The Indian equity market has emerged among the worst performing markets globally, with Nifty slipping 9% in the first half of 2026. The index comes third when it comes to the top losers globally this year. The top loser is Indonesia's Jakarta Composite followed by Hong Kong's Hang Seng. However, market cap of Jakarta Composite stands at just Rs 84.32 lakh crore when compared to the Indian market's Rs 475.16 lakh crore. 

Hang Seng's market cap is the highest at Rs 570.26 lakh crore. 

Interestingly, only these three markets across the globe are in the red as the first half (H1) of 2026 draws to a close next week. 

Jakarta Composite

The worst performing stock index in the world is the Jakarta Composite, down 33.30% on a year-to-date basis. Investor sentiment in the Indonesian stock index took a hit after Indonesia’s trade surplus was almost erased in April as rising prices for imported oil and gas outpaced export gains. The Indonesian market was also roiled by concerns that the country's credit rating and outlook might be downgraded due to higher risk of a widening fiscal deficit. 

The imports nearly 40% of total refined petroleum fuel and half of its crude oil consumption. Indonesia’s old refineries can only meet about 60% of national requirements.

Hang Seng 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down nearly 14% this year weighed down by a crash in market heavyweights. The index has touched a one year low of 22,518, plunging below the key 23,000 level today. 

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding has slumped 40% this year to HK$90.45, taking the decline for the week to 14 per cent. On Thursday, US AI firm Anthropic accused the company of “illicitly” extracting capabilities from its Claude model. This cast doubts over the AI capabilities of the China-based firm listed in Hong Kong. 

Shares of another Chinese MNC Tech conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd have weighed upon the market sentiment. The stock has crashed 34% in 2026. Tencent stock is under pressure in 2026 amid investor anxiety over reducing margins from massive AI investments, slowing of domestic revenue growth and rising competition from rivals such as Alibaba and Ant Group.

Nifty  

The Indian market has taken a major hit from selling by FIIs in 2026. According to brokerage Anand Rathi, FIIs have sold equities worth Rs 2.2 lakh crore in the first six months of 2026, surpassing the FII outflows of Rs 1.6 lakh crore for the whole year of 2025. The selling has been triggered by higher US Treasury yields and a tighter global interest-rate environment. Subsequently, billions of dollars have flown out of India.

Concerns over AI-led disruption have led to panic selling in Indian IT stocks. Indian software majors earn over 50% of their revenue from exports. 

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence has shifted global investment flows toward economies with strong semiconductor ecosystems, particularly Taiwan and South Korea. This has attracted a larger share of global capital to those markets, while India has received comparatively less attention during the current AI-led investment cycle.

Geopolitical tensions in West Asia, particularly involving the US and Iran, drove Brent crude prices above $90 per barrel. Higher oil prices result in a hike in India's import bill, increase inflationary pressures, widen the current account deficit, and squeeze profit margins for oil-dependent industries.