Markets may be in for a sweet run this festive season, with steady growth and potential interest rate cuts over the coming quarters, said Harsha Upadhyaya, president and chief investment officer-equity at Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co. Speaking to NDTV Profit during the Samvat 2082 special, Upadhyaya drew parallels between market sectors and festive sweets.
Upadhyaya described banking stocks as the “Kaju Katli” of the market, terming them dependable and all-weather favourites. IT services, he likened to a "jalebi" — twisted and complex in the current global landscape. Domestic businesses, meanwhile, are the “Motichoor Laddus,” while Soan Papdi represents the trickier sectors to navigate.
“There could be one to two interest rate cuts over the quarters,” he said, adding that the Goods and Services Tax benefits are structural rather than one-time, and the ongoing wedding season is also expected to support demand.
He noted that the second quarter so far has been largely in line with expectations, with the banking, financial services and insurance sector continuing to outperform. “There's steady growth, asset management issues have been taken care of, and valuations have corrected over the last couple of years. This space is likely to outperform,” he said.
He was joined by Dinshaw Irani, Chief Executive Officer at Helios Capital Management (India) Pvt., and Trideep Bhattacharya, Chief Investment Officer – Equities at Edelweiss Financial Services, in NDTV Profit's Samvat 2082 discussion on how the markets are shaping up this Diwali.
On the other hand, Bhattacharya said that India would be one of the global outperformers as compared to the rest of the world.
“In terms of the next year, 12-18 months will be the year of consumption. With public sector pay revision and whatnot coming up. Earnings on the discretionary side look undercooked,” he said.
The Edelweiss CIO said that low double digits is the way he thinks it would go for the upcoming calendar year.
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