India currently the best holistic story among emerging markets: EPFR Global

The holdings of domestic funds in Indian companies hit a record high of 8.8% in the December quarter. While the retail investors held another 7.6% of companies listed on the bourses, the ownership of high net-worth individuals (HNIs) stood at a little over 2% during the quarter.

Once a driving force of Indian market, overseas investors have now cut their exposure to a decadal low. At the end of 2023, the ownership of FPIs stood at 18.2%, a drop of 300 basis points (bps) over the last three years, per data from primeinfobase.com.

Sharing his views on the Chinese equity markets, Brandt said, “We have seen some modest upturns in the key Chinese indexes. So, I will be interested to see if the money aggressively follows that run-up but so far flows to China equity funds, while positive, but still very domestically driven.”

While most Asian markets are likely to end the week by following Wall Street’s lead higher, in China concern is lingering over an economic slowdown that’s starting to look entrenched. There are no signs of a pick-up in the struggling housing market, with data published Thursday showing the number of foreclosed properties for sale in China rose at a faster pace in January.