The recent electoral outcomes across three key states have failed to materially shift the outlook for Indian equity markets, according to market expert Sandip Sabharwal. Speaking to ET Now, he said the results, while politically significant, do not alter the broader market thesis unless they materially impact governance or policy continuity.

“Not really. I think what would have happened is that if BJP had actually ended up losing West Bengal, then it could have had a negative sentiment. But whatever results have come out, I do not think they impact the markets by any significant impact. Obviously, if development activities pick up further in West Bengal, which is a large state, then it is positive for the overall economy. But in the near term I do not think it has much impact,” Sabharwal said.

Banking Sector in Consolidation Phase; Asset Quality Remains Strong
After a sharp run-up earlier in the year, banking stocks have come under pressure over the last two weeks, with both PSU and private lenders witnessing correction.Sabharwal believes the sector may currently be in a consolidation phase, especially as investors digest evolving regulatory and earnings signals.

“Yes, we could say that because from the PSU banking’s perspective, the new ECL norms, etc, something people are concerned about and the recent results which have also come out they have also shown some sort of pressure in terms of their NIM growth, etc,” he noted.
He added that while growth has moderated, the underlying fundamentals remain intact.
“Most of the private sector names reported pretty decent numbers although growth has been somewhat lesser but it is expected to be better this year as inflation also picks up and nominal growth will be much greater and asset quality continues to be well under control,” he said.
He further highlighted that the strong asset quality across banks and encouraging NBFC results continue to support the sector’s medium-term outlook.

Earnings Season: Select Winners Emerging Across Sectors
The ongoing earnings season is revealing strong divergence across sectors, with select companies delivering robust guidance and execution.

Referring to Tata Technologies’ strong commentary, Sabharwal noted improving demand visibility in engineering and R&D-linked segments.

“There are pockets of the economy which are doing well. There are pockets of the export economy which still continue to do well despite all external headwinds. So, this result season is not a negative one per se,” he said.

Auto remains a key bright spot, with strong April sales across OEMs and low inventory levels in the system.

“All the auto companies like April sales data was very-very strong across the board despite all the concerns about geopolitics, etc, and the inventory levels in the system also low, so that creates opportunities,” he added.

He also pointed to BHEL’s strong order inflows and performance revival as a case of a beaten-down stock finding renewed momentum.

Power Sector Strength vs IT Weakness
Sectoral divergence has become more pronounced, with energy stocks outperforming IT in recent weeks.

Sabharwal attributed strength in the energy space to demand conditions and renewable energy momentum, though he remains cautious on utilities as long-term investments.

“I typically do not buy the utilities because they tend to have very low ROEs over the long term… but in the near term because of whatever has been happening on the demand side, we could still see some of these stocks do well,” he said.

While the Nifty Energy index has gained, IT stocks have lagged amid global demand concerns.

Cables & Wires: Strong Growth Meets Valuation Concerns
The wires and cables segment continues to report strong growth, with companies like KEI delivering robust earnings and guidance. However, valuations have become a concern.

Sabharwal noted that while demand strength has been surprising, the structural nature of the business limits long-term multiples.

“These are commodity companies in the guise of sort of branded durable companies. To that extent there is only X amount of valuation they can have,” he said.

He also flagged potential competition risks as large players look to enter the segment, which could gradually reshape industry dynamics.

Dr Lal Move Seen as Liquidity-Driven Overshoot
The sharp 15% rally in Dr Lal PathLabs was also discussed, with Sabharwal suggesting that such moves are often driven by limited liquidity rather than fundamentals alone.

“There are a lot of these companies where strong results tend to create disproportionate movement because the sellers are very less… I would think that it is a good company… but finally people need to realise these are companies which will grow at 10-15%,” he said.

He added that valuation expansion may have already played out in the immediate reaction.

Smallcaps Continue to Outperform on Domestic Flows
Despite volatility, smallcap and midcap indices continue to outperform broader markets, supported by strong domestic participation.

Sabharwal observed that this trend has persisted across cycles, even during downturns.

“So, yes, opportunities continue to remain… midcaps and smallcaps will continue to have opportunities,” he said.

However, he cautioned that stock selection remains critical, with performance likely to remain highly differentiated.

Where Opportunities Are Emerging
Sabharwal highlighted several pockets of opportunity across the market, including:

• Power equipment manufacturers
• Construction and infrastructure-linked companies
• Auto ancillaries
• Select NBFCs with strong asset quality and growth visibility

He also noted that export-oriented auto companies could benefit from currency tailwinds and strong global demand trends.

The dust hangs thick in the air at Sharp Group’s recycling facility in Rainham, east London, where the relentless rumble of hoppers and conveyor belts sets a punishing tempo. It is, by any measure, an unforgiving place to earn a living, and increasingly, that is the problem.

The family-run skip and waste management business, which processes up to 280,000 tonnes of mixed recycling a year, depends on 24 agency workers stationed along its rapid conveyor belts. They sift, in real time, through a procession of debris that ranges from old trainers and VHS cassettes to slabs of concrete. It is the sort of work that few are queueing up to do, and the figures bear that out. Annual staff turnover at the plant runs at 40%, mirroring an industry-wide retention crisis that is now forcing British SMEs to confront a question once reserved for car factories and Amazon warehouses: can robots do this instead?

For Sharp Group, the answer may be taking shape on the line itself. A humanoid robot known as Alpha, the Automated Litter Processing Humanoid Assistant, is being trained to pick through the waste stream alongside the human pickers it may one day replace. Built by China’s RealMan Robotics and adapted for British recycling conditions by London-based TeknTrash Robotics, Alpha represents an unusual bet on humanoid form factors in an industry that has, until now, leant towards bespoke automated kit.

“The attraction of a humanoid is that you can put it here and it stays here,” says Chelsea Sharp, the plant’s finance director and granddaughter of founder Tom Sharp. “It will pick all day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s not going to apply for a holiday, it’s not going to have a sick day.”

That blunt commercial logic sits against an equally blunt safety case. Work-related injury and ill-health in the waste sector run 45% higher than the national average across other industries, and the fatality rate is a sizeable multiple of the broader workforce. Sharp Group is proud of its own safety record, but the maths of recruitment in such an environment is becoming increasingly difficult to defend.

“The belt is moving all the time, you’re constantly picking. I go through a lot of pickers because they just aren’t up to the job,” says line supervisor Ken Dordoy. The firm rotates staff through different waste streams every 20 minutes, with periodic stoppages built in for respite, a regime that speaks volumes about the strain involved.

Alpha, for now, is no quick fix. It is in the early stages of an exhaustive training programme, with a plant worker wearing a VR headset alongside the robot to demonstrate what good picking looks like. The dual challenge, TeknTrash founder and chief executive Al Costa explains, is teaching the machine first to identify objects on a moving belt, and then to lift them reliably. His firm’s HoloLab system feeds Alpha a torrent of data from multiple cameras, generating millions of training data points a day.

Costa is candid about the gap between marketing hype and operational reality. “The market thinks these robots are prêt‑à‑porter, that all you need to do is plug them into the mains and they will work flawlessly. But they need extensive data in order to be effectively useful.”

The humanoid approach has the advantage of slotting into existing infrastructure without expensive plant redesign, no small consideration for SMEs operating on the thin margins typical of the recycling sector. The alternative, increasingly favoured by larger operators, is wholesale retrofitting with bespoke automated kit.

Colorado-based AMP, which runs three of its own plants and supplies equipment to dozens of facilities across Europe and the UK, takes that route. Its systems use air jets to fire items into chutes, with AI continuously sharpening the machine’s ability to identify and sort materials. “Our robots are much more efficient than humans, probably eight or 10 times the pace,” chief executive Tim Stuart says. “The AI technology and jets have really increased the capacity and efficiency and accuracy of what we can do.”

California’s Glacier, co-founded by Rebecca Hu‑Thrams, deploys mounted robotic arms paired with AI vision. She is quick to note the sheer unpredictability of the material her machines must contend with. A leaking beer can may threaten sensitive equipment; her customers, she adds, have seen “unbelievable things like hand grenades and firearms coming through their facility”. The proposition, she says, is improvement at scale: “As our models learn from more than a billion items, the AI gets better and better. And we’ve always designed our technology so it works not just for big urban plants, but for the semi‑rural facilities running on much tighter budgets.”

For all the differences in approach, the conclusion across the industry is converging. The labour-intensive model that has propped up British waste processing for decades is reaching the end of its useful life. Academics studying the sector see the same trajectory. Professor Marian Chertow of Yale University argues that “robotics coupled with AI-driven vision systems offers the greatest potential for improving material recovery, worker experience, and economic competitiveness in the recycling sector”.

That leaves the awkward question of what happens to the people currently doing the picking. Chelsea Sharp does not pretend the work is anything other than gruelling. “This is a really dirty place to work. You can see the dust, you can hear the noise. It’s not that nice.” Her stated plan, however, is reskilling rather than replacement. “The plan is to upskill those staff. They’ll be maintaining and overseeing the robots. And it brings those same people away from any dangers, including the unpleasant environment, heavy lifting and noise.”

Whether the rest of the sector follows Sharp’s lead, or whether automation ushers in a quieter, leaner workforce by default, will become clear over the next few years. What is no longer in dispute is that the British recycling line of 2030 will look nothing like the one running in Rainham today.

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NEW YORK — Supermodel and television personality Heidi Klum transformed into a living marble statue on the 2026 Met Gala red carpet Monday night, delivering one of the most memorable and theatrical interpretations of the evening’s “Fashion Is Art” dress code. The custom creation, executed by prosthetic and makeup artist Mike Marino, turned the 52-year-old into a stone-like figure inspired by classical sculptures, underscoring her reputation for taking costume artistry seriously.

Klum arrived on the Metropolitan Museum of Art steps encased in a form-fitting gray ensemble crafted from latex, spandex and other materials designed to mimic carved marble. The look featured intricate draping that evoked flowing fabric frozen in stone, complete with a matching headpiece adorned with floral elements. Her face, hands, teeth and body were fully painted and textured to match the illusion, including gray contact lenses that completed the statuesque effect.

The ensemble drew direct inspiration from masterpieces such as Giuseppe Sammartino’s “Veiled Christ” and Raffaele Monti’s “Veiled Vestal,” classical works renowned for their translucent veil illusions carved from marble. Marino, who previously collaborated with Klum on elaborate Halloween transformations, spent extensive time molding and crafting the piece to make it both rigid in appearance and wearable.

A Literal Take on Costume Art

This year’s Met Gala celebrated the Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition “Costume Art,” which explores the intersection of fashion and fine art across 5,000 years through 400 objects. The dress code “Fashion Is Art” encouraged attendees to embody the theme creatively, and Klum took it literally by becoming a walking sculpture.

“She looks hard, but I’m soft,” Klum quipped in post-carpet interviews, joking about the foam and latex construction while noting the piece felt “a little warm” under the lights. “It only took 20 minutes” to get ready, she added with characteristic humor, though the intricate application process clearly required far more preparation.

The supermodel’s commitment aligns with her long history of boundary-pushing red carpet moments and elaborate Halloween costumes. From worm-themed outfits to full-body prosthetics, Klum consistently blurs the line between fashion and performance art, making her a fan favorite for dramatic interpretations.

Preparation and Build-Up

In the days leading to the gala, Klum shared glimpses of her inspiration process, including a museum visit in a plunging gray Ronny Kobo suit. “Let’s go get inspired,” she captioned a video strutting up the Met steps, building anticipation for her reveal.

The final look required full-body coverage, including painted teeth and illusion elements that made sheer-looking drapery appear as solid stone. The headpiece incorporated floral motifs, adding an organic contrast to the rigid marble effect. Klum navigated the carpet gracefully despite the restrictive materials, posing with the poise of a classical statue come to life.

Reactions Pour In

Social media erupted with a mix of awe, amusement and admiration. Many called the look “terrifying” in the best way, while others praised its technical brilliance and perfect alignment with the theme. Some compared it to her past bold statements, noting it fit her “Halloween in May” energy.

Fashion critics highlighted how Klum elevated the conversation around costume as art, moving beyond traditional gowns into immersive, conceptual territory. The prosthetic artistry sparked discussions about the craftsmanship behind red carpet moments, especially as AI-generated images of similar concepts circulated online, leading some to initially mistake her appearance for digital creation.

Fellow attendees and celebrities shared compliments on the carpet, with the look standing out amid a sea of artistic interpretations ranging from literal paintings to avant-garde constructions.

Klum’s Enduring Red Carpet Legacy

At 52, Klum continues to defy expectations in an industry that often sidelines older models. Her Met Gala appearances consistently generate buzz, from elegant tailored gowns in previous years to this year’s full artistic immersion. As host of “Project Runway” and a longtime fashion insider, she brings both expertise and playfulness to the event.

This year’s choice also reflects broader trends at the gala, where celebrities increasingly collaborate with makeup artists, prosthetics experts and sculptors rather than relying solely on traditional designers. Marino’s work on Klum exemplifies the growing fusion of fashion, theater and fine art.

Broader Context of the 2026 Gala

The 2026 Met Gala, chaired by notable figures including Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams, drew global attention for its exploration of costume as art form. With Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos among the financiers, the evening blended high fashion with cultural commentary on creativity and embodiment.

Klum’s statue look joined other memorable moments, contributing to a night described by some as “unhinged” in its creativity. From fencing masks to glass-box arrivals, attendees embraced theatricality.

What’s Next for Klum

Following the gala, Klum is expected to share behind-the-scenes details and possibly more photos as she decompresses from the demanding preparation. Her commitment to such ambitious looks often inspires fan recreations and sparks trends in costume design.

For now, her living sculpture stands as a highlight of the 2026 Met Gala — a bold reminder that fashion at its best transcends clothing to become performance, sculpture and unforgettable art. Klum once again proved why she remains one of the most compelling figures on the annual red carpet, blending humor, technical mastery and fearless creativity.

SYDNEY — The S&P/ASX 200 index tumbled more than 50 points in midday trading Tuesday, closing in on its recent lows as investors braced for an expected Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate hike and grappled with soaring global oil prices amid escalating Middle East tensions.

At around 1 p.m. AEST, the benchmark stood at 8,646.9, down 50.2 points or 0.58% from Monday’s close of 8,697.1. The index swung between a high near 8,697 and a low of 8,621.6, reflecting broad selling pressure across key sectors.

The decline comes ahead of the RBA’s policy decision later Tuesday, with markets pricing in a strong likelihood of a 25-basis-point increase to 4.35%. Economists widely expect the central bank to tighten policy for a third consecutive meeting to combat persistent inflation, fueled in part by higher energy costs.

“This move reflects caution ahead of the RBA call,” one Sydney-based trader noted. “Higher-for-longer rates are weighing on consumer-facing stocks and adding pressure to an already softening economy.”

Energy and Mining Drag Heavily

Rising oil prices provided a mixed signal but ultimately hurt sentiment. Brent crude jumped sharply overnight, climbing toward $114 a barrel after reports of Iranian military actions disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. While energy giants like Woodside Energy saw some support earlier, broader commodity weakness and profit-taking hit miners.

BHP Group fell around 0.86%, while Rio Tinto shed over 1%. The materials sector lagged as investors weighed the inflationary impact of expensive oil against potential demand destruction from higher rates.

Consumer and Financial Stocks Under Pressure

Rate-sensitive sectors bore the brunt. Banks faced selling amid expectations of further tightening, even as recent earnings from majors like Westpac highlighted resilience in net interest margins. Consumer staples also slipped, with companies exposed to discretionary spending feeling the pinch from squeezed household budgets.

Notable decliners included Codan Limited, down over 8%, and Magellan Financial Group, which dropped more than 7%. A2 Milk faced additional pressure following a product recall announcement that hit sentiment in the staples space.

Tech Provides Rare Bright Spot

Technology stocks offered some resistance, bucking the broader trend as investors sought growth-oriented names less sensitive to immediate rate moves. The sector’s relative strength helped limit losses, echoing resilience seen in some U.S. peers despite Wall Street’s overnight pullback.

Broader Market Context

The ASX 200 has now given up much of its early 2026 gains, sitting virtually flat year-to-date. The index has faced repeated headwinds from geopolitical risks, stubborn inflation and shifting global central bank outlooks. Last week’s modest rebound proved short-lived as new concerns over energy markets and domestic policy took center stage.

U.S. markets closed mixed to lower overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping over 1% as energy and rate-sensitive names weighed on the blue chips. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also eased, reflecting similar caution. Bond yields climbed, with the U.S. 10-year Treasury note pushing higher on inflation worries.

The Australian dollar traded softer, reflecting expectations of tighter policy but also global risk aversion.

What Lies Ahead

Traders will watch the RBA’s statement closely for signals on the pace of further tightening. While most economists forecast the hike to 4.35%, a hawkish tone could accelerate selling in rate-sensitive assets. Conversely, any dovish surprises might spark a relief rally.

Corporate earnings season continues to provide mixed signals. Strong results from some banks contrast with warnings from retailers and consumer firms about cost pressures and softening demand. Building permits and job ads data have also pointed to cooling in parts of the economy.

Analysts remain divided on the broader outlook. Some see value emerging in beaten-down sectors if the RBA signals a pause after this move, while others warn of further downside if oil stays elevated and inflation proves sticky.

Investment Implications

For investors, the current environment underscores the importance of diversification. Defensive names in healthcare and certain tech areas have held up better, while exposure to commodities requires careful monitoring amid geopolitical volatility.

Longer term, Australia’s resource-heavy market could benefit if global growth stabilizes, but near-term volatility is likely to persist. The RBA’s path will remain a key driver for local equities through the rest of 2026.

The S&P/ASX 200, which tracks the 200 largest companies on the Australian Securities Exchange by float-adjusted market cap, serves as the primary benchmark for Australian equities. Its performance influences superannuation funds, ETFs and individual portfolios nationwide.

As trading continues into the afternoon, all eyes remain on the RBA announcement and any fresh developments from energy markets. With the index testing support levels near recent lows, a decisive break could open the door to deeper corrections, while a hold above key moving averages might encourage bargain hunting.

Market participants are advised to stay nimble as new data and policy signals emerge.