The difference between the market cap of Hong Kong and India has narrowed sharply to $500 billion compared with $1.9 trillion a year ago. India’s market cap is up 0.52 percentage point in 2023 following the relentless domestic market rally that has lifted benchmark indices by 16%. India’s long-term average share in global market cap is 2.6%.
India’s market cap is up 26% in the current calendar year to $4.2 trillion, bettering the 12% rise in the global value of shares to $109 trillion over the same period. India added over $900 billion in market cap in 2023, equivalent to the entire market cap of countries such as Brazil, Sweden and the Netherlands. India’s incremental market cap accounts for 8% of the global market cap addition of $11 trillion in 2023. The US is the biggest contributor to the world’s market cap with a share of 45.6% followed by China (8.6%), Japan (5.6%) and Hong Kong (4.3%).
The country’s market cap growth is supported both by capital appreciation as well as fresh equity issues.
TWIN BOOSTERS
Record IPOs
By the end of November, 58 companies raised `53,016 crore from the primary market, adding $50 billion to market cap. According to Bloomberg data, initial public offerings and follow-on share sales in India this year exceeded that in Hong Kong for the first time in at least 30 years.
World-beating Returns
The benchmark index MSCI India has risen 20% in 2023 so far. India ranks ninth among emerging markets based on 2023 returns compared with 12th in 2022, according to Morgan Stanley. In the last five years, India’s market cap has grown by 15% annually, the highest among the top nations by market value, while the global market cap grew by 9.32% annually over this period.