The S&P 500 just logged its 28th record close of the year. India is about 3% of the world’s stock market. And $2.2 billion of Indian money has already gone overseas. US stocks for Indian investors is no longer a niche idea, so here is what is driving the shift and what it means for your portfolio.
| Key Metric | Details |
|---|---|
| 7,818.93 | S&P 500 record close, its 28th of 2026 |
| 3% | India’s share of global stock market value |
| $2.2 Bn+ | Indian money invested overseas, up ~60% YoY |
Something changed in how Indians invest. For decades the portfolio was simple: Indian stocks, mutual funds, a fixed deposit, some gold. In 2026 a growing number of people have added US stocks and global assets on top of that, and the official data backs it up.
Not long ago, buying US stocks from India meant paperwork, dollar conversion and a separate brokerage account. Today US stocks for Indian investors sit a few taps away, which is a big part of why the money has started moving.
This is not a story about India doing badly. India is still one of the fastest-growing major economies and a top-five stock market. It is a story about the opportunity getting bigger, and about access finally catching up.
As of early October 2026, the S&P 500 closed at a record 7,818.93, its first finish above 7,800 and its 28th record close this year. It is up roughly 14% in 2026. The Nasdaq is also at record levels.
The engine is artificial intelligence. Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Alphabet are spending tens of billions on chips and data centres, and that spending is turning into profits. S&P 500 earnings are expected to grow close to 30% in the September quarter. Nvidia alone is now worth about $5.8 trillion, closing in on a $6 trillion valuation that no company has ever reached.
For comparison, the entire Indian stock market is worth about $5 trillion.
India’s share of global stock market value sits near 3%. The United States is around 48%. China is close to 10%, Japan about 5%.
India’s slice has actually grown a lot over time, from roughly 1.6% in 2013 to a peak near 4.6% in late 2024, before coming back to about 3% as Indian stocks cooled and global markets kept rising. None of that makes India a bad market. It simply means that if you only own Indian assets, you have no exposure to the other 97% of listed companies in the world.
That gap matters most when you look at specific themes. For Indian investors, US stocks are often the only practical way to own the companies leading them:
US exchanges are not limited to US companies either. They are where global companies go to reach global investors.
The argument is not that US markets will always beat Indian ones. Nobody can promise that. The narrower point is that several of the biggest themes of this decade have far deeper representation on US exchanges, and an India-only portfolio cannot reach them.
Percentages are easy to skim past, so here it is in rupees. Over the five years to October 2026, the Nifty 50 returned about 6.5% a year while the S&P 500 returned about 13.6% a year.
| ₹1 lakh invested 5 years ago | Value today |
|---|---|
| Nifty 50 | about ₹1.4 lakh |
| S&P 500 | about ₹1.9 lakh |
| Nvidia | about ₹11 lakh |
| Meta | about ₹2.2 lakh |
| Microsoft | about ₹1.9 lakh |
| Tesla | about ₹1.4 lakh |
| Amazon | about ₹1.4 lakh |
Look closely at that table, because it makes a point people miss. Nvidia was extraordinary. But Tesla and Amazon actually returned less than the index over the same five years, and Microsoft only matched it. Picking the one right stock is hard, and most people do not manage it. That is an argument for owning the broad market rather than betting everything on a single name.
Three things lined up at the same time to push Indian investors towards US stocks.
The result shows up in the official numbers. In the 11 months to February 2026, Indians invested more than $2.2 billion in overseas equity and debt, up about 60% from a year earlier. Assets in global feeder funds run by Indian fund houses hit a record near $4 billion in March 2026. Money sent abroad for investment has roughly quadrupled since FY19.
US stocks did not suddenly become attractive. They have been attractive for years. What held Indian investors back was the process.
The traditional route meant opening a separate international brokerage account, completing paperwork under the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme, converting rupees to dollars, wiring money abroad, paying 20% TCS above the threshold, and handling extra tax reporting at year end. None of it was impossible. All of it was hassle.
That is changing from several directions. GIFT City now hosts regulated global products. Indian fund houses run US index and feeder funds. Mobile apps let people start small in rupees. And for anyone already trading crypto, there is a newer route: tokenized US stocks.
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Yes, you can access tokenized US stocks on Mudrex through spot, such as NVIDIA Stock on Mudrex.
Yes, Indian users can trade US stock-linked perpetual futures (perps) on platforms like Mudrex.
You can invest in US stocks from India by opening an international trading account through a platform that supports US investing. After completing KYC, you can transfer money from your Indian bank account under the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme, convert INR to USD, and buy US stocks or ETFs. Indian residents can also take US market exposure through Indian mutual funds or ETFs that invest in US companies.
They are blockchain tokens backed 1:1 by real shares held with a regulated custodian. They track the price of the underlying stock and let you invest fractionally, from as little as ₹100, 24 hours a day. You get price exposure rather than legal ownership of the share, so voting rights do not apply and dividends may not either.
Record highs are common in a rising market, and they are not by themselves a signal to buy or to stay away. What matters more is your time horizon, how much risk you can handle and how spread out your portfolio already is. Investing gradually over time rather than all at once is one way people manage the timing risk.
Not at all. The case for US stocks for Indian investors is about widening the portfolio, not replacing what is in it. India remains a core holding for most Indian investors. Global assets simply add companies, sectors and a currency that domestic holdings cannot provide.
Anupam has over 3 years of experience in the crypto industry, having worked with top indian crypto exchanges. He writes about Bitcoin, altcoins, AI, and emerging tech, helping readers understand what’s driving markets and where the digital asset ecosystem is headed.
