India leapfrogs Taiwan as $640B rally makes it world's No. 5 market

India is back in the top five. The value of its listed equities has climbed past Taiwan's to $5.4 trillion, returning the country to the world's fifth-largest stock market, according to Bloomberg data. The US, China, Japan and Hong Kong sit above it.

The climb is steep: market capitalisation is up by roughly $640 billion since late October. The Nifty 50 closed at 25,255.05 on Wednesday, its best level in more than eight months, and has gained 9.55 per cent so far in November. The Sensex finished at 81,879.40, up 0.95 per cent.

Money has flipped direction. Foreign portfolio investors bought a net ₹65,735 crore of Indian equities in November through November 11, while domestic institutional investors sold ₹40,504 crore, per provisional exchange data. In October, foreign investors had sold a net ₹45,162 crore. Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, described the switch: foreign investors have turned aggressive buyers while domestic institutions have become consistent sellers, reversing roles from earlier in the year.

The rebound has as much to do with what happened elsewhere. AI-driven markets in Taiwan and South Korea had pulled ahead of India in the rankings on semiconductor demand, but worries about AI infrastructure spending and tech profitability sparked a pullback — foreign investors pulled $30.68 billion out of Taiwanese equities and $14.59 billion out of South Korean stocks in October, according to LSEG data. India had its own drags over recent months: rich valuations, high crude prices and slower earnings growth.

Two tailwinds did the rest. Second-quarter results beat expectations, with earnings at the 35 Nifty 50 companies that had reported growing 22 per cent year-on-year. Brent crude has also slid about 19 per cent in November, from $113.43 a barrel on October 30 to around $92, softening the import bill and the inflation outlook.