Chris Wood trims exposure to Indian equities by 1 point

Global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, Christopher Wood, has cut his exposure to Indian equities by one percentage point in the Asia-Pacific ex-Japan relative-return portfolio, and Australia and Malaysia by half a percentage point each in favour of China, which has seen a hike in exposure by two percentage points

- PUNEET WADHWA

The rally in China has been fast-forwarded by the approach of a seven-day holiday with the CSI 300 Index up 8.5 per cent on Monday, and 25.1 per cent in five trading days, he said. The next day of trading in Shanghai will be October 8.

“As a result, China's neutral weightings in the MSCI AC Asia-Pacific ex-Japan and MSCI Emerging Markets benchmarks have surged by 3.4 and 3.7 percentage points, respectively over the past five trading days to 26.5 per cent and 27.8 per cent. This highlights the difficulties facing fund managers in these asset classes in a country where key policy decisions are, seemingly, essentially made by one man,” Wood said.

Geopolitics a risk