'India May Fetch Best Tariff Deal With US Despite...': Prime Securities' N Jayakumar

India may end up with one of the best trade deals with the India, though the present situation does not support the view, said Prime Securities Managing Director and Group CEO N Jayakumar.

"I do believe, when the dust settles, India will emerge with a reasonably good tariff deal with the US," he said.

India has signed multiple bilateral free trade agreements with a bunch of trade partner countries, which is a positive as far as international trade is concerned, he said.

Indian markets have left most problems behind: tariff volatility, geopolitical tension, liquidity crunch, and worries over consumption, he said.

Final stage of negatives came for information technology stocks with the H-1B visa fee hike. It's like a beginning of other steps the US may take in the immigration space.

However, IT sector is well aware of the problems and probably know how to deal with it. The bigger concern is how artificial intelligence will create a wave of disruption.

In short time, most issues have played out and market participants have priced them in. Now, the benchmark indices are trading short of record highs, while other global markets have started to record, he said.

"From the global markets perspective, India should follow its path toward record high. GST rate rationalisation will support domestic markets' path to new high," he added.

According to the expert, foreign institutional investors continued to net sellers of equities. "They short on Indian markets. So, from that perspective, the contra-rally is underway."

From index-weight point of view, the Nifty Pharma index is at reasonably low. Ownership levels are very low in pharma stocks. Generals are a lifesavers for US consumers.

On pharma companies Jayakumar is taking a contra-bet. The reason is that pharma companies have made significant strides in last few years. "There is an entire portfolio which is getting support from the production-linked incentive scheme," he said.

Domestic manufacturing through PLI schemes and imports of important components at subsidised rate are way forward, which will supplement a lot of this generics manufacturing ecosystem it supports.