19 October,2026 09:42 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Image. File pic.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have withdrawn Rs 52,100 crore from Indian equities in October so far, amid stronger US dollar, elevated crude oil prices and higher US bond yields.
"October's settled equity outflow has now reached about Rs 52,100 crore, already well above September's Rs 35,861 crore, with two weeks of the month still to go. Calendar-2026 FPI equity outflows are now well over the Rs 3 lakh crore mark," Dheeraj Gaur, Chief Investment Strategy Officer, Choice Wealth said.
According to data from the Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL), FPIs had invested Rs 20,200 crore in Indian equities in July and Rs 29,631 crore in August.
The cumulative FPI outflow from Indian equities in 2026 has reached Rs 3.12 lakh crore, way higher than the Rs 1.66 lakh crore withdrawn during the entire 2025, according to news agency PTI.
Gaur noted that in September, FPIs had invested in the primary market which has become subdued, which makes Jio Platform's IPO interesting. At the upper end of the price band, the issue is likely to raise Rs 30,213 crore, making it India's largest public issue so far.
"There is, however, one striking disconnect: FPIs are selling, but Indian equities are not behaving like a market under foreign-investor stress," Gaur said, noting that the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty had gained for the second consecutive week, for the week ended October 16.
During the week, the Sensex gained 2256.94 points or 3.11 per cent. The Nifty rose 625.70 points or 2.78 per cent.
Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) had been providing cushion to the market, he noted.
Foreign investors turned net purchasers on October 16, buying equities worth Rs 1,165.92 crore, however in contrast, DIIs were net sellers offloading equities worth Rs 3,661.28 crore according to the exchange data.
"This brief change in the FII stance is likely to be more tactical than structural. The marginal decline in the US 10-year yield from above 5.3 per cent to 5.08 per cent and the strengthening of the rupee against the dollar to below 95 are the significant factors responsible for the temporary change in FII stance," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments said.
According to Pabitro Mukherjee, Deputy Vice President Research at Bajaj Broking the sharp moderation in FII selling and Friday's reversal in flows suggest sentiment is stabilising, though elevated crude keeps the recovery vulnerable.
"Investors will track Brent crude and US-Iran developments, while domestic focus stays on Q2FY27 earnings and the RBI MPC minutes due mid-week, which should shed light on the 4-2 split over the shift to a calibrated-tightening stance," he said.
FIIs remained net sellers for the ninth straight week. However, selling eased sharply to Rs 8,991 crore from Rs 30,294 crore in the previous week. DIIs were net buyers for a ninth consecutive week at Rs 7,813 crore, he noted.
(With inputs from PTI)
