FPIs stay bullish; pour in Rs 67 bn in August on better corporate earnings

Foreign investors have pumped in a little over Rs 67 billion into the Indian capital markets so far this month on improvement on the macro front, better corporate earnings and correction in the mid and small-cap space.

The latest inflow comes following a net infusion of over Rs 23 billion in the capital markets -- both equity and debt -- last month. Prior to that, overseas investors had pulled out over Rs 610 billion during April-June.

According to the latest depository data, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pumped in a net sum of Rs 20.48 billion into equities during August 1-24 and a net amount of Rs 46.62 billion into the debt market, taking the total to Rs 67.10 billion.

After three months of huge outflows from April till June, analysts said it is encouraging to see FPIs making a comeback in July and August.

"The recent net inflow could be attributed to improvement on the macro front, better earnings from corporate, correction in the mid and small-cap space and positive observations of IMF on India," said Himanshu Srivastava, Senior Analyst Manager Research at Morningstar.

"The direction is definitely positive. However, the quantum of inflows from FPIs is much lower than what we have seen in the past when they come with full conviction. It indicates that there is a fair bit of uncertainty and cautiousness among FPIs at the moment," he added.

Overall, so far this year, FPIs have pulled out more than Rs 21 billion from equities and nearly Rs 370 billion from the debt markets.