India's share in world market capitalisation slips amid Covid-19 crisis

India’s prominence in global equity markets has slipped. Currently, its share in world market capitalisation is 2.2 per cent — 30 basis points (bps) below the long-term average of 2.5 per cent, and 110 bps less than the peak of 3.3 per cent a decade ago.

India’s peak market cap stood was at $2.2 trillion a year ago. Currently, the m-cap is down to $1.82 trillion. Meanwhile, the world m-cap is at $81 trillion currently, down $6.3 trillion on a year-to-date (YTD) basis.

The domestic market has rebounded sharply from the Covid-19-triggered lows in March. However, they still are 16 per cent below on a YTD basis in dollar terms. On the other hand, the market cap of the US and China has climbed back to pre-Covid levels.

Experts say the reason for the dip in India’s market share is largely the increase in the share of the world’s two biggest stock markets and economies. Key benchmark indices of China are up 15 per cent YTD. The technology-heavy Nasdaq, too, is up more than 15 per cent YTD, though the widely tracked S&P 500 index of the US is currently down 3 per cent.