India’s stock market on fire despite Covid & inflation fears

India’s benchmark S&P Bombay Stock Exchange index, Sensex, has more than doubled since last year, with record high gains in August and an equity market capitalization of around $3 trillion.

The gains put India’s benchmark index at the top of the list of the globe’s best performers among primary indexes of nations.

Foreign funds have invested some $7.2 trillion into India’s equities so far in 2021, with experts forecasting the trend to continue. The IPO market has also been on the rise amid a surge of investor interest in India’s startups and reluctance to invest more in China amid its ongoing regulatory crackdown.

India’s domestic companies and retail traders have also been pouring vast sums into the stock market amounting to a record $3 billion in equity funds in July.

The Sensex rally comes as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been setting record-low interest rates and boosting liquidity despite fears inflation may exceed its target range. It spiked above the RBI’s 2%-to-6% target range in May and June, but then settled back below 6% in July.

India’s central bank Governor Shaktikanta Das recently said the regulator has been operating in “whatever it takes mode” to support the country’s economy on its course to recover from the coronavirus pandemic-induced crisis.

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