ICICI Sec sees Nifty scaling life high of 6700 before LS polls

Leading brokerage ICICI Securities sees the Nifty scaling life-time high of 6,700 in the run-up to the general elections next year after a decisive set of results today from the assembly polls.

“We see the Nifty sniffing at a new high of 6,300 on the decisive election results in four of the five states that went to polls immediately. We see resistance at 6,300 in the immediate future but peaking to 6,700 in the run-up to the forthcoming general elections on expectation that the today’s decisive victory will be carried forward in the run-up to the general elections,” I-Sec CEO and Managing Director Anup Bagchi told PTI in an interview.

I-Sec or ICICI Securities is the brokerage arm of the ICICI group which also runs the country’s largest private sector bank.

“Though this rally may be brief and the market will step back and wait for improving fundamentals again. Still we see that mood is very positive,” he said, while adding that what the market needs is a decisive administration. So, whichever party secures a clear mandate will help market sentiment, he added. Many foreign brokerages such as Goldman Sachs, Nomura and CLSA had attributed the recent market rally to the likelihood of a Narendra Modi-led BJP government after the May hustings. When asked about the retail broking business, he said it is “doing well as the company is adding at around 28,000 new customers a month”.

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[caption id=“attachment_1058153” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Nifty[/caption]

Almost 15 percent of its total 2.7 million customers are ICICI Bank customers, he added. Though he refused to share any revenue figures, a company source said the retail broking saw revenue growth of 15 percent in the first half of this fiscal. Even as the market has touched an all-time high, the retail participation has been negligible as the rally has been limited to a few large caps. Bagchi also said his retail customer base stands at 27 lakh, and is making money as well.

“In the trying times like today, we cannot afford to stick to one or two areas. We need to be present in all areas. And that is precisely what we have been doing,” he said. When asked about the recently launched e-voting facility and what is the rationale for it is, as monetisation of this model looks bleak, he said everything cannot be monetised immediately and profit was not the singular driver of this innovation.

“Profits will come at the appropriate time. The e-voting is a service we are offering currently free of charges to our customers,” Bagchi said.

PTI