New Delhi, Jan. 20 -- For most of the past five years, U.S. equity market returns have been driven by a remarkably narrow group of stocks. Mega-cap technology companies, particularly those linked to cloud computing and artificial intelligence, have dominated index performance, portfolio conversations, and global capital flows.

But as 2026 begins, the conversation is shifting.

This is not because technology has suddenly stopped working. It is because concentration has reached levels that historically trigger reassessment, and valuation gaps between market leaders and the rest of the market seemed to have widened. As a result, institutional investors are looking beyond mega-caps, towards value stocks, smaller companies, and under-owned se...