Survivors of Covid-19. Top stock picks By Sharekhan

Covid-19: India Inc’s health report

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact the global economy since its outbreak. As for India, a 21-day lockdown and other prompt measures by the government have placed us in a still relatively better position, as compared to the figures released by some developed countries, but economic activity has been disrupted at varied levels across sectors and businesses. Now, as India heads for another nationwide shutdown until May 3, 2020, the impact on economic activities will be deeper.

The most-impacted sectors are those that involve discretionary spending, which include multiplexes/theme- parks, automobiles, malls, travel/tourism, real-estate hotels, etc), while essentials such as staples (FMCG), healthcare/pharma, telecom and utilities would be relatively less impacted. Further, owing to low business activity and potential in unsecured books, the financials sector looks highly vulnerable to the Covid-19 crisis.

In this latest Covid-19 edition from Sharekhan, we have tried to broadly outline the sectoral impact and our preferred investment picks in respective sectors. However, we are still in the early days and looking at the severity of the crisis, the impact could be bigger on economy and the recovery would be gradual.

As we are at the start of the Q4FY2020 earnings season, we will get further clarity on the quantum and duration of the impact on companies from the current crisis. We will keep you posted…

Stay Safe for a Stronger tomorrow…