Investors do not need to abandon their energy plays even though oil prices have fallen in recent weeks, according to Sarat Sethi. The DCLA portfolio manager said on ” Squawk Box ” that he is not selling his commodity holdings despite worries about the Chinese economy, which helped drive the price of West Texas intermediate crude futures below $75 per barrel on Monday. “All these crosscurrents are causing especially commodity prices to move quite a bit. But longer term, look, I think when China comes back on, demand is going to start rising, and that’s going to put pressure on commodities on the upside,” Sethi said. Sethi added that, while he doesn’t want to be overexposed to the sector, he would consider buying more energy stocks in the event of a further pullback. He also pointed to copper stocks such as Freeport-McMoRan as an area to explore. “I think they’re still a play, when you invest whether it’s in oil and gas or copper or aluminum, because I do think the demand there is not going away,” Sethi said. Sethi cautioned that commodity stocks are volatile, and said he’s also focusing on health care and consumer staple stocks because they have more durable earnings. “These companies, we have a better see through for the next three-to-six quarters in terms of earnings,” Sethi said, mentioning GSK and Bristol-Meyers Squibb as stocks that look reasonably priced.
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