Cautious on IT services and consumer staples stocks; see opportunities in 3 sectors: Rana Gupta

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Rana Gupta, MD, Manulife Investment Management, says over the last 10 years, a lot of reforms have happened basically by pivoting the economy from a higher deficit to a much higher savings economy, from more consumption incentives to more investment incentives. Even domestically, for the companies that were linked to those themes – a higher or average PE is all right. But if a company or sector is not linked to those tailwinds and is still trading at higher PE in this high interest rate environment, then a fair amount of caution will come in.”


Interest rates are largely a function of how markets are valued and these have gone up quite significantly. So while we are very close to our 10-year averages when it comes to Indian market valuations, with the adjusted interest rate where the US 10-year bond yield is at 4.5% odd now,, how do you look at valuations? Should one look and adjust for those or are you believing that the larger valuation picture is looking decent?
Interest rates are set by demand and supply of money and, of course, the central banks can influence and also set those interest rates. But broadly the question is whether with the global interest rates going up and Indian stock market trading above 10 years of the average valuation, we should reset the valuation benchmark in the light of higher global interest rates?

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To that, we would highlight a few things. The interest rates globally, particularly in the US, are going up due to high inflation. High