FPIs shift from buyers to sellers this week, offloads equities worth Rs 977 crore

Foreign portfolio investors ( FPIs ), after starting the week as net buyers shifted to become net sellers , resulting in negative net investment of Rs 977 crore this week, as per National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) data.

The FPIs from December 16 to 20, bought equities worth Rs 3,126 crore in the first two trading sessions. However, they changed their trend in the following three sessions, offloading equities worth over Rs 4,103 crore.

Additionally, the overall December FPI investment remained positive, with Rs 21,789 crore invested in Indian equities thus far, indicating continued confidence in India's economic growth potential.

The financial experts attribute the selling pressure to international factors, including central bank interest rate concerns, geopolitical tensions, and profit-taking following recent market gains.

"This week was one of "risk off" in global markets due to the Fed. While US markets recovered a bit on Friday, EMs faced the wrath of a strong US dollar and rising US bond yields, both of which lead to FPI outflows from EMs. India faced these global headwinds with the Rupee hitting an all-time low against the US dollar. FPI selling has been strong in the past week on the back of these global cues. A Santa claus rally has got negated for now," said Ajay Bagga, Banking and Market expert told news agency ANI.

Earlier, FPIs sold equities worth Rs 21,612 crore in November, indicating reduced selling compared to Rs 94,017 crore in October, according to NSDL data.