Summit Notebook

By Tony Munroe

When markets boomed, India’s star was shining bright and deals were plentiful, but the hard landing means any recovery will be painfully slow.

Indian stock markets are still down more than 50 percent so far this year, making them the third worst Asian performer after China and Vietnam.

But even when markets look to stabilise, India may have a harder time in deal-making, given its heavy exposure to the global services sector, said Rory Tapner, chairman and chief executive for Asia-Pacific at UBS.

“India may be one of the markets that is going to perhaps find some of this tougher,” Tapner told the Reuters Global Finance Summit, adding that overseas companies look set to cut back on outsourcing as unemployment in their home countries grows.

He said Australia will drive deals as demand for resources grows when conditions improve, while asset management and insurance firms will also do deals.

“If the world gets going again, I think that will be one of the first places that start to recover.”