After spending more than a year on the sidelines, global investors are showing fresh interest in India as sentiment begins to improve across the country’s markets.
Citigroup Inc.’s India team returned from meetings with 36 US clients saying appetite for the country’s assets is reviving. Macquarie Capital Securities is seeing a pickup in customer queries after an extended lull. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has turned more positive on the nation, while Barclays Plc says it may finally be time to view the world’s fastest-growing major economy as an investment opportunity.
India had fallen out of favor as investors chased markets with greater exposure to the artificial intelligence boom, while the energy shock triggered by the US-Iran war stoked concerns about the country’s external finances, pushing the rupee to record lows. As those pressures ease, bankers and investors say interest in local assets is beginning to recover.
“The 18-month long negative cycle on India is eclipsing fast,” K. Balasubramanian, Citigroup’s India chief executive officer, said in an interview. “Investor sentiment is on the cusp of changing. They are beginning to think about India, with the fiscal deficit narrowing and the rupee coming out of the rout loop.”
