FPIs stay bullish, pour Rs 8,000-cr in equities in Aug

Experts attribute the latest inflow to rate cut by Bank of England and the passage of long-pending GST Bill

Building on their buying momentum, foreign investors have pumped in over Rs 8,000 crore in Indian stock markets so far this month, driven by global and domestic factors.

It follows a four-month high inflow of Rs 12,612 crore in the preceding month, the highest since March when FPIs had pumped in Rs 21,143 crore into the stocks.

Indian equities have been witnessing positive inflows from foreign investors since March.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned net buyers in March after pulling out a massive Rs 41,661 crore from the market in previous four months (November-February).

Experts attributed the latest inflow to rate cut by Bank of England (BoE) and the passage of long-pending Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill.

Market sentiment was boosted after the long-stalled indirect tax reform GST Constitution Amendment Bill was passed in both the houses of the Parliament earlier this month.

The BoE had cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.25 per cent early this month, its first reduction since 2009, and also started a fresh round of "quantitative easing" that had been on the pause since 2012.

According to depositors' data, net investment by FPIs stood at Rs 8,127 crore in equities on August 1-25. However, they pulled out Rs 2,727 crore from the debt market, taking the total inflow to Rs 5,400 crore.

On outflow from debt markets, Quantum Mutual Fund Head (fixed income) Murthy Nagarajan said: "Other markets are attractive for FPIs like Indonesia and Brazil as the commodity's prices have stabilised, which should lead to currencies appreciating in these countries."

"In the Indian context, there would be $26 billion outflow to meet the FCNR(B) redemptions in October and November. This should lead to currency depreciation in India, reducing the total return of FPIs," he added.

So far this year, FPIs have invested Rs 39,905 crore in equities while withdrawing Rs 7,450 crore from the debt market. This resulted in a net flow of Rs 32,455 crore.