Invest in these stocks after Diwali

The markets seemed to have post-Diwali blues on October 23! The first day after the start of Samvat 2063, and the markets traveled down and ended lower in the grip of profit booking. The Sensex closed at 12,623.28 down 113.54 points and the Nifty was down 12.5 points to close at 3558.5.

So where should one book profits or make fresh investments now? Experts give their picks.

Sajiv Dhawan of JV Capital Services believes after Q2 results, the whole midcap tech space is getting re-rated. His picks there include Aptech, which had a good run-up. He maintains a hold and even suggests a 'buy' on dips on it. Polaris too, still looks attractive to him at the current level, after its Q2 results.

"You are not going to see these stocks run away as fast considering they had good run-up over the last one-two months. So get into stocks selectively on dips or have at least three-six months timeframe. Then you can even start nibbling at a couple of stocks I mentioned even at current prices," he suggests.  

Giving his views on IFCI, he says, "From Rs 17 down to Rs 10, there is always a 'buy' on it. But I have very rarely seen investors make consistent profit on it," he says. So Dhawan says that he would preferably stay away from this stock because it has not given investors any real joy over the last few years.

Dhawan has a neutral stand on HP and BP currently and is initiating some buys maybe around Rs 305 - 310. He is not overly bullish on this sector for short term because, according to him, it is difficult to predict with volatile oil prices. But he does believe the results will be very good this quarter. "But it is a very difficult sector to play for the medium or longer term. So, this is a sector I prefer to stay away from," he says.

Discussing Tech Mahindra, he says, 'If you are looking for a substantial price appreciation in the short term, then from that perspective, you can get out of a Tech Mahindra and get into one of the other midcap Tech stocks, which are likely to give you better returns."

"But if you are very happy with the performance of your company and are patient, then by all means, hold on to the stock. I can see higher levels, which means at least a Rs 1000 plus, maybe not immediately, but definitely in three-six months time," he adds. So for a low-risk investor, who likes quality stocks, Tech Mahindra is definitely a hold.

Rajesh Agarwal of CD Equisearch too gives his picks. In the sugar space, he likes Triveni and Balrampur, along with Bajaj Hindustan, which, according to him, is a very good company for the long-term investor.

In the midcap IT space, he recommends Prithvi and Tulip IT. 'For Prithvi, I been pushing since Rs 300 levels,' he says.

In the metal pack, Tata Steel looks good to him. But he tries to explain, if the Corus deal goes through, the debt will be very high in the books, and servicing that debt will be quite a problem. "That is the only concern otherwise it is going to be very good in the long-term, Tata Steel is a good buy," he says.

In the midcap metal sector, he likes JSW Steel, which has given very good numbers. 'It has a very small capital base and can give excellent returns in the longer-term with capacity expansion,' he says.

Though the textile sector hasn't performed, Agarwal believes there are some very good picks like Nahar Spinning and Alok Textile there for the long-term. In fact, Nahar Spinning is better of the lot, according to him.

In the auto space, he finds Bajaj Auto looking good because of the kind of investments they have in their book and their products, which have been taken well by the markets. "In the short-term, they have seen a lot of correction because of the 100 CC bike. But going forward, I think Bajaj Auto would be a better bet than Hero Honda and TVS," he says.

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