Indian Markets To Soon See Life-Time Highs, Says Marathon Trends' Atul Suri

Despite recessionary fears, the banking crisis and geopolitical tensions, global markets may correct but won't bottom out while Indian markets will outperform, according to Marathon Trends' Atul Suri.

Global markets seems critically poised, given the higher bottoms formed by the S&P 500 since October, Suri, chief executive officer at Marathon Trends Advisory Pvt., told BQ Prime's Niraj Shah.

Even though the narrative may be bearish, markets are 'repairing' globally, as can be seen from U.S., Japan, and Europe markets hitting 52-week highs, he said.

While U.S. inflation data is due, "even if the news is bad and rate hike happen, the market may undergo a correction but would not tank", he said.

Most investors globally have been growth-oriented, including in India, Suri said. But last year was an "absolute massacre" for growth stocks, even as sectors such as PSUs that hadn't performed well in the past decade rose to new highs in 2023, he said.

However, he expects the market to revive and shift gears to growth-focused themes, favouring most investors in India.

According to Suri, the Indian market is set to outperform.

Electrical Equipment: This sector is set to become a leader. Large and mid-caps stocks under this theme are doing very well, he said.

Defence: These stocks are constantly pushing towards new life-time highs. Even under the PSU basket, the subset that is performing very well is defence stocks, Suri said.

Hotels: Room rates have revived post-Covid and these stocks are running in profit.

Infrastructure And Engineering: "We are at the cusp of an industrial capex revival, as the government focuses on this theme for economic recovery." Most companies in this sector have also reported strong results, he said.