Puneet Wadhwa

For equity markets, the political uncertainty comes at a time when US stocks are trading with considerable momentum, but financial conditions have tightened and energy prices remain elevated.

Foreign institutional investor (FII) selling has been a significant overhang for Indian equities during the recent market cycle. However, the pressure has also weighed on several large-caps.

A reduction in LTCG tax would be desirable for a capital-starved economy but would not, by itself, trigger sustained foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows, said Venugopal Garre of Bernstein.

Historically, US equities have performed strongly following midterm elections. The S&P 500 has gained an average of around 6 per cent over the subsequent 60 trading days, data shows.

India is yet to emerge as a consensus buy for foreign investors, with relative growth prospects, elevated oil prices and uncertain IT earnings weighing on inflows.

You can borrow knowledge from others, develop courage, but patience is something that comes from within, said Vijay Kedia.

"Having choices is what puts you truly in control. Once you have that, you realise you're truly rich," said Ankur Warikoo.

At Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2026's Smart Arena segment, content creator & financial educator Neha Nagar told Puneet Wadhwa that a corpus of ₹3 crore is enough for financial independence.

Contrarian bets on capacity expansion, generational change in management, and corporate turnarounds can create opportunities for outsized returns, said experts.

The NSE Nifty on Friday marked the 160th trading day below its long-term average, the longest time period since January 2012. The index has been quoting below its 200-DMA since February 27, 2026.

The investment bank estimates that 25-50 per cent of nearly 70 mid-to-late-stage private AI companies could go public in the next two to five years.

Foreign investors, Faber said, will reduce their exposure to markets around the world. "That is one reason I am reasonably positive about the US dollar," he added.

At the bourses, IDBI Bank stock has been an underperformer and has slipped 13.4 per cent year-till-date (YTD) till October 14 as compared to the NSE 500 index that lost 7.8 per cent during this period

The selling pressure, in fact, has intensified in recent months. After offloading equities worth ₹35,861 crore in September, FPIs sold another ₹47,417 crore through October 12.

WTI crude prices, which are unusually low versus Brent because of high US-Europe shipping costs, Goldman Sachs' analysts said, are likely to average $81 in December 2026 and $73 in 2027.

The more important signal from here will be the RBI's forward guidance, analysts said, and whether this marks the beginning of a broader tightening cycle.

The US 10-year Treasury yield has climbed to 5.32 per cent from 4.15 per cent at the end of 2025, a rise of 117 basis points (bps) so far in 2026. Brent crude oil, meanwhile, is testing $100/bbl mark.

Tiwari says a sustained rise in crude oil prices could have implications for inflation, the fiscal position and corporate margins, and could consequently weigh on the broader earnings outlook.

Over the next 12 months, the Nifty is likely to remain within a fairly narrow range - perhaps it can be plus or minus 5 per cent from the current levels, Bhasin said.

Going ahead, analysts suggest investors stick to domestic economy-focused sectors as the geopolitical situation still warrants caution.