Allspring’s Paroda says Indian market set for stronger run as earnings improve, tariff noise fades

India’s equity market could be set for a stronger run after a year of lagging performance, according to Prashant Paroda, Portfolio Manager for Emerging Markets at Allspring Global Investments. He said India is “positioned pretty well going into the end of this year,” helped by a better earnings season and improving global trade clarity.Paroda pointed to the expected meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this month as an important event for markets. “Hopefully, there’ll be some clarity on where the trade deal and the 50% tariffs will impact at least the Indian export sectors,” he said. He added that key earnings, such as from Reliance Retail and HDFC Bank, have so far met or exceeded expectations.

Also Read | UBS expects modest market returns, bets on consumption and defence themes

Markets, he said, are becoming more resilient to political announcements. “The noise has faded because ultimately, the market has understood that President Trump is looking to do deals,” Paroda said. He noted that headline tariff figures often ease once agreements are reached, and investors now “overlook these big announcements” as negotiation tactics.
On China, Paroda said that the market’s recent strength has come largely from the artificial intelligence (AI) theme, which boosted major tech firms like Alibaba and Tencent. However, he cautioned that “if the AI trade fizzles out sometime in the next year, that’s a big risk to the Chinese market,” given weak property data and uncertainty around semiconductor trade restrictions.Also Read | Standard Chartered keeps India core holding but prefers China in Asia ex-Japan

He also drew a parallel between current US tech investment trends and India’s infrastructure boom in the mid-2000s. “Whenever there’s a big capex announcement in the US, other stocks move a lot,” he said, adding that “ultimately it’s the execution that matters.” Paroda noted that questions remain around whether companies like OpenAI can sustain their capital needs and valuations in the long run.

For the full interview, watch the accompanying video

Catch all the latest updates from the stock market here