Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the Indian market this month, with six sectors seeing outflows of over Rs 22,500 crore ($2.71 billion) in the first fortnight.
However, the pace of selling slowed down from the previous fortnight when FIIs sold shares worth more than Rs 40,000 crore.
The sector that continued to be on the hit list was financial services, as FIIs sold shares worth Rs 7,536 crore in the first fortnight. This was, however, significantly lower than the sell-off worth more than Rs 31,000 crore that was witnessed in the previous fortnight.
Selling in the fast-moving consumer goods sector intensified as quarterly earnings of major companies suggested weak rural consumption and as cost pressures increased. FIIs net sold shares worth Rs 3,011 crore in the first fortnight of February, compared to the selling of over Rs 2,000 crore in the previous fortnight.
The other sector to see increased selling by FIIs was construction, as they dumped stocks worth Rs 4,250 crore. This was way higher than the Rs 75 crore of selling between January 16-31.
The telecom sector, which saw net inflows of over Rs 2,000 crore in the January 16-31 fortnight, witnessed outflows of Rs 3,766 crore in the first two weeks of February.
The power sector, which has seen significant inflows in recent months, succumbed to profit booking, as FIIs sold stocks worth Rs 2,895 crore.
In the metals & mining sector, foreign investors sold stocks worth Rs 1,067 crore earlier this month, after selling shares to the tune of Rs 1,949 crore in the last 15 days of January.
Even though FIIs are net sellers this month too, their dollars continued to chase some sectors, and information technology was one among them. The IT sector saw inflows of Rs 3,240 crore in the first fortnight of February, compared to inflows of Rs 4,977 crore in the preceding fortnight.
The healthcare sector saw inflows of Rs 4,212 crore in the first fortnight of February, compared to marginal outflows in the preceding fortnight.
Automobiles saw inflows of Rs 2,539 crore in the first fortnight of February, and consumer services saw inflows of a little over Rs 3,000 crore.
While the pace of selling has slowed down and helped markets scale record highs, global developments, movement in bond yields, and the dollar index will continue to determine flows into emerging markets.
(Data inputs from Ritesh Presswala)
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