Adani risk casts doubt on Wall Street’s star emerging-market bet

The start of 2023 was meant to be India’s. The nation’s fast-growing economy and rapidly expanding equity markets had convinced money managers from Morgan Stanley Investment Management to State Street Global Advisors to call it a top investment destination.

Then came the $50 billion selloff in billionaire Gautam Adani’s corporate empire.

It’s a shock that forces Wall Street to reexamine its confidence on India’s expansion and its pro-business government, which helped the benchmark Sensex index trade last quarter at the highest in a decade versus the S&P 500. Those already-lofty valuations — combined with a scathing New York short-seller report attacking Adani Group — spotlights the contradictions within India’s runway for growth.