Indians are living in hope, hoping for returns from promises that are increasingly more dependent on hype than hope. This comes at a time when the stock market hasn’t delivered a positive return in two years, but domestic investors believing in India’s growth story nevertheless.
“The broader market has been steadily falling. The numbers may not fully show it, but it certainly feels like a bear market. IPOs, on the other hand, are a full-on party. Most recent listings have done well, and you can see it in the rush of activity.
I don’t remember the last time we saw such a stark divergence between the primary and secondary markets.
Strange are the times we live in,” Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath recently said in a post on X.
With no end in sight to the Middle East conflict and the continued rise in crude oil and supply chain disruptions, India’s stock market has faced continued challenges with the Sensex falling 16.91% since its all time high on September 24, 2024.
But that doesn’t seem to deter Indian domestic investors, who have increasingly expanded their hope for better returns, partly due to the encouragement to start SIPs by Mutual Funds.
Foreign investors, seem to be aware of this, and are now using this renewed optimism to exit the market with fat gains, with IPOs being the preferred mode to exit.
Though many global stock markets have been offering better returns, for most Indians, investing in the stock market is driven by returns, even though sometimes others may be earning them from your entry.
“Stocks are not a zero sum game because companies have underlying earnings and unless the business is in de-growth stage, the earnings can grow over time,”
one person commented in a widely popular Reddit thread.
Many investors continue to believe in companies that promise hope for strong returns, but rarely do the underlying homework for it. They believe in the narrative presented, and continue to participate strongly in the IPO market.
With the IPO market expected to raise as much as $25 billion by the end of 2026, this trend is expected to continue, along with the hope for Acche Din.
