Indian stocks see biggest five-day rally since early 2021

Indian stocks advanced for the fifth straight session, indicating a growing appetite for the South Asian nation’s assets among fund manager scouring for relative haven from President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war. The benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index rose 1.2 per cent at the close on Monday, following strong earnings from two of the nation’s biggest private lenders on the weekend.

The gauge’s five-day advance is the biggest since February 2021. With a large domestically driven economy and low reliance on exports — especially to the US — local shares have been relatively insulated from tariff-related worries. The Nifty 50 gauge last week erased all losses triggered by Trump’s April 2 announcement of reciprocal tariffs, making India the first major stock market to recover.



“India is likely to be fairly resilient” as tariff wars fuel global uncertainty, said Shweta Rajani, head of mutual funds at Anand Rathi Wealth Ltd. “Fundamentals are going pretty strong at this point of time and that’s what we have seen in the earnings season as well so far.” A sub-gauge of bank shares surged to a record on Monday after HDFC Bank Ltd.

and ICICI Bank Ltd. announced better-than-expected results. Their earnings have added to recent positives, including expectations of a bountiful monsoon season, signs of further monetary easing and resumption of foreign inflows into local stocks.

Global funds bought stocks worth over $1 billion on a net basis last week, helping reduce this year’s outflows to $15.5 billion. Continued purchases by local institutions and retail investors have added momentum, helping the Nifty recover from its nine-month low hit last month.

Still, the index remains over 7% below its September peak. “After intense selling, FIIs (foreign institutional investors) may be encouraged to deploy in India due to some moderation of valuation multiples from the peak,” Nomura Holdings Inc.’s strategist Saion Mukherjee wrote in a note.

“India is relatively less impacted by the trade war.” --With assistance from Shikhar Balwani. ©2025 Bloomberg L.

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