FPIs pump in Rs 8,600-cr in September; pace of investment slows

After infusing more than Rs 51,000 crore last month, foreign investors have slowed down the pace of equity buying in India in September so far, as they invested a little over Rs 8,600 crore, on sharp depreciation in rupee.

Going forward, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) are unlikely to buy aggressively amid rising dollar, VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.

Indication of further rate hike by the US Federal Reserve, fears of a recession, depreciating rupee and continued tensions in Russia and Ukraine will affect FPI flows, Basant Maheshwari, smallcase manager and Co-founder, Basant Maheshwari Wealth Advisers LLP, said.

The latest inflow comes following a net investment of Rs 51,200 crore in August and nearly Rs 5,000 crore in July, data with depositories showed.

FPIs turned net buyers in July after nine straight months of net outflows, which started in October last year. Between October 2021 till June 2022, they sold Rs 2.46 lakh crore in the Indian equity markets.

According to the data, FPIs have bought equity to the tune of Rs 8,638 crore during September 1-23.

However, FPI activity has turned highly volatile with alternate bouts of buying and selling. They have sold on seven occasions in this month so far. In fact, in the last two trading sessions, they have pulled out Rs 2,500 crore from the Indian equity markets.

Vijayakumar has attributed increased FPI selling in recent days to rising dollar and rising bond yields in the US.

In addition, the 75 basis points (bps) rate hike by the US Fed for the third consecutive time to control rising inflation and the surging dollar have impacted FPI buying, Wealth Advisers LLP's Maheshwari said.

"The US Fed's hawkish tone on interest rates and the fear of a global recession fuelled pessimism among investors," Shrikant Chouhan, Head - Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities, said.

Published on: Sunday, September 25, 2022, 09:06 PM IST