New Delhi, June 9 -- With foreign portfolio investor (FPI) bearish bets on Nifty futures hovering near record highs, veteran market analysts believe Indian equities could be approaching a bottom, pointing to a similar setup seen earlier this year.

FPIs increased their cumulative shorts on Nifty and Bank Nifty futures to 277,164 contracts on Monday, just 1,853 contracts below the record bearish positioning of 279,467 contracts seen on 27 March, according to analytics firm IndiaCharts, citing NSE data.

These contracts largely serve as protection against declines in FPI cash portfolios amid global macroeconomic headwinds including the West Asia war, tepid earnings growth, and until recently, the AI trade that drew capital away from emergin...