Zerodha’s Wall Street Leap, Even Healthcare’s $50 Mn Raise & More

In early 2026, the Nifty 50 experienced a 12.4% decline year-to-date, marking the first yearly drop in over a decade. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) had withdrawn a total of ₹3.1 lakh crore (around $33 billion) from Indian equities over the same period as the stock market slide. Retail investors sought to hedge their bets against rallying US tech stocks amid declining domestic markets and negative returns from Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs).

Discount brokerages such as Zerodha, Groww, Angel One, and Upstox capitalized on this trend by enabling direct exposure to US-listed companies and ETFs. Zerodha, for instance, launched its Kite platform, allowing eligible users to invest in up to 2,000 US-listed companies and around 1,000 ETFs, with options for fractional investing, same-day delivery, and SIPs. Funds could be transferred to dollar-denominated wallets via net banking, though UPI and card payments were yet to be introduced.

Other brokerages followed suit, such as Groww and Upstox, which had also initiated similar offerings. Angel One joined the club on Monday, obtaining approval from the International Financial Services Centres Authority in June to offer international and US stock options from GIFT City. Previously, IND Money and HDFC Securities were popular choices for international investing.

Investing in US stocks would enable Indian investors to hedge domestic concentration and diversify geographical risk while gaining access to global technology megatrends like AI, cloud computing, and semiconductors, which were not as prevalent in Indian equity markets. Discount brokers were diversifying their revenue stream due to the waning core trading income, forced by SEBI’s derivatives reforms and market slowdown.

These changes encouraged discount brokers to cross-sell more enticing products to existing users, with US stocks appearing as a compelling choice for Indian investors.