D-Street's record 11-month stock rally is at risk as profits cool
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India’s stocks have powered ahead in recent months as surging earnings outweighed fears about lofty valuations. That dynamic is at risk with companies forecast to report slowing profit growth. Brokerages predict that companies in the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index will either report flat or low single digits profit gains for the quarter ended September. Earnings may expand at the slowest pace in more than four years, Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s analysts forecast for their coverage universe excluding oil and gas. The benchmark gauge has dropped almost 3% in October, paring the year’s gains to over 15%. That’s fueling speculation it may have topped out in September following a stellar run, before an exodus of global funds toward China. The earnings slowdown is being driven by weakening consumer spending and increasing commodity prices. “There is a visible loss in macro momentum,” said Rajat Agarwal, an Asia equity strategist at Societe G...