Wall Street Strategists Bullish on India, Brazil, Birinyi Says

June 10 -- Wall Street strategists are the most bullish on equities in India and Brazil and favor Australia and Chile the least, according to Birinyi Associates Inc.

Seven of 13 strategists advise “overweight” positions in Indian stocks while six have “overweights” on Brazil, according to Birinyi’s survey, which covered recommendations by firms including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. in 29 countries and regions excluding the U.S.

“The anticipation is that these were the economies that were growing fastest and might have the best risk-reward opportunity as far as emerging markets are concerned,” Cleve Rueckert, research associate at Birinyi, a money-management and research firm based in Westport, Connecticut, said today in a telephone interview.

Global investors have purchased a net 251.9 billion rupees ($5.3 billion) of Indian equities this year, according to the nation’s market regulator, helping to fuel a 60 percent advance in the benchmark Sensitive Index. Brazil’s main index has gained 42 percent this year. International investors poured a record 6.08 billion reais into the Brazilian market last month, according to exchange owner BM&FBovespa SA.

India, Brazil, Russia and China make up the so-called BRIC nations.

Emerging-market assets have surged since the beginning of March as investors speculated the worst of the global recession is over. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index, a benchmark for equities in 22 countries, climbed 2.2 percent to 788.32 as of 12:07 p.m. in New York, as commodities rallied on bets that government spending is reviving Asian economies.

Mark Mobius, who helps oversee about $20 billion of emerging-market assets as executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management Ltd., predicted China will lead emerging-market stocks higher this year, according to a note posted on Templeton’s Web site. The MSCI China Index, a benchmark for overseas investors, has gained 107 percent from its 2008 low in October.

China wasn’t among the top countries in Birinyi’s survey. “There’s a mentality that China’s a little overbought,” Rueckert said.