India upgradation based on market view: Goldman Sachs

MUMBAI: Under attack over upgrading Indian equities on expectations of electoral victory for Narendra Modi in the next year's elections, investment banker Goldman Sachs today said the report was unbiased and based on the views of market participants.

"It was not his (author's) views of the political climate, but his views on how market was looking at...," Goldman Sachs India CEO Bunty Bohra said at an event here.

"Research is independent, and it is not like it's my view. It is the research department independently saying what's going to happen."

His comments came as Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh trashed the report of the investment banker, saying they should confine themselves to what they claim to specialise in--economy-- and not dabble in political speculation.

Goldman Sachs in a recent report titled as "Modi-fying our view: raise India to Marketweight", had upgraded overall view on domestic equities to "market weight".

The brokerage house revised its end-2014 target for nifty to 6,900 points, which implies a 9 per cent upside from the current levels and a 14.5 times forward price to earning rati

The report attributed the optimism to the opposition BJP-led alliance gaining ground in opinion polls in the last few months suggesting a higher probability of a BJP-led alliance forming the next government.

Bohra said "He is not saying sky is the limit. He is reiterating different micro-macro factors being transmitted into pricing of index. That's pretty fair sense."