Stock market slowdown tests new investors amid FPI selling pressure

Part of the pressure on the currency is due to continuous selling by FPIs. In the last four months (including January) FPIs have sold over Rs 1.75 trillion of rupee-denominated equities

After several years of stellar performance, India’s stock markets produced moderate returns in calendar 2024. The benchmark Nifty 50 gained 8.8 per cent in that 12-month period. But in dollar terms, this amounted to 6 per cent and India ranked 24th in the world in market returns. The last three months have seen negative returns for the market and it is true also for January this year. The rupee has dropped from 82.77 against the dollar in January 2024 to below 86.60 despite large-scale interventions by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Part of the pressure on the currency is