Mumbai: Foreign investors‘ derivatives bets continue to signal caution on Indian equities despite a slowdown in their cash-market selling, as uncertainty around the fragile US-Iran peace deal, a weak rupee and more attractive opportunities in other Asian markets keep sentiment subdued.

The Nifty gained 1.65% last week. However, the long-short ratio of foreign portfolio investors’ positions in Nifty futures-a measure of bullish bets relative to bearish ones-stood at 12.95% on Friday. While the increase in the ratio from 8.1% two weeks earlier shows some reduction in short positions, the reading remains far too high to conclude that foreigners have turned bullish.

In the cash market, foreign investors were net buyers in four of the five trading sessions last week, purchasing shares worth a net ₹7,778 crore.

“The long-short ratio has improved marginally due to some short covering alongside fresh long additions by FIIs following the US-Iran peace deal. However, the benchmark Nifty index has not shown an over-optimistic reaction to the peace deal,” said Vipin Kumar, AVP- derivatives and technical research at Globe Capital Market.

Iran said it was once again closing the vital Strait of Hormuz on Saturday over Israeli attacks in Lebanon ahead of the weekend negotiations between Washington and Tehran to end the West Asia conflict, underscoring the fragility of the talks.

Analysts said Indian equities are yet to become compelling enough for overseas investors.
“While crude has been correcting, levels of $80 are still high. A dip to $70 or pre-war levels can be a tailwind driving covering from funds that are running short positions in India,” said Sriram Velayudhan, senior vice president, IIFL Capital Services.Velayudhan also said that other regions like South Korea and Taiwan have not yet seen a meaningful reversal or underperformance.

South Korea’s Kospi is up 110% in 2026 so far, while Taiwan’s Taiex Index has gained 58% this year, compared with the Nifty’s decline of 8.2%.

Kumar said the rupee’s underperformance against the dollar and the risk of higher inflation due to a below-average monsoon forecast remain key concerns.

Where will the markets go?
The Nifty ended the previous week at 24,013.10.

Kumar said the index continues to trade within a range, with positional resistance around the 24,600 level.

“A positive weekly breakout in the Nifty index above the 24600 spot level on a closing basis, alongside improvement in the concerned areas, might trigger significant short covering by FIIs,” he said.

Velayudhan said that while the Nifty has been trading in a broad range of 23,800-24,500 for some time, it could test the upper end of that band in the near term.

Mumbai: Private equity major Carlyle plans to launch a $500 million initial public offering (IPO) for its Indian automotive platform, Highway Roop Precision Technologies, multiple people aware of the listing proposal told ET. In parallel, Carlyle has also initiated the IPO process for its healthcare revenue cycle management (RCM) platform, investment bankers said.

The proposed listings are likely by mid-2027, said the people cited above. The automotive platform is expected to be valued at about $2 billion.

The healthcare RCM asset, created through the merger of Knack RCM and EqualizeRCM after their acquisitions by the private equity major, should raise $400-500 million through a combination of primary and secondary share sales, bankers cited above told ET.

Investment bankers have begun pitching for mandates on both offerings. One of the most active private equity investors in India, Carlyle has deployed more than $8 billion in the country across investments including PNB Housing Finance, SBI Cards, VLCC, Hexaware Technologies and Nido Home Finance.

A Carlyle spokesperson declined to comment.

In February 2025, Carlyle Asia Partners acquired controlling stakes in Highway Industries and Roop Automotives, leading manufacturers of forged and precision-machined components, steering system assemblies, transmission parts and other powertrain applications used in electric, hybrid and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. To lead the combined platform, Carlyle appointed Dharmesh Arora, former Asia-Pacific CEO of Schaeffler Group, as chief executive officer in June 2025.
The founders of Highway Industries and Roop Automotives, Umesh Munjal and Mohit Oswal, respectively, continue to hold a combined 25-30% stake in the merged entity. According to sources, Highway Roop is expected to generate revenue of about ₹3,000 crore and EBITDA of ₹700 crore in FY27.Precision Parts
In India, Highway Roop mainly competes with listed precision engineering and auto-component manufacturers such as Bharat Forge (Market cap of ₹97,652 cr), and Sona BLW Precision Forgings ( Market cap of ₹38,180 cr).

Separately, Carlyle Asia Partners acquired majority stakes in Knack RCM and EqualizeRCM in May 2026 to create a global, multi-specialty healthcare revenue cycle management platform. The combined business posted revenue of approximately $160 million and EBITDA of $65 million in FY26, sources said.