FPIs return to Indian equity market, invest `1,100 cr in July

New Delhi: The relentless selling by foreign investors appears to have taken a breather as they have turned net buyers so far this month with an investment of nearly Rs 1,100 crore in the Indian equity market.

This comes following a net withdrawal of Rs 50,145 crore from equities in June. This was the highest net outflow since March 2020, when they had pulled out Rs 61,973 crore from equities, data with depositories showed. There has been an exodus of Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) from Indian equity markets over the last nine months, since October 2021.

"Given the headwinds in terms of rising inflation and tightening monetary policy, we expect FPI flows to remain volatile," Shrikant Chouhan, Head - Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities, said.

According to data with depositories, FPIs invested a net amount of Rs 1,099 crore in Indian equities during July 1-22. They have significantly slowed down their relentless selling and have even turned buyers for several days this month particularly during the last few days.

The declining trend of net outflow over the last few weeks coupled with occasional buying does signify that the net outflow from FPIs have bottomed out. The net inflow was driven by better earnings and decline in commodity prices, Chouhan said.

Another factor that helped in net inflow was expectation of less aggressive rate hike by the US Federal Reserve in its upcoming policy meeting than what was anticipated earlier. This also softens the dollar index, which augurs well for emerging markets like India, Himanshu Srivastava, Associate Director - Manager Research, Morningstar India, said. There is also a reduced possibility of recession in the US or it would be less impactful. In addition to that, the recent corrections in the markets have also provided a good buying opportunity for FPIs, he added.