Why are global funds walking away from India and shopping elsewhere in Asia

Global fund managers have cut India again. India has replaced Indonesia as Asia’s least preferred stock market, with 32 per cent of managers now net underweight, hurt by steady foreign selling, costly crude, a weaker rupee and limited exposure to the artificial intelligence boom.

Money has gone where the story looks cheaper. Korea, Taiwan and China offer semiconductor and AI linked earnings at lower valuations, so portfolios rotated north. India still grows faster than most, but growth alone does not decide returns. Price paid matters just as much, and our premium had stretched too far.

There is a quieter opportunity here. India’s premium over emerging market peers now sits at decade lows and the earnings downgrade cycle appears to have bottomed. So keep your SIPs running, avoid timing foreign flows, and treat this dull patch as a chance to accumulate quality steadily.