FPIs infuse Rs 17,985 cr in June amid increasing liquidity, risk appetite

Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) have infused a net Rs 17,985 crore into the Indian capital markets in June so far amid increasing liquidity and higher risk appetite.
 

According to the latest depositories data, a net sum of Rs 20,527 crore was pumped into equities by FPIs between June 1-19, while they withdrew a net Rs 2,569 crore from the debt segment.

This took the total net investment to Rs 17,985 crore.

Prior to this, overseas investors remained net sellers for three consecutive months. They pulled out a net Rs 7,366 crore in May, Rs 15,403 crore in April and a record Rs 1.1 trillion in March.

"As economies all over the world are increasing liquidity, the appetite for higher risk investments like equities is also increasing considerably.

"This money will find its way into India as India is well placed among emerging markets," said Harsh Jain, co-founder and COO, Groww.

Household and personal products, oil and gas and telecom stocks have attracted most of FPIs' attention over the past month, he added.

As per Rusmik Oza, executive vice president and head of fundamental research at Kotak Securities, the market mood is quite supportive due to gradual resumption in business activities and some positive news flows coming from the banking and financial services sector.

"Since global markets are supportive, the Nifty-50 has smartly moved back above 10,000 level. If global markets don't fall sharply in the next week, then we can expect some positive flows from FPI side," Oza said.

Himanshu Srivastava, associate director-manager research at Morningstar India, termed the investment environment as "dynamic in nature".

However, he added that the Indian economy had been struggling to gain pace even before the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, Fitch Ratings lowered India's sovereign rating outlook to 'negative' from 'stable' and affirmed the country's rating at 'BBB-'. This may not go down well with foreign investors, he said.

Besides, intensifying geopolitical tensions between India and China, US and China and North Korea and South Korea are also unfavourable for emerging markets, he added.

"The Indian financial markets will continue to witness rotational trend with respect to foreign flows," Srivastava noted.