Tariffs no dampener for retail investors

Retail bets climb In the June quarter, 62% firms saw retail investors sequentially raise their stakes, a sharp jump from the March quarter. Retail investors shrug off Trump's tariff threat in Q1 Sequential shareholding changes in US-exposed firms*

- Mayur Bhalerao

The first signs of President Trump's tariff tantrums sent foreign investors fleeing, pulling money out of firms with ties to the US market. But guess who stayed put? India's retail investors. Spotting bargains where others saw risks, they quietly went on a buying spree in the June quarter.

A Mint analysis of 26 companies with over 25% of their revenues from US markets in FY25 reveals a significant shift in retail investor behaviour.

In the June quarter, 62% of these firms saw retail investors (those holding up to ₹2 lakh in equity) sequentially raise their stakes, a sharp jump from the March quarter, when only 23% had seen such a rise in shareholding. Individual investors have added their stakes at an accelerated pace since the September quarter.

To put things in perspective, nearly 240,000 new retail investors bought these stocks in the June quarter, shrugging off tariff worries. As a result, the total shareholder base in more than half of these firms—across sectors like IT, pharmaceuticals, and capital goods—rose to 12.9 million from 12.7 million a quarter ago, data from Capitaline shows.