India leading the new era for Asian equities, says Morgan Stanley's Jonathan Garner

Jonathan Garner, Chief Asia & Emerging Market Strategist & Chairman of Asset Allocation

Asian and emerging market equities are in a new era led by India and followed by Japan, as they are in a strong secular bull market on the back of strong earnings growth and nominal GDP growth, Jonathan Garner, Morgan Stanley's chief Asia and emerging market equity strategist said in an interaction with CNBC-TV18.

"If we look at the most recent quarter in India, earnings grew 23 percent year-on-year and these are very strong fundamentals driving the bull market, and that's a sharp contrast to China which is unable to grow earnings in the current deflationary environment," Garner said.

Drawing a comparison with China and its property crash which has led to a downward spiral in consumption activity, wages, and return on equity, Garner suggests that this is completely different in India. The country is in a "virtuous cycle of strong GDP growth and robust capital inflows".

"In the context of much more stable interest rates and exchange rates that we have seen in India are all consequences of persistence of a macro reform agenda which has produced a greater macro balance in the country," he said. "It is no surprise to us that India is in a persistent secular bull market."

When asked about private sector banks, who haven't been a significant part of the rally for the two-three years, Jonathan Garner said that the financial sector in India will benefit from the rise in economic activity, rising demand for financial products of all forms and the growth in household and corporate leverage. "The road to run is very substantial for financial services in India".

Garner aligns with Rajiv Jain, the founder and chief investment officer of GQG Partners, who is also one of the largest investors in India. They both assert that India, unlike countries such as Japan, has not achieved the same level of global recognition for its household stocks that investors should be aware of. "That does lie ahead of India", the market expert added.