FPIs turn net sellers again, pull out over `4,500 cr from stocks last week

New Delhi: Adopting a cautious stance, foreign investors have pulled over Rs 4,500 crore from the Indian equity market last week on fears of an aggressive rate hike by US Federal Reserve.

This comes following a net investment of Rs 7,707 crore by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) during April 1-8 as a correction in the markets provided a good buying opportunity, data with depositories showed.

Prior to that, FPIs remained net sellers for six months to March 2022, withdrawing a massive net amount of Rs 1.48 lakh crore from equities.

These were largely on the back of anticipation of a rate hike by the US Federal Reserve and due to the deteriorating geopolitical environment following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Sonam Srivastava, Founder at Wright Research, a Sebi-registered investment advisor, said, "We are hoping for FPIs to come back to India in a big way when the Ukraine crisis eases as our valuations have become highly competitive".

According to depositories data, FPIs have pulled out a net sum of Rs 4,518 crore from Indian equities during the holiday shortened April 11-13 week.

Markets were closed on April 14 and April 15 on account of Ambedkar Jayanti and Good Friday, respectively.

During the holiday-truncated week, FPIs turned net sellers on fears of an aggressive rate hike by US Fed, which came back to haunt the markets.

This could have prompted investors to again adopt a cautious stance towards their investments in emerging markets like India, until greater clarity emerges, Himanshu Srivastava, Associate Director - Manager Research, Morningstar India, said.