India: October marks highest-ever monthly stock sales by foreign portfolio investors

New Delhi: Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have again turned net sellers in Indian stock markets in October, after having remained net buyers in the past four months on a trot.

Important to mention is that the total stocks they sold in India in October were the highest-ever in a month's time, data showed.

They offloaded stocks worth Rs 94,017 crore in October, data made available by National Securities Depository Limited showed.

In June, July, August, and September, they bought stocks worth Rs 26,565 crore, Rs 32,365 crore, Rs 7,320 crore, and Rs 57,724 crore, respectively.

FPIs had fuelled the bull run in the stock market, barring the latest slump. As per definition, Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) involves an investor buying foreign financial assets.

Sensex has fallen from its all-time high of 85,978 points, to now trading at 79,389 points. The recent sessions have been bearish for the indices, attributable to fund outflows and lower-than-expected Q2 earnings of India Inc.

On Thursday, the Sensex settled at 79,389.06 points, down 553.12 points or 0.69 per cent, while the Nifty closed at 24,205.35 points, down 135.50 points or 0.56 per cent.

"We expect the consolidation to continue in the short term; a reversal in trend will depend on a slowdown in FIIs selling intensity and the outcome of the US presidential election," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, recently.

Interestingly, at a time when overseas investors were net sellers in Indian equities, domestic institutional investors stayed net buyers, largely making up for the outflows by foreign investors. They accumulated stocks worth in thousands of crores more than FPIs in October, data showed. This has likely cushioned the stock indices from a sharp fall.

The recent gains in the indices, let's say over the past three months, were driven by robust GDP growth, controlled inflation, strong domestic liquidity, and favourable monsoon conditions. FPI activity in June and July was influenced by the election results, as the formation of the new government happened smoothly.