low of -7.9x to -5.8x recently, the current gap compares with -3.3x at the 2008 lows and -6.8x at the 2013 lows.

Moreover, the return on equity (RoE) gap between cyclicals and defensives appears to be stabilising, as RoE in staples and utilities are slowing, she adds.

"We continue to be overweight on Indian IT, particularly HCL Technologies and find defensives, particularly staples seeing EPS downgrades (ITC and Hindustan Unilever), unattractive," Siva says.

Keith Parker, Barclays says solid US Retail sales pushed equities and rates higher ahead of the FOMC meeting today. He further says US economists expect the Fed to remain on hold at its meeting, deferring rate hikes while it assesses downside risks to the outlook after recent financial market stress.

He expects Fed Chair, Janet Yellen to emphasise data-dependence but he believes concerns about external demand and inflation will delay hikes until March 2016.