FIIs infused Rs 638 cr in equity market last week

The net inflow of Rs 638 cr during last week (April 15-18) comes after a net outflow of Rs 681 cr in the preceding week

Overseas investors pumped in Rs 638 crore in the Indian stock market last week, amid concerns over high current account deficit and political uncertainty.

The net inflow of Rs 638 crore during last week (April 15-18) comes after a net outflow of Rs 681 crore in the preceding week.

At gross level, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 12,521 crore, while they sold equities amounting to Rs 11,883 crore resulting into a net outflow of Rs 638 crore, as per data available with the market regulator Sebi data.

As for the debt market, FIIs infused Rs 369 crore last week.

Market experts said FIIs inflow in the Indian equities have slowed because of a slew of factors such as profit- booking, concerns over high current account deficit (CAD) and political uncertainty.

"We have seen FIIs pumping in funds in the Indian equity market last week, but they are concerned about various economic factors such as CAD touching a record high and political uncertainty," Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd Head (Research) Alex Mathews said.

Overall, FIIs had pumped in Rs 596 crore into the stock market so far this month and seen a heavy outflow of Rs 3,375 crore from the debt market during the same period.

Meanwhile, BSE benchmark's Sensex surged by 774 points, or 4.2%, last week to settle at 19,016.46 points.

Since the beginning of 2013, FIIs have invested Rs 56,218 crore ($10.4 billion) into the Indian equities. They invested $24.4 billion in 2012, about $5 billion below record purchases two years ago.

Moreover, overseas investors have pumped in Rs 9,368 crore ($1.74 billion) into the debt market so far this year.

As on April 12, the number of registered FIIs in the country stood at 1,761 and total number of sub-accounts was 6,355.