Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) today announced the release of its latest AlphaWise Evidence Series findings on India Macro - a publication that canvassed 260 large and medium-sized Indian companies seeking their views on prospective capex plans and the key issues driving these plans. The Morgan Stanley AlphaWise survey conducts proprietary evidence research to validate investment theses on behalf of Morgan Stanley analysts. 

The latest publication is entitled "India Macro: Buying Industrials Ahead of the Strengthening in the Corporate Capex Cycle." The two key findings of the survey are the following:

• This year, Indian corporates will boost capex spending by a surprising 20% over 2009 levels. 
• The driver for the spending increase appears to be strong confidence in the Indian economy, which 41% of respondents expecting the economy to be "much better" in 2010 than in 2009. 

"The AlphaWise survey underscores our focus on investment themes that integrate the insights of equity strategists and equity analysts and highlight our commitment to putting clients at the forefront of the most timely investment debates," said Ridham Desai, Head of India Research and India Strategist at Morgan Stanley. 

Additional highlights from the report are that:

• Corporates seem intensely focused on productivity gains versus raw capacity additions. Investors should watch out for margin improvement in the coming quarters.
• Commodity prices are key to business sentiment.
• Corporates are also hunting for mergers and acquisition opportunities.
• Companies do not appear to be worried about the availability of capital as they make their capex decisions.

In mid-May, Morgan Stanley announced that the Firm's India research team ranked as India's top equity research house in the 2010 All-Asia Research Team in Institutional Investor magazine's 17th annual rankings. The Firm also polled as the best research house for Asia economics.

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Media Relations Contact: Noel Cheung, +852.2848.6788