Record-bound Indian stocks reclaim spot in world's top 5 markets

India reclaimed its spot as the world's fifth largest stock market after losing that status to France in January, aided by a revival in Adani Group stocks.  

The market capitalisation of India stood at $3.3 trillion as of Friday, as Adani shares rebounded from a rout and foreign funds accelerated purchases. France lost more than $100 billion in market value last week as luxury goods makers such as LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE and Vivendi SE saw a sell-off on fears of a slowdown in China and the US.  

India is benefitting from a stuttering economic recovery in China that has seen overseas funds rotate money out of Asia's largest economy to Indian stocks. Foreign investors have added $5.7 billion worth of Indian stocks since the start of April, chasing stable earnings growth and aided by one of the highest GDP growth rates among large economies in the world.

Photo: Bloomberg

Jefferies Financial Group Inc strategist Christopher Wood last week raised his weight of Indian stocks in his Asia Pacific ex-Japan model portfolio to reflect the disappointments in the Chinese stock market after a strong rally earlier this year.

The S&P BSE Sensex Index has bounced back more than 9% after briefly entering correction territory in mid-March, closing in on record high levels. A rebound in Adani Group's fortunes further boosted momentum after a court-appointed panel said it found no conclusive evidence of stock price manipulation as alleged by US short-seller Hindenburg Research.

Adani's 10 listed entities added around $15 billion to their market value last week to trim their losses post-Hindenburg's report to $105 billion from as high as $153 billion earlier.