After remaining net buyers in March and February, FPIs continued their buying activity in April, too. The net purchases in March stood at Rs 35,098 crore while it was Rs 1,539 crore in the previous month.
In January they were net sellers of sold equities worth Rs 25,744 crore.
Indian benchmark indices ended in the deep red on Friday amid selling action across sectors. Foreign investors are believed to have triggered the sell-off, offloading stakes in bluechip stocks as those investing from Mauritius may now face greater scrutiny. The S&P BSE Sensex ended the session at 74,244.90, down by 793.25 points or 1.06%. The broader Nifty settled at 22,519.40, lower by 234.40 points or 1.03%.
V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services said the Friday sell-off by FPIs was to the tune of Rs 8,027 crore on fears of changes in the India-Mauritius tax treaty. This move will weigh on FPI inflows in the near term, till clarity emerges on the details of the new treaty, he added.
Vijayakumar also pointed to another key concern on the geopolitical front in the Middle East amid a flare-up between Israel and Iran. “These will keep the markets on tenterhooks in the near-term,” he opined.The coming few days will be tough for FPIs, who might see more outflows, he warns as he simultaneously remains confident about the strength of domestic institutional investors (DIIs). “Since the DIIs are sitting on huge liquidity and the retail and HNIs in India are highly optimistic about the Indian market, FPI selling will be largely absorbed by domestic money,” the Geojit analyst said. (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
