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The bottom is in place for the Nifty, but the best is yet to come -- Nilesh Shah, MD & CEO of Envision Capital is sticking his neck out and saying it in clear terms. He is also very sanguine about a double-digit earnings growth for 2018-19.

India is the second largest cement producer of globally. The industry has added 110 million tonnes of capacity in last five years. However, financial year 2017-18 has been a relatively tough one for the industry due to a ban on sand mining, use of pet coke and diminished market concentration of industry leaders.

Mid-cap IT stocks have been in the limelight, gaining 20-40 per cent over the last month with a large chunk of the gains coming over the last couple of weeks driven by improving deal pipeline, growing digital business and rupee depreciation. While MindTree and Zensar Technologies posted gains of over 35 per cent, Mphasis, NIIT Tech and the L&T software twins gained upwards of 19 per cent.

Apart from global cues and corporate results, the markets are eyeing the outcome of the Karnataka Assembly polls to gauge political mood in the run-up to the 2019 general elections, VINEET BHATNAGAR, managing director and chief executive officer, Phillip Capital (India), tells that BJP loss in Karnataka will be a short-term sentiment dampener, from which markets should recover.

The Indian stock market, along with its global peers, witnessed a steep sell-off in February and March this year, but the rebound in April has erased a large part of these losses. However, with the Indian benchmark index, the Nifty 50, once again edging close to its life-time high, the valuation of Indian stocks appears to be the priciest when compared to other global markets.

At first glance, the burst of volatility in 2018 is difficult to square with propitious micro and macro fundamentals. The backdrop is one of steady economic growth; strong corporate earnings; and low rates of unemployment, inflation and default. None of these is a departure from 2017, a year when the S&P 500 Index experienced the lowest level of realized volatility in more than 50 years.

World markets entered 2018 speculating that the most synchronised global economic expansion in a decade was about to overheat but growth has since proved underwhelming.

Weakness in the rupee, surging bond yields in America and the US Federal Reserve's interest rate hike forecasts will constrain capital flows into India, says Sanjay Singh, head of global markets at the Indian arm of BNP Paribas, the French international banking group. Political uncertainty is also weighing on investor sentiment, says Singh.

If the crude oil prices continue to go up, there could be variations in the performance of emerging markets (EMs). Markets such as Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Russia could gain at the expense of oil importers such as India, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Indian stocks have been roughed up along with most markets in recent months, but there could soon be reason to cheer. National elections are due by 2019, and modern history shows that tends to be a good thing for investors.

The rupee closed at 66.76 against the US dollar on Thursday. On Wednesday, it had fallen to an over 14-month low against the dollar. Currency dealers expect it to fall further and breach the 67 mark against the dollar.

Nervousness in Indian markets is creeping in across all asset classes as US 10-year treasury yields touch 3 per cent after four years and the dollar starts rising from its multi-year lows. The recent rise in portfolio outflow could be an indication of future strain in the system, even as investors are well informed about the pace of normalisation of monetary policies in developed nations.

Talking to ET Now, Amit Jeswani, CIO, Stallion Asset, says alcohol stocks, hotel stocks, aviation stocks will be trending next and create the big alpha

Talking to ET Now, Swanand Kelkar, ED, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, says growth is not a challenge for private sector banks because two-third of the banking industry dominated by PSU banks is not doing much.

Indian markets have turned around after a sharp correction between February and March. The upside to the market, however, is likely to be limited from the current levels given the slightly weak macros, geopolitical risks and the political events going ahead, says Deepak Ramachandra, head of sales, India Equities, at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.