Foreign portfolio investors sold over Rs 6,000 crore Indian stocks in April

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have turned net sellers in Indian stocks lately, after the latest geopolitical crisis in West Asia, which has likely pushed investors to take money off their portfolios. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who continued to remain net buyers for the third month this year until a few days ago in April, have cumulatively sold stocks worth Rs 6,304 crore, National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said the prospects of early rate cuts by the US Fed are receding with rising core inflation in the US. "This will keep (US bond) yields high triggering more FPI outflows in both equity and debt," said Vijayakumar. "The positive factor is that all FPI selling in the equity markets is getting absorbed by DIIs, HNIs and retail investors. This is the only factor that may reign in FPI selling."

FPIs had aggressively sold Indian stocks and turned net sellers in the Indian equity market in January 2024, before turning net buyers thereafter. In February and March, they were net buyers. Firm GDP growth forecasts, inflation at manageable levels, political stability at the central government level, and signs that the central bank is done tightening its monetary policy have all contributed to painting a bright picture for the Indian economy.

India's GDP grew at a massive 8.4 per cent during the October-December quarter of the current financial year 2023-24, and the country continued to remain the fastest-growing major economy, and is poised to maintain its growth trajectory going ahead. The foreign portfolio sold aggressively in January after making a beeline to accumulate domestic stocks during the prior two months--November and December.

In December, they accumulated stocks worth Rs 66,135 crore. In November, the FPI inflow was Rs 9,001 crore, NSDL data showed. To put it into context, the entire year saw an inflow of about Rs 171,107 crore, and notably, over one-third of it came in December. The strong inflow of funds from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) had then supported the benchmark stock indices to march towards all-time highs. Before November, FPI participation in Indian stocks was lukewarm, and they had turned net sellers. They sold Rs 14,768 crore and Rs 24,548 crore in September and October, respectively. Before that, FPIs bought Indian stocks worth Rs 7,936 crore, Rs 11,631 crore, Rs 43,838 crore, Rs 47,148 crore, Rs 46,618 crore, and Rs 12,262 crore in March, April, May, June, July, and August respectively, data showed.