market review, franklin templeton, templeton, mutual funds

1. Market Review
WEEK ENDED APRIL 6, 2012
International
Global equity markets finished the week lower amidst renewed concerns about Europe and on signs that US
Federal Reserve is less likely to take up further quantitative easing over the near term.The MSCI AC World Index
declined 1.58% after euro-area economic data came in below market expectations and lackluster demand for
Spanish bonds. Major Treasury bond yields were broadly trading lower as economic data came in lower than
expectations in key economies. Prices of commodities including crude oil, industrial & precious metals corrected
this week and the Reuters Jefferies CRB Index closed 0.64% lower.The US dollar pared weekly gains after slower
than expected expansion in jobs weighed on the currency.
• Asia-Pacific: Chinese stocks rebounded this week after China Securities Regulatory Commission
increased the amount qualified foreign institutional investors can invest in equities, bonds and bank deposits
to $80 bln from $30 bln. China PMI data indicated divergent trends – the official PMI index moved up to
53.1 from 51, in contrast to the HSBC PMI index that edged lower.The variance may be due to the latter’s
bias towards export-oriented industries vis-à-vis the former.The Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey showed that
business sentiment remained cautious – the large manufacturers' business sentiment index remained
unchanged. Economic data out of South Korea was mixed with manufacturing PMI improving and
inflation falling, while exports fell. Reserve Bank of Australia left the cash rate unchanged at 4.25%. On the
M&A front, DBS is acquiring 67% stake in Indonesia’s Bank Danamon for $4.9 bln.
• Europe: A weak Spanish debt auction and dismal economic data weighed on regional equity market
sentiment. Euro Area Markit final PMI was confirmed at 47.7, down from 49 in February as France and
Germany recorded significant decline in activity. In contrast periphery nations reported improvement.
German factory orders and industrial production data was lackluster (up 0.3%mom), but the country’s
unemployment rate continued to ease and business confidence touched multi-month highs. Both Bank
of England and ECB left policy rates unchanged. Turkey's central bank increased funding to alleviate
liquidity pressures, but indicated that it will continue to support Lira and target inflation curbing.
Economic reports out of the UK were mixed – services PMI and business optimism index
climbed higher while the manufacturing activity index fell by 1%. Illumina’s board rejected Roche’s
takeover offer.
• Americas: US equity indices finished lower this week as investors speculated the US Federal Reserve
will not pursue further quantitative easing and concerns about euro-zone resurfaced. On the economic
front, non-farm payrolls expanded by 120,000 and the unemployment rate fell by one tick to 8.2%.
However, the expansion was much lesser than market expectations.While the ISM manufacturing index
rose, the services index slid to 56 from 57.3. Elsewhere in the region, Canada added 82,300 jobs
following a 2,300 decline in February. Consequently the jobless rate dipped to 7.2% from 7.4%. The
Brazilian government announced a wide range of measures as part of its fiscal stimulus package and to
beef up domestic industry - around $60 billion or 1.5% of its GDP. On the corporate front, Avon
rejected Coty’s $10 bln offer stating it substantially undervalued the company. Burger King sold 29%
stake for $1.4 bln to Justice Holdings, which plans to take the company public again.

2. Weekly Weekly
change (%) change (%)
MSCI AC World Index -1.58 Xetra DAX* -2.47
FTSE Eurotop 100* -1.49 CAC 40* -3.04
MSCI AC Asia Pacific -1.34 FTSE 100* -0.78
Dow Jones* -1.15 Hang Seng* 0.18
Nasdaq* -0.36 Nikkei -3.92
S&P 500* -0.74 KOSPI 0.74
*As of April 5, 2012
India - Equity
Frontline indices were range-bound but managed to close the holiday shortened week on a positive note. Gains
in mid and small cap stocks outpaced large caps by a significant margin. Consumer durables, capital goods and
power sectors outperformed broad markets while healthcare stocks fell. FII flows for the first two days of the
week amounted to $73 mln. On the macro front, the latest HSBC PMI release for India indicates industrial
activity moderated reflecting a drop in both the current and forward looking indicators. The index however
remains above 50 (in expansion mode).
• Foreign flows: FII inflows have been quite healthy in 2012 helped by increased risk appetite (equity
markets) and also the search for higher yields (debt markets). Compared to last year’s FII outflows of $495
mln in equity and $8.5 bln inflows in debt, we have witnessed YTD positive flows of $8.9 bln in equity
and $3.9 bln in debt respectively. However, recent changes proposed in the Union Budget with respect to
offshore transactions and tax havens, once notified, are likely to impact short term flows. Foreign investors
are seeking clarity on various issues to ensure compliance. At this stage, it appears that long term investors
in equity might not be impacted (no long term capital gains tax in India) too much, but debt flows might
be affected, depending on the final clarifications.
Source: FactSet, IBES Estimates, Morgan Stanley Research

3. • Corporate Earnings: Over the last few quarters, Corporate India has been able to register reasonable
revenue growth in a challenging environment, but cost pressures have weighed on profitability. While
headline inflation has tapered in the recent quarter, Indian companies continue to face pressures on
account of high borrowing rates and rising commodity prices. This trend could continue into FY13 as
interest rates are unlikely to come down in a hurry and a mix of decent growth in US/supply issues can
keep input costs at higher levels. The weak rupee can help exporters but will exacerbate import cost
pressures. While markets have rallied in 2012, valuations are still below long term averages and earnings
challenges along with short term issues such as GAAR can impact foreign flows. Downward revisions to
earnings growth have slowed over the last couple of months and we expect earnings trend across sectors/
companies to be disparate. Companies with strong positions (superior products/services, healthy balance
sheets, strong and reliable cash flows) are to stand out for their capability to weather adversity and defend
their market/ competitive positions. Hence, we continue to believe that this environment is ideal for
bottom up stock pickers.
Weekly change (%)
BSE Sensex 0.47
S&P CNX Nifty 0.52
S&P CNX 500 0.96
CNX Midcap 1.28
BSE Smallcap 3.25
India - Debt
Lingering supply woes led Indian bond markets to extend declines this holiday shortened week. The RBI cut back
the t-bill borrowings this week, after the government's first FY13 auction partially devolved on primary dealers.
• Yield Movements: Yields on the 10-year and 5-year benchmark bond yields rose 12 bps each.Yields on 5-
year AAA rated corporate bond increased 9 bps and consequently spreads over gilts narrowed to 91 bps from
95 bps last week.Yields on the 1 year paper firmed up 7 bps while those on the 30-year g-sec paper increased
10 bps. As a result, spreads between the long (30-year) & short end (1-year) of the curve expanded to 45 bps.
• Liquidity/ Borrowings: Overnight call money rates eased back to 8.75% levels and demand for liquidity
under the RBI’s LAF window averaged much lower as year-end pressures faded. Scheduled bond auctions for
four GOI securities – 8.19% GOI 2020, 9.15% GOI 2024, 8.97% GOI 2030 and 8.83% GOI 2041 – worth
Rs. 18,000 crores were subscribed 1.6 times, but the 2020 and 2030 paper auctions devolved partially on
primary dealers due to pricing issues.
• Forex: Relative strength in US dollar post FOMC minutes led the Indian rupee to weaken 0.4% against the
US dollar. As of Mar 30, forex reserves aggregated to $294.4 bln, down $742.5 mln over last week levels.

4. Source: Morgan Stanley Research
• Macro: As per latest data from RBI, lending growth has increased to about 17% levels and is much ahead of
deposit growth, which has decelerated further to 13.4% (a near seven year low).
On the government finances front, latest data indicated fiscal deficit for Apr-Feb was 94.6% of the revised
budget estimates.This is much higher than the 68.6% deficit recorded in the previous of the budgeted target.
Earlier last month, the government had revised up the fiscal deficit target for FY12 fiscal year to 5.9% of GDP
from 4.6% projected earlier.
04.04.2012 30.03.2012
Exchange rate (Rs./$) 51.06 50.87
Average repos (Rs. Cr) 110,940 179,278
1-yr gilt yield (%) 8.40 8.33
5-yr gilt yield (%) 8.72 8.60
10-yr gilt yield (%) 8.69 8.57
Source: Reuters, Bloomberg
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is neither an offer for units nor an invitation to invest.This communication is meant for use by the recipient and not for circulation/reproduction
without prior approval.The views expressed by the portfolio managers are based on current market conditions and information available to them
and do not constitute investment advice.
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