Jefferies' Chris Wood trims India exposure, increases China's weight by 2 percentage points

Christopher Wood, the global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, has trimmed his exposure to Indian equities by one percentage point in the Asia Pacific ex-Japan relative-return portfolio; and Australia and Malaysia by half a percentage point each. The equity strategist, on the other hand, has increased the weight of China by two percentage points.

Wood; however, continues to remain 'overweight' on India, as per news reports.

Wood wrote, “with the end of the quarter, and following one of the most violent counter-trend rallies in China GREED and fear has ever seen, some adjustments will be made in the Asia Pacific ex-Japan relative-return portfolio.”

He, therefore, increased the weight of China.

In his latest note, Wood also cited the risk of geopolitics. A deterioration in the geopolitical situation is the biggest risk to global equity markets, Wood said, adding that he thinks the issue is not yet fully discounted by them, the reports added.

In case of an escalation of the crisis in West Asia and/or Russia – Ukraine, he said, all global markets, including India, will be hit badly, which they are not yet prepared for, Jefferies’ Wood said.

Chris Woods' note comes at a time when the world is grappling with the latest conflict between Iran and Israel.

In the latest developments, Israel bombed central Beirut in the early hours of Thursday, killing at least six people, after its forces suffered their deadliest day on the Lebanese front in a year of clashes against Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

Israel hit back after Iran fired more than 180 missiles into Israel on Tuesday.

The Israeli military said regular infantry and armoured units joined its ground operations in Lebanon on Wednesday as Iran's missile attack and Israel's promise of retaliation raised concerns that the oil-producing Middle East could be caught up in a wider conflict.

The United States warned Iran that it would face severe consequences for its ballistic missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, saying the barrage marked a significant escalation but appeared to have been thwarted.