MSCI Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.FINANCE IS PEPPERED with jargon that doesn’t make much sense: “investment-grade bonds” (unlike those other, uninvestible ones), “forward guidance” (as opposed to the backward kind), “convexity adjustments” (translation: your trader wants more money) and so on. Still, it can be exasperating to hear an investment adviser sagely recommend “quality” stocks, as if without their wisdom you would seek out dross.In fact, now is the moment to do just that. An eccentric conclusion to draw, you might think, as the world’s rules-based order breaks down, its dominant superpower attacks enemies with impunity and vital shipping lanes are blocked by war.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.What do the Indonesian stockmarket, South Korean government bonds and Robinhood, an online broker, have in common? Not much, you might think. But over the past year investors in all three have quivered before the same phenomenon: the awesome power of financial indices.The largest of these now exert a tidal pull on markets. As of 2025, around $36trn-worth of capital was in passive investment funds.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Since the start of the West Asia war and the sharp 44% rise in crude oil prices, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have been steadily selling Indian shares, pushing total outflows in less than five months close to last year’s record level.FPIs have sold cash shares worth ₹2.28 trillion in calendar 2025 through 11 May — just ₹120 billion short of the record ₹2.4 trillion secondary market outflows seen in the whole of 2025, according to depository and exchange data.Of this, ₹1.85 trillion — over four-fifths of total outflows — came between March and 11 May alone, underscoring investor concerns about the impact of elevated crude on India’s macroeconomic fundamentals and corporate earnings if the war drags on.Recognizing the economic threat from sustained high oil prices, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated an appeal to citizens to conserve fuel and curb gold purchases on Monday.The West Asia war, which began on 28 February, has lifted crude 44% to $104 a barrel as of 11 May.With India importing around 90% of its daily crude requirement of 5.5 million barrels, the oil shock threatens to widen the current account deficit.The pressure is visible in the currency markets.

Throughout this decade, India’s household savings have steadily left the safety of bank deposits to chase returns in equities. This was supposed to provide a stable pool of risk capital to entrepreneurs and act as a shock absorber against fickle hot-money inflows from overseas. The Iran war punched holes in this cheery thesis that a ceasefire may not mend.For the first time since the pandemic, individual investors were net sellers in the secondary market in the first 11 months of 2025-26.

emerging market (EM) public equities for a simple reason. Over the past two decades, the MSCI EM index has significantly underperformed US equities despite far stronger economic growth.Nominal GDP in EM economies has expanded roughly fivefold over the past 20 years, compared with about 2.5 times in the US. Corporate profits have also grown faster in EM, rising about 3.3 times over the period.

₹22,615 crore in Indian equities after selling for three months in a row, showed NSDL data. Strengthening of the Indian rupee (improves returns in dollar terms) and reducing trade uncertainties with India-European Union deal and other trade agreements were the likely catalysts.But geopolitics could interrupt that revival.The latest new series gross domestic product (GDP) data for the December quarter (Q3FY26), using 2022-23 as the base year, showed growth at 7.8% despite tariff troubles.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India Inc.’s December quarter (Q3FY26) earnings surprised positively on some counts. For instance, on an aggregate basis, the Nifty 500 index companies delivered strong double-digit profit-after-tax growth of 19% in Q3 (adjusted for extraordinary items), the highest in eight quarters, showed an analysis by Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Every month, Mint’s Plain Facts section brings out an update on key global data to thread together the biggest developments in the world that are worth paying attention to.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. For years it seemed like a sure-fire business model: Amass vast troves of financial data and sell it to Wall Street for a premium. Then Claude came along.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who have been betting against Indian markets since October 2024, were forced to cover nearly two-fifths of their bearish derivatives positions on Tuesday after the announcement of an India-US trade deal. Analysts expect the short covering to continue in the near term.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India goes into the Union budget with what looks like a “Goldilocks" macro mix: growth is steady, inflation seems under control, the fiscal glide path is intact, and sovereign ratings are up a notch. Yet, the economy is sending mixed signals that the budget cannot ignore.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The benchmark Nifty could see wild price swings when stock markets reopen on Tuesday, coinciding with the weekly expiry of index options. This comes amid divergent views on market direction in a truncated week—shortened by the Republic Day holiday on Monday—leading up to the Union budget on 1 February.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The share of direct retail participation in India’s largest stock exchange's cash turnover has fallen to its lowest in a decade, dragged down by risk aversion amid underperforming equity benchmarks, the rise of mutual funds and reallocation towards initial public offerings.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. U.S. voters aren’t the only ones up in arms about affordability.

US operation in the South American nation should drive crude oil lower over time which should be positive for India, said Ashish Gupta, chief investment officer of Axis Mutual Fund. He added that he did not expect a knee-jerk reaction from markets at opening on Monday.“In the past two to three years, markets have not reacted significantly to geopolitical events whether in Europe or West Asia and I don't expect one after the Venezuela takeover either.

Despite domestic equities becoming the worst-performing among emerging markets in 2025, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have continued to invest in India through its primary markets, and the trend is expected to persist next year.Investment bankers and money managers have attributed this trend to FPIs' conviction in the country's long-term structural growth prospects, even as the cohorts tactically reduce their cash market exposure due to a range of factors, including softer US interest rates and a slowdown in earnings growth.While FPIs have net sold a record ₹2.34 trillion of cash or secondary market shares this calendar year, following steeper valuations compared to emerging market (EM) peers amid an earnings growth pause, their purchases through the primary route at ₹73,749 crore this year have been the second-highest, only to the record ₹80,314 crore inflows in 2021.This bullishness on India is also evident historically. From 2015 to the end of 2025, FPIs have been net sellers six out of 11 times in the cash market.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The extraordinary rally in US technology stocks over the past few years, especially those linked to artificial intelligence, has left investors wondering whether they are witnessing the formation of another classic market bubble. For Indian investors, the concern is sharper because most international exposure from the country is concentrated overwhelmingly in US equities, particularly Nasdaq-heavy funds.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Are the big AI companies giving up their status as the highest caliber stocks in the market? The question is at the heart of a debate about “quality" companies that has left two popular ETFs with wildly different performance after one ditched Nvidia and most of the rest of Big Tech. The $48 billion iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor (ticker: QUAL) and Invesco’s $15 billion S&P 500 Quality (SPHQ) specialize in what the investment industry has dubbed quality companies.

The seven Aberdeen strategies are: abrdn Emerging Markets Equity Enhanced Index; abrdn American Equity Enhanced Index; abrdn European Equity Enhanced Index; abrdn Japan Equity Enhanced Index; abrdn World Equity Enhanced Index; abrdn UK Equity Enhanced Index and abrdn Asia Pacific Equity Enhanced Index. aberdeen seeks to merge two MyFolio fund ranges All seven track different indices including the S&P 500, FTSE All Share and several MSCI ones: MSCI Europe ex UK, MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan, MSCI Emerging Markets, MSCI Japan, and MSCI World. Among the reasons cited by RSMR for the ...

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Chinese equities have been out of favor among many investors for the past few years. However, the tide appears to be turning, driven by strong corporate profits, enthusiasm over artificial intelligence and an apparent easing of regulatory pressure from Beijing.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. U.S. stocks have sold off this year on concerns about a burgeoning trade war and an accompanying economic slowdown.