Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold stocks worth Rs 94,017 crore in India through October, suppressing the stock market’s overall performance. In the process, they became net sellers in India, after having remained buyers for four months.
Important to mention is that the total stocks they sold in India in October were the highest-ever in a month’s time, National Securities Depository Limited data showed.
In June, July, August, and September, they bought stocks worth Rs 26,565 crore, Rs 32,365 crore, Rs 7,320 crore, and Rs 57,724 crore, respectively.
FPIs had supported the bull run in the stock market recently when they made headlines for indices having hit multiple highs. As per definition, Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) involves an investor buying foreign financial assets.
Benchmark Sensex has fallen from its all-time high of 85,978 points, to now trading at 79,724 points. The recent sessions have been bearish for the indices, largely attributable to fund outflows and lower-than-expected Q2 earnings of India Inc.
“This relentless selling contributed hugely to the about 8 per cent decline in benchmark indices from the peak,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
On Friday evening’s Muhurat special session, Sensex closed 0.4 per cent higher at 79,688 points, while Nifty closed 0.4 per cent to end at 24,300 points, rebounding from two days of losses. All sectoral indices opened in green and continued upward during the Muhurat Trading hour, with only Nifty IT closing marginally lower by 0.02 per cent.