Foreign investors still buy stocks, but pace slows

Reuters Market Eye - Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their record net purchases of Indian stocks to a 26th consecutive sessions on Thursday, despite sharp share falls sparked by worries the Fed would unwind its monetary stimulus earlier than expected.

FIIs were net buyers of 3.16 billion rupees of stocks on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors sold 5.4 billion rupees of stocks.

That was below FIIs' net purchases of 5.4 billion rupees of stocks on Wednesday, which itself was well below the net buying of 25.8 billion worth of Indian shares on Tuesday.

FIIs have bought a net total of over $14 billion so far in 2013, sparking a rally since mid April, but some analysts say a potential early wind-down of the U.S. stimulus, coupled with worries on the weakening Indian rupee and China's economy, may lead to some profit-booking by these investors.

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi)