In a slow-moving market with weak earnings growth, Rana Gupta, Senior Portfolio Manager and India Equity Specialist at Manulife Investment Management, is turning bullish on real estate and renewable power sectors.According to Gupta, the infrastructure space, especially top-end real estate and renewable power plants, is expected to see strong and steady demand.
He believes these segments will remain solid even when other parts of the market are under pressure.
“The anxieties around global trade and China’s oversupply are slowly fading,” Gupta said, adding that this shift is making some global cyclical sectors like metals and IT look slightly more attractive for short-term opportunities.In the IT sector, he sees AI as a long-term challenge, changing the way companies manage talent and productivity. He cited the recent decision by TCS to reduce 2% of its global workforce—not directly due to AI, but because of a skills mismatch—as a sign of deeper changes coming. “AI is improving employee productivity and causing disruptions in traditional roles,” Gupta noted.Read Here | Preferential US tariffs or not, Indian economy needs fresh triggers, says Pankaj Murarka
Despite underperformance in IT—where the index is down 15–16% this year compared to a 5% rise in the overall market—he sees tactical opportunities as valuations have come down and deal activity may slowly pick up with signs of tax cuts and new trade deals in the US.He added that a few Indian IT firms are already working closely with clients on AI implementation, and these could stand out in the coming years.However, he remains cautious on largecap IT stocks due to their size and the time they may need to adapt to these structural shifts. “This is not the end of job cuts. More adjustments will come. But after a long period of underperformance, selective IT stocks may offer tactical rebound opportunities,” he said.Gupta noted that after a long gap, there are now visible macro-level policy moves coming out of China. The latest effort, often referred to as an “anti-involution” drive, is aimed at reducing excess supply in key sectors. China currently has significant overcapacity in areas like solar panels, steel, metals, and electric vehicles, much of which is driven by its state-owned enterprises.Gupta expects that some degree of consolidation could take place in these sectors, which may help improve profitability and gradually restore balance between global supply and demand.He believes that these developments could make Chinese equities look more attractive. This has already led to some capital inflows into Chinese markets, with those equities performing relatively well in recent times.Follow our live blog for more stock market updates
