Indian stocks unlikely to give significant return in next 1-yr: Marc Faber

Faber finds countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia more attractive than India right now.

As global markets jostle with uncertainties, MARC FABER, Editor and Publisher of “The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, tells Puneet Wadhwa in a telephonic conversation that stock selection will be more important than index investing going ahead. Indices may underperform, but picking the right stocks can still yield good returns, he said. Edited excerpts:

 

What’s your view on how Donald Trump’s tariff agenda has played out in recent weeks? Are global markets in for more surprises?

 

The dollar has been weakening this year against foreign currencies, especially the yen and Swiss franc, and also against precious metals. Tariffs are certainly not favorable for the US dollar. Whether the decline is directly because of tariffs or other reasons is debatable, but tariffs certainly don't help.  As for surprises, yes, we should expect many. Mr. Trump takes decisions without fully considering the consequences and then reverses them depending on what his advisers or wealthy donors suggest. This creates increased market volatility. Just look at Tesla’s stock, which dropped 63 per cent between December and early April, then rallied by nearly 40 per cent.