Fii Inflow Hit All-Time High, But 87% Of It Came In H1

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) pumped money into the Indian bourses like never before, during 2001.

Net FII purchases (purchases less sales) for the year (till December 27) stood at Rs 12,794 crore, a 93 per cent jump year-on-year, compared with an increase of a puny one per cent during calendar 2000.

The last time FII net inflow was in five digits was in 1996, when they poured Rs 10,804 crore into the bourses.

But unlike FIIs, mutual funds were net sellers to tune of Rs 4,856 crore during the year. Last year, mutual funds were net sellers to the tune of Rs 764 crore.

This trend reversed during September 2001, when FIIs wound up their positions and turned into net sellers by Rs 249 crore, while mutual funds became net buyers by Rs 99 crore.

Mutual funds were net buyers for only two months during the year, while FIIs were net buyer for eleven months. Mutual funds were net buyers in December 2001 at Rs 168 crore.

During the year, FII net inflow peaked at Rs 3,973 crore in January 2001, while mutual funds sold their maximum during a month in February 2001, at Rs 1,181 crore.

However, there has been a distinct drop in FII net inflow since June 2001. The inflow of Rs 11,091 crore during the first half of the year accounted for over 87 per cent of aggregate inflow.

This could be attributed to the FIIs' attitude of allocating funds generally in the first two quarters. The global slowdown had been the major reason for lower inflow in the second half.

Similarly, mutual funds sold equities worth Rs 3,268 crore in the first half, accounting for 67 per cent of the total net outflow during the year.