FII investments past $10 bn this yr

It's raining dollars in Indian stock markets. Net investments by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) today crossed the $10 billion-mark in the current calendar year.

The net investment touched $10.16 billion from January to July 2007, much higher than $7.99 billion in the entire 2006 calendar year. July has also seen the highest single month net FII inflow at $5.81 billion.

Rashesh Shah, MD, Edelwiss Capital, said apart from participating in mega public offers, ADRs, and FCCB conversions, FIIs have started investing in the secondary markets over the last few weeks.

FIIs reached the landmark figure on a day that saw the Sensex rising 166.65 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 15,732.20.

The surge was led by Hindustan Unilever, which went up by 5 per cent to Rs 204 on its decision to consider buying back shares.

The other major gainers were Larsen & Toubro, Bhel, Satyam and Sun Pharma. The list of losers included Cipla and ICICI Bank.