As investors evaluate industries and stocks, the Federal Reserve’s massive 50 basis point interest rate cut has become a hot topic in the market. Kingsley Jones, chief investment officer of Sydney-based Jevons Global, said the interest rate cut “supported the market”. “At this point, there’s some concern that if the Fed takes huge action, the market might panic a little bit and say the Fed knows something that we don’t know. But look, that’s being communicated very well to the market, I think it lived up to expectations,” he added. Bullish on defensive stocks Against this backdrop, Jones, the founder of Jevons Global, is avoiding the high-profile technology sector and focusing instead on defensive stocks. “The technology industry has had a great decade, including the recent artificial intelligence boom. We believe that the profit momentum in the technology industry is clearly slowing down,” he explained. Jones noted that big tech companies like chipmaker Nvidia are “beating expectations by less and less.” “I think the momentum is waning. But let’s face it, U.S. investors and global investors have made a lot of money in these tech stocks, so we think people are going to increasingly trim their positions in other stocks.” On September 24, the investment expert pointed out on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” program that “a clear industry rotation is starting to happen now,” with sectors such as utilities and healthcare being favored. Jones said these industries have been in the spotlight due to attractive valuations relative to technology stocks and falling interest rates. One of his favorite stocks is health insurance company UnitedHealth because U.S. health care spending is huge relative to its gross domestic product. Jones believes the company benefited from “a lack of cost control within the system.” The CIO is also looking at the pharmaceutical sector and lists biotech company AbbVie Inc as a stock he likes. Elsewhere, Jones likes consumer stocks such as supermarket chains Walmart and Costco, which he believes are “good choices in a falling interest rate environment.” Tech Games He likes a tech company, though. That would be computer tech giant Oracle, although it “has been playing catch-up and hasn’t been to everyone’s liking for a long time.” The company recently raised its fiscal 2026 revenue forecast to at least $66 billion, higher than the $64.5 billion expected by LSEG analysts. Jones is adding to the stock because it has been a “major beneficiary of artificial intelligence,” such as through cloud infrastructure. Shunning Semiconductor Equipment Jones is steering clear of industries where companies have been investing more, such as semiconductor equipment, due to interest in building artificial intelligence infrastructure and wafer factories. He warned of the impact U.S. sanctions could have on the semiconductor equipment industry. “So every time there’s a new set of sanctions, China spends heavily in advance to circumvent them… We think (semiconductor equipment manufacturers) have run out of steam,” Jones said. “So I would avoid trade in the semi-equipment industry,” he added.
