Indian equities outperform Asian peers as AI trade unwinds

Asian peers: Asian peers refers to other Asian equity markets compared with India, including semiconductor-focused markets such as South Korea and Taiwan and technology-sensitive markets such as Japan. These markets declined as the AI investment trade unwound, creating a sharp relative advantage for Indian stocks. Indian equities: Indian equities are shares listed on India's stock exchanges, represented in the news by benchmarks such as the Nifty 50 and Sensex. They outperformed regional markets as investors rotated away from AI- and semiconductor-heavy trades toward markets with less direct exposure to the AI rally. Foreign flows: Indian equities had previously faced pressure from foreign-investor outflows as global funds favored direct AI beneficiaries in markets such as South Korea and Taiwan. Market rotation: The selloff in Asian chipmakers redirected investor interest toward Indian software-services stocks and other sectors viewed as less dependent on semiconductor enthusiasm. Regional divergence: South Korea's chip-heavy market and Japan's technology-linked shares fell sharply during the AI-trade reversal, while India's benchmark moved higher.