Foreign investors pump Rs 10,312 cr in June as equity investments slow

Overseas investors have infused a net sum of Rs 10,312 crore in the domestic capital markets this month so far, with debt segment accounting for the lion's share.

Equity investments have slowed down on account of rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East as well as US-India trade conflict, experts said.

As per the latest depositories data, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pumped in a net amount of Rs 552.07 crore into equities and Rs 9,760.59 crore into the debt market during Jun 3-21, taking the cumulative net investment to Rs 10,312.66 crore.

FPIs have been net buyers for the previous four consecutive months. They invested a net Rs 9,031.15 crore in May, Rs 16,093 crore in April, Rs 45,981 crore in March and Rs 11,182 crore in February into the Indian capital markets (both equity and debt).

 

Equity investments in June have tapered off as "the US-Iran conflict seems to have spooked the global investors' sentiment. The recent US-India trade fight seems to have affected the investors as well," Groww COO Harsh Jain said.

However, these are fairly short term impacts and do not affect the long term investment prospects of India, he added.

Similarly, Himanshu Srivastava, senior research analyst, manager research at Morningstar, said: "The sentiment this week was dented due to the surge in crude prices as well as brewing tension in the Middle East between US and Iran. Escalation in the trade war too put investors on tenterhook as they adopted a wait and watch stance."

Going forward, the focus of FPIs would be on the Budget on July 5 where the government will present its roadmap for fiscal consolidation, fiscal deficit target and the steps it would take to propel economic growth, Srivastava added.