Sitting like an eagle–waiting and watching, says Vijay Kedia as market wilts

Mint asked how deep the present correction could run.The Nifty has fallen 9.5% from its record high of 26,373.2 on 5 January this year to 23,866.85 on Wednesday.On Thursday, the index was down around 1%.The benchmark index had hit a low of 21,743.65 on 7 April last year, six months after touching a record 26,277.35 on 27 September 2024. The 17% drawdown came after an intense spell of foreign institutional selling amid fears that global tariffs proposed by US President Donald Trump would impact emerging markets like India.Asked how he had positioned himself in the current market, Kedia said, "I am sitting like an eagle, waiting and watching to make the right move."Following the downturn, Kedia has set his sights on the midcap and smallcap space, where he believes "value can be found" by those having an investment horizon of at least three years."Many mid- and small-cap stocks are illiquid, so on small volumes they fall a lot more (than large caps), but they also can rise a lot more on small volumes after a bottom has been made."The Nifty Midcap 150 has outperformed the benchmark having fallen 8% from a record high of 22,650.05 on 7 January through 20,839.35 on Wednesday.

However, the Nifty Smallcap 250 has corrected 15% from its record high of 18,077.35 on 17 July last year to 15,326.6 on Wednesday.Kedia said, though there was panic among investors, his advice to them would be to wait for an opportunity to buy quality stocks not impacted by fallout from the West Asia conflict and to stay invested in them for three to five years."Money is never made in euphoric times, it's made invariably when there is panic. Be cool and level-headed before making a decision to invest in the current market cycle.