India’s Retail Traders Pile Into Leveraged Stock Bets

India’s Retail Traders Pile Into Leveraged Stock Bets Good morning... I’m Samie Modak in Mumbai, looking at an intriguing macro backdrop as we warm up for the India open. Asian equities are on the front foot this morning after a blowout sales outlook from Micron Technology, the largest US maker of computer memory chips. Brent crude has just wiped out all of its wartime gains, adding to the positive mood music. And bond yields have been falling round the world as the outlook for inflation cools. But a word of caution — the dollar has been strengthening of late, unraveling the debasement trade and weighing on Asian currencies. In India, stocks rebounded from a shaky start on Wednesday, with the benchmark Nifty 50 closing back above the psychological 24,000 mark. As we discuss below, retail investors are far less gloomy on local markets than global funds. But holding on to that level may prove difficult without those steady inflows of foreign capital — and without some positive news on the US trade deal, which is still taking time to finalize. Oh, and don’t take your eyes off gold. The yellow metal fell below $4,000 an ounce for the first time since November, as traders worried about the stronger dollar. Less demand for gold usually spells cheer for equities. Also, this is our last newsletter for the week as markets will be closed on Friday for a public holiday. Enjoy the long weekend! In today’s newsletter, we cover: