Pankaj Pandey hopeful about cement, steel; betting on 4 auto stocks

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Pankaj Pandey, Head Research, ICICIdirect.com, says a small rally was anticipated, but due to ongoing volatility, there isn't much confidence for a short-covering rally. It may take about a month to gain clarity on tariffs since Trump has paused new tariff actions. Also some tariffs may be imposed on the steel industry. Many of these issues are still developing. However, two sectors in commodities appeal to Pandey. First is cement, where the toughest times seem to be over. The second sector is steel, which is currently at a four-year low. This month, we might hear updates on safeguard duties, which could benefit some steel companies.

In auto, while ICICIDirect likes Bajaj Auto, and Eicher and has upgraded Maruti to a buy, M&M is the top pick in this space.

What is it looking like so far? We have made two weeks of recovery. Will it sustain?
Pankaj Pandey: Overall, the volatility on the global front could persist for some period of time and which is why not much relief is expected on FPI selling. Domestically, earnings have been okay and not really great, but our sense is that in the first half, we have seen earnings of 5%. In the second half, ideally, it should be better at about 8-odd percent. So, full year, we could have about 7% growth.

With most of the domestic elections done, and only Bihar is pending this year. Our sense is that earnings are going to normalise to mid-teens and the market accordingly would deliver those kinds of numbers. But having said that, yes, the market is going to be volatile for some