Indian shares bounce back as investors seek AI shelter

{"text":[[{"start":10.26,"text":"Indian equities have rebounded sharply to stage the best performance among major markets so far this quarter as the country’s lack of AI stocks lures investors seeking refuge from a global tech rout."}],[{"start":22.66,"text":"Long viewed as a laggard in the AI race and with an IT services sector at risk from disruption by the technology, India is now benefiting as global investors turn to assets viewed as a hedge against sharp falls in other tech-heavy markets."}],[{"start":37.28,"text":"The Nifty 50 index of India’s top stocks has gained 11.6 per cent since the start of October, paring this year’s decline to 3.4 per cent."}],[{"start":47.68,"text":"Some of the gains have been driven by foreign investors pulling money out of AI stocks. Last week, as the Nasdaq 100 recorded its biggest one-day fall, foreign investors bought more than $1.7bn of Indian stocks."}],[{"start":61.12,"text":"It was the largest net amount purchased in a single day since August 2024 and took total buying this month to nearly $6bn."}],[{"start":69.64,"text":"“Money moving out of AI stocks is partially coming to India,” said Sajal Gupta, executive director at wealth manager Nuvama in Mumbai. “Crude was one major factor affecting Indian markets.”"}],[{"start":82.26,"text":"Oil prices have fallen as US President Donald Trump raises the prospect of talks with Iran, helping reverse the stock market’s fortunes. The rupee has strengthened to a six-month high against the dollar and is Asia’s best-performing currency this quarter."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":96.84,"text":"India is one of the world’s largest energy importers and dependent on oil and gas from the Middle East. The country last year underperformed a broader emerging market index by the largest margin in three decades and has remained lacklustre for most of this year as the war in Iran drags on."}],[{"start":113.84,"text":"Foreign portfolio managers have been net sellers of Indian equities this year, dumping $28bn worth of the country’s stocks in the first half of 2026."}],[{"start":123.52,"text":"The Reserve Bank of India began increasing interest rates this year to fight inflation, which is close to breaching its 6 per cent tolerance threshold. The RBI has burned through billions of dollars in foreign-currency reserves to defend the rupee from even faster depreciation."}],[{"start":137.94,"text":"“The biggest worry was that higher crude prices would get India into a vicious cycle of higher inflation and thereby higher interest rates, and that would put brakes on domestic consumption,” said Abhay Agarwal, founder and fund manager at Mumbai-based Piper Serica. “International investors do not see India as a technology exporter or a technology powerhouse.”"}],[{"start":160.2,"text":"Investors were also put off by India’s high valuations and shifted to other markets in Asia with more exposure to AI such as South Korea, home of chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as well as Taiwan."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":173.9,"text":"As AI stocks faltered last week — spurred by worries that newly elected Democrats in the US might curb the build-out of AI infrastructure and that tech companies’ vast investments might fail to deliver expected returns — investors re-evaluated Indian stocks."}],[{"start":189.08,"text":"Deven Mistry and Anshul Agarawal, analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services in Mumbai, wrote in a report on Wednesday that India’s appeal to investors was its “healthy macroeconomic fundamentals”, strong corporate earnings and robust domestic liquidity."}],[{"start":204.72,"text":"Kotak Institutional Equities this month said net profits for Nifty 50 companies in the latest quarter rose 19 per cent year-on-year."}],[{"start":212.04,"text":"Meanwhile, the Indian economy is expanding at an annual rate of about 7 per cent, the fastest pace of any major country."}],[{"start":220.04,"text":"“Growth looks good . . . earnings have been more beats than misses,” said Prashant Bhayani, chief investment officer for Asia at BNP Paribas Wealth Management, adding that India had become an AI hedge. “People need the diversification.”"}],[{"start":238.2,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1794468654_8075.mp3"}