Asia Investors Sour on India Despite Inflows | Insight with Haslinda Amin 8/20/2026
Speakers
Nancy Tengler
— CEO & CIO, Laffer Tengler Investments
Garfield Reynolds
— Markets Reporter/Editor, Bloomberg
Chiranjeevi Chakraborty
— Equities Reporter
Shenu Agarwal
— CEO, Ashok Leyland
Summary
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's unexpected debt buyback plan sparked a rally in Asian stocks and bonds while weakening the US dollar. Meanwhile, investors are weighing the impact of potential US economic sanctions on Iran and shifting sentiment around Indian equities. Corporate leaders from HKEX and Ashok Leyland also shared strategic updates on their respective markets.
- US Treasury announces expanded buybacks for 10-year to 30-year securities.
- Nancy Tengler advocates buying semiconductor stocks like Nvidia and Micron on fundamentals.
- Copper is favored over gold due to strong industrial and AI-driven demand.
- India overtakes Indonesia as Asia's least-favored equity market in a recent BofA poll.
- Ashok Leyland plans to expand manufacturing capacity in Saudi Arabia to de-risk operations.
- HKEX reports strong Q2 earnings driven by robust trading volumes and an IPO boom.
Ideas
Nvidia offers value valuations with strong growth.
Nvidia is trading at value stock valuations of 16 to 17 times earnings despite strong, unyielding earnings growth and robust demand, making it a strong buy, especially on pullbacks below $200 a share.
Micron is cheap with solid earnings growth.
Micron is inexpensive, trading at 8 to 9 times earnings, and benefits from solid earnings growth and long lead times that prevent new supply capacity from easily coming online.
Broadcom is a core long-term semiconductor holding.
Broadcom is a core long-term holding that will continue to benefit as semiconductors become increasingly integrated into almost everything consumers use.
Palantir benefits from surging AI software demand.
Palantir is a narrative play benefiting from its central role in large language models and increasing software demand from the US military, corporate clients, and global sovereigns.
Gold lacks a clear catalyst for upside.
Gold has rallied recently without a clear fundamental driver or catalyst, making it a tricky asset to hold right now compared to copper, though existing holders can maintain their positions.
Copper demand is surging while supply lags.
Copper has strong industrial and AI-driven demand, with no new mining capacity coming online soon, making the metal and copper miners highly attractive.
