Indian Brokers Open U.S. Markets: Retail Investors Flock to Tech Giants

Indian retail investors are gaining direct access to U.S. markets for the first time through major local trading apps. This shift offers a new investment avenue as the domestic stock market underperforms its global counterparts.

Groww, which serves over 29% of India's 46 million active brokerage clients, launched its U.S. equity trading feature earlier this month. The platform provides access to more than 10,000 U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds, including the option for fractional share ownership. Harsh Jain, the company's chief operating officer and co-founder, identified Nvidia, SpaceX, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Micron, and Meta as the most popular holdings among early users.

Competitors are moving quickly to match this expansion. Zerodha, the second-largest platform with a 15% share of active clients according to NSE data, is currently beta testing U.S. stock access. The company expects to launch the full feature within a few weeks. Angel One, which reports 6.7 million active retail clients, is also reportedly preparing to offer similar trading capabilities.

Industry leaders point to a mix of market performance and currency trends driving this interest. Nitin Jain, chief executive of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Singapore, noted strong demand for U.S. technology stocks. He compared the current enthusiasm to the cryptocurrency boom of previous years, observing that retail investors tend to follow rising assets.

Somnath Mukherjee, vice president of corporate development at Zerodha, attributed the demand to the weak performance of the domestic market and the lack of major local artificial intelligence companies. He also highlighted the decline of the rupee against the dollar as a factor. Investors are increasingly seeking to hold a portion of their portfolios in a different currency.

Market data underscores the disparity between the two exchanges. The Nifty 50 has dropped nearly 13% since the start of the year, while the S&P 500 has climbed more than 12%. Foreign investors have withdrawn a record $32.5 billion from direct Indian equities since January, according to NSDL data. Experts cite the absence of a leading AI firm and high valuations as reasons investors are favoring markets in South Korea and Taiwan.

Capital outflows from Indian residents are also increasing. In August, residents sent more than $321 million abroad for equity and debt investments, a 111% increase from the previous year. For the financial year ending in March 2026, total outward remittances for such investments reached $2.6 billion. Tanvi Kanchan of Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers noted that investment now accounts for 11.7% of total outward remittants, up from 5.8% a year earlier. She warned that these outflows could amplify pressure on the rupee at a vulnerable time. Nitin Jain cautioned that Indian regulators may reconsider allowing retail access to U.S. markets as participation grows.