Bandhan AMC's Manish Gunwani on Post-Budget Market Strategy

• Manish Gunwani, CIO Equity at Bandhan AMC, views the Union Budget 2026 as neutral or a non-event for the market, with mixed positives and negatives.
• The budget offered relief on buybacks but a setback on STT, with no particular positives for FIIs or significant incentives after GST cuts.
• Indian markets, after outperforming for 3-4 years, have underperformed global markets for 1.5 years but are now at good valuations, while US, Japan, and South Korea show fatigue.
• Data center-related sectors have a good outlook, with investment opportunities in capital goods companies supplying to them, given the lack of large-cap pure plays.
• Gunwani expects capital market shares to perform well, but no major rally from public sector banks or large auto OEMs; auto ancillaries offer better risk-reward.

Why It Matters: The Union Budget 2026 is neutral for markets; focus on capital goods, auto ancillaries, and capital market shares.