Foreign Investors' Exodus Continued For The Ninth Straight Month In June

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pulled out Rs 50,203 crore worth of equities from India in June, according to the latest National Securities Depository data.

FPIs have been persistently selling equities in the Indian markets for the past nine-to-ten months due to various reasons, including tightening of monetary policy, rising current account deficit on account of depreciation of the rupee, and rising dollar and bond yields in the US.

FPIs typically prefer advanced economies in times of sharp volatility and uncertainty in the overall financial markets.

So far, in 2022, they have sold equities worth Rs 217,619 crore, NSDL data showed. During the same period, Sensex and Nifty declined over 10 per cent.

"This massive capital outflow has significantly contributed to the depreciation in INR, which recently breached 79 to the dollar. The relentless FPI selling has to be seen in the context of a steadily rising dollar and bond yields in the US," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"FPIs are selling more in countries with rising current account deficits like India because the currencies of such countries are vulnerable to further depreciation. Towards the end of June, FPI selling has been declining."

This trend will be halted only when the dollar stabilises, and US bond yields decline, Mr Vijayakumar added.