How AI Is Proving to Be a Double-Edged Sword for Equities | Insight with Haslinda Amin 02/13/2026
Watch on YouTube ↗  |  February 13, 2026 at 06:50 UTC  |  1:32:52  |  Bloomberg Markets
Speakers
Paul Allen — Anchor, Bloomberg
Annabel Drillers — Asia Tech Correspondent, Bloomberg
Grace Tam — Chief Investment Adviser, BNP Paribas Wealth Management
Laura Davison — Politics Editor, Bloomberg
Jeffrey Siow — Senior Minister of State for Finance, Singapore
C.J. Chakraborty — Asia Equities Editor, Bloomberg
Saurabh Garg — Secretary, India Ministry of Statistics
Swati Gupta — South Asia Government Reporter, Bloomberg
Puneet Chhatwal — CEO, Indian Hotels Company
Ben Low — China Correspondent, Bloomberg
Diana Li — Wealth Reporter, Bloomberg

Summary

  • Markets are gripped by an "AI Disruption" panic, selling off sectors perceived as vulnerable to AI displacement (SaaS, Logistics, Commercial Real Estate, Indian IT Services).
  • Conversely, "AI Enablers" (Memory chips, Power, Infrastructure) remain strong, benefiting South Korean and Taiwanese markets.
  • The US and Taiwan finalized a trade deal involving $44 billion in Taiwanese purchases of US energy, while India approved $40 billion in defense spending.
  • India's hospitality sector is booming due to high-profile summits and spiritual tourism, with room rates hitting $30,000/night, decoupling from the tech sector's weakness.
  • OpenAI has accused Chinese rival DeepSeek of using backdoors to train on US models, highlighting growing US-China tech tensions.
Trade Ideas
Ticker Direction Speaker Thesis Time
LONG Grace Tam
Chief Investment Adviser, BNP Paribas Wealth Management
Tam states they favor "AI enablers" specifically "semiconductors, arms, the infrastructure, and especially some of the power related themes." She highlights severe shortages in memory chips and logic wafers in Taiwan and South Korea. While the market sells off "AI losers" (software), the capital expenditure on data centers is not slowing down. This creates high earnings visibility for the hardware manufacturers supplying the shortage. LONG the upstream hardware providers. A sudden halt in global AI CapEx spending. 10:26
SHORT Annabel Drillers
Asia Tech Correspondent, Bloomberg
A small company, Algorithm Holdings, claimed 300-400% efficiency gains using AI, sparking a sell-off in the Russell 3000 trucking index (e.g., Landstar System). Commercial real estate (CBRE) and SaaS stocks are also being sold indiscriminately. The market narrative has shifted from "Who wins from AI?" to "Who is displaced by AI?" Investors are pricing in "zero or negative growth" for sectors where AI agents can replace human headcount (reducing office demand) or seat-based software licenses. SHORT sectors vulnerable to AI deflationary pressure. The sell-off is described as "indiscriminate" and potentially exaggerated, leaving room for a sharp mean-reversion rally if earnings hold up. 2:22
AVOID Raja Chakravorti
Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley
Indian software giants (Infosys, TCS, Wipro) are down significantly (Infosys ADRs down ~9%) due to fears that AI tools like Anthropic will disrupt their business models. Investors are re-rating valuations based on the fear that AI coding agents will decimate the "body-shop" model of legacy IT services. Analysts are downgrading revenue growth forecasts to low single digits. AVOID Indian IT until the disruption impact is quantified. Oversold conditions could lead to a technical bounce; companies may successfully integrate AI to improve their own margins. 39:45
LONG Raja Chakravorti
Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley
Foreign investor GQG is betting $24 billion on India, specifically targeting banking, infrastructure, and telecom, while avoiding IT. These sectors are "domestically oriented" and insulated from the global AI disruption narrative affecting IT exports. They benefit from India's internal economic recovery and earnings growth. LONG India's domestic cyclical economy. Global risk-off sentiment dragging down all emerging market equities. 8:16
LONG Laura Davison
Washington Bureau Chief
As part of a new trade pact, Taiwan has pledged to buy $44 billion of US energy products. This represents a massive, government-mandated demand injection for US energy producers, securing long-term export volumes. LONG US Energy sector. Implementation delays or political shifts in Taiwan/US relations.
LONG Puneet Chhatwal
CEO, Indian Hotels Company
Demand is outpacing supply in the Indian hospitality sector. Room rates for summits are hitting $30,000. The company reported a net income beat and is expanding its "Ginger" budget brand to 250 hotels. High disposable income, spiritual tourism, and government infrastructure spending (airports) are creating a structural tailwind for Indian travel. The company has pricing power (double-digit rate growth). LONG Indian Hospitality. A slowdown in the broader Indian economy or a resurgence of travel restrictions. 85:42
LONG Grace Tam
Chief Investment Adviser, BNP Paribas Wealth Management
Gold has seen a sell-off recently, which Tam attributes to short-term sentiment and rate adjustments. The long-term drivers—de-dollarization and geopolitical risks—remain intact. She views the current dip as a consolidation phase before a retest of lower levels, which she identifies as a buying opportunity. LONG Gold on dips. Sustained high interest rates or a strengthening US Dollar. 11:11
LONG Swati Gupta
South Asia Government Reporter, Bloomberg
India has approved $40 billion in defense spending, including French fighter jets and US maritime surveillance aircraft. This is a direct revenue injection for Western defense contractors (specifically French aerospace and US surveillance manufacturers) as India diversifies away from Russian equipment. LONG Defense contractors with exposure to India. Bureaucratic delays in Indian procurement processes.