New Delhi, March 27 -- Market veteran and Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, Dr VK Vijayakumar, believes that investors should temper their return expectations for the ongoing calendar year. He expects Nifty 50 to end the year at 2026 amid the West Asia crisis and rising crude oil prices. That said, Dr Vijayakumar expects equities to have the upper hand versus gold. Check his top sectoral picks and investment strategy in this interview with Mint. Edited excerpts:

It is difficult now to quantify the impact of the West Asian conflict on corporate earnings in FY27. We do not know how long the war will last and how long crude prices will remain elevated. If the average Brent price in CY2026 remains around $100, India's GDP gr...