It’s time to take exposure to Indian equities: Chris Wood

Indian equity markets have been stuck in a range for the past few months. Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, tells Puneet Wadhwa on the sidelines of his firm’s fourth India forum in New Delhi that his base case remains 10-15 per cent returns from the Indian markets in one year. Edited excerpts:

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Are you disappointed with the returns from Indian markets over the past year? = Not really. I see it as a phase of consolidation.

Around February 2025, I had said that one could expect around 10 per cent returns from the Indian market. That still looks plausible. What’s important to note is that while the market has remained flat, there has been a lot of supply in terms of equity issuance, and that supply has been absorbed by domestic flows. Data shows that domestic flows are almost matching the supply. So, the base case remains that we continue to trade sideways for now.

How are global markets, especially India, positioned compared to the US?

= Europe has done well, led by domestic stocks, such as banks and defence, not exporters. Japan continues to perform on the back of corporate governance reforms. China, too, has surprised positively. My base case was that China bottomed in the fourth quarter of 2024, and it has rallied even without strong supporting data. I am overweight in China. India has not done badly — it’s just that other markets have done better.

You have been an ‘India bull’ and tactically overweight. Would you look to change this now?