Foreign ownership of Sensex stocks at 8-year high: BofA-ML

Foreign institutional investors' (FIIs) ownership of the BSE Sensex stocks touched its highest in eight years as of the January-March quarter, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a research report.

During the Jan-March quarter, FIIs were net buyers of Indian equities, while domestic mutual fund companies and state-owned insurer LIC were sellers, it said.

Key stocks bought by FIIs during the quarter were NTPC Ltd, Axis Bank Ltd, Infosys Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and ITC Ltd, BofA-Merrill said.

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Health Ltd, Hindalco Industries Ltd, Hero Motocorp Ltd, Coal India Ltd and Jindal Steel and Power were the key stocks sold by foreign investors in the three-month period.

According to regulatory data, FIIs have been net buyers for 15 consecutive sessions, bringing their total investment for the year to $12.70 billion.

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