FIIs hike stake in 21 Sensex cos in December quarter

Mirroring their positive stance on Indian stocks, foreign funds increased their exposure in 21 Sensex firms, including TCS, Infosys, RIL and HDFC Bank, in the quarter ended December 2013.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), a major driver of the Indian stock markets, have increased their shareholding in 21 companies of 30-Sensex constituents in the October-December quarter, according to the shareholding pattern of the blue-chip companies.

Firms that saw rise in FII holding include Bajaj Auto, BHEL, ONGC, GAIL, Tata Power, Sesa Sterlite, Hero Motocorp, Tata Motors, Maruti, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Wipro, Dr Reddy's and M&M.

Foreign funds, however, reduced their stake in HUL, ITC, Coal India, SBI, NTPC, Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank during the same period.

However, the latest shareholding pattern of two Sensex firms -- Cipla and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries -- were not available as yet.

"During December quarter last year, markets were bullish and investor sentiment was also optimistic. The overall momentum was strong for the Indian equities. Global markets were also supportive and this was the time when markets scaled their all-time peak in December. All this factors led to FIIs buying blue-chips," said Paras Bothra, Research Head, Ashika Stock Brokers.

The largest rise in FII ownership was recorded in Larsen & Toubro, followed by Tata Steel. Overseas investors raised their stake in L&T by 2.6 percentage points to 17.85% at the end of December quarter, while in Tata Steel it went up by 2.54 percentage points to 16.1%.

On the other hand, the maximum decline in FII stake was witnessed in FMCG major HUL. FIIs pared their stake in HUL by 0.5 percentage points to 14.83%.

During the quarter, FIIs invested over Rs 35,600 crore in equities pushing the BSE Sensex upwards by 8.5%.

The Sensex touched its all-time high of 21,483.74 on December 9, 2013.

Overseas investors contributed to a net inflow of over Rs 1.13 lakh crore in the Indian equity market last year.