Even in the midst of increased volatility and geopolitical uncertainty in the US equities during the April–June quarter of 2025, Indian investors heavily expanded their exposure to American stocks, a report published Friday by online investment platform Vested said.
The second quarter was very volatile for Wall Street. The S&P 500 plummeted by 13% in April after new tariffs by former President Donald Trump on 'Liberation Day' sent a significant market upheaval.
Market fear rose to crisis near-horizons before steadying in mid-May, when the US government relaxed its tariff measures temporarily. The S&P 500 then surged by 11.7%, while Nasdaq hit new all-time records, and market volatility started to subside after retaliatory tariffs were placed on hold for a 90-day period, Vested's report added.
Nonetheless, this era of turmoil managed to discourage few Indian investors. In fact, quite a number of them decided to take advantage of the market dislocation.
"Indian investors on Vested didn't merely stay put — they doubled down. On Vested, buy volumes surged 20.47 per cent QoQ, AUM increased 35.4 per cent QoQ and 140 per cent YoY, and average portfolio size increased 12.6 per cent," the report said.
"Most significantly, net buying was 18.2 per cent ahead of selling even as headline risk remained high," it further noted, reflecting the very bullish sentiment of Indian retail investors.
Tech shares dominated interest from traders in the quarter, led by chip behemoth Nvidia, which was the most traded stock bought and sold on the platform. It contributed 6.4% to total buying volume and 8.3% to total selling volume. The action was a mix of profit-taking and opportunistic buying when prices declined.
Tesla, Alphabet, AMD, and Apple were also in heavy trades. Of these, Alphabet was particularly remarkable, with the highest net inflows and a whopping 113% quarter-on-quarter increase in unique investors.
Interest was not limited to just technology, however. The health sector was also spiking in investment. UnitedHealth Group (UNH) and Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk (NVO), for instance, saw more than 500% spiking in new investor engagement.
ETFs were the go-to instrument of portfolio diversification in the turbulent quarter. Index funds such as QQQM, QQQ, and VOO led the charge, with SOXX — the ETF tracking semiconductor stocks — also experiencing a significant spike in investor popularity.
Indian investors continued to diversify their global portfolios despite the worldwide headwinds and market shocks and reaffirmed a long-term bet on US equities even amid difficult times.
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