India is now Asia’s least-preferred stock market, replacing Indonesia, Bloomberg quoted a Bank of America survey of fund managers as having shown on Wednesday.
The Indian stock market has been one of the world’s worst performers this year.
The survey found that 32% of fund managers were allocating a smaller share of their portfolios to Indian stocks. The biggest concern among investors was that there are not enough listed Indian companies with a strong presence in the artificial intelligence sector, Bloomberg quoted the survey findings as saying.
Weak economic growth was the second-biggest concern. The lack of policy reforms to improve the business environment in the country and high valuations of the stocks have also contributed to the cautious view of Indian equities, the findings said.
The survey conducted between August 7 and August 13 received responses from 98 panellists managing $272 billion in assets.
Indian stocks have declined in the past two weeks despite an improving earnings forecast of companies, Bloomberg reported.
India was last ranked as the least-preferred market in Bank of America’s survey in May. At the time, rising energy costs had put pressure on the country’s growth outlook following the United States-Iran war, which spiked global crude oil prices.
With no sign of progress towards resolving the conflict, energy prices are climbing again, weighing on investor sentiment, Bloomberg reported.
Meanwhile, Taiwan and Japan remained investors’ most-preferred markets.
Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.