Deutsche Bank sees Sensex at 22,500 by Dec

Leading foreign brokerage Deutsche Equities India on Thursday joined counterparts in giving an "overweight" call on Indian markets and said BSE benchmark Sensex is poised to touch 22,500 points by 2013-end.

Deutsche Equities India said the recent government actions have completely changed their views on Asia's third largest economy and this is reflected in the bullish target.

The 30-share BSE benchmark may rise to 22,500 points by December, led by financial, energy, industrial, material and information technology stocks, said Abhay Laijawala and Abhishek Saraf, strategists at the brokerage arm of Germany's Deutsche Bank, while releasing a report here.

Deutsche Equities is the latest to join the 'buy-India' league of brokerages, saying 22,500 is the base case scenario if oil remains in the $110-115 per barrel range and the government cuts current account deficit urgently.

The officials said the brokerage may come up with a revised target in view of the government's decision today to allow "small" hikes in diesel prices over a period of time.

Global biggies like Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Nomura, Citigroup and Macquarie have already raised the Sensex target for 2013 to a high of 23,069 by December.

They have said that the fresh wave of economic reforms set off by the government last September will revive investment and boost economic growth, which is set for a decadal low of 5.5 per cent in FY'13.