Adani shares block deal helps FPIs investment into equities turn positive in March

NEW DELHI: Reversing their selling trend, foreign investors have infused over Rs 13,500 crore in the Indian equities so far this month primarily driven by bulk investment from US-based GQG Partners in the Adani Group companies.

This came following a net outflow of Rs 5,294 crore in February and Rs 28,852 crore in January. Prior to that, FPIs made a net investment of Rs 11,119 crore in December, data with the depositories showed.

Going ahead, FPIs are likely to be cautious in their approach in the coming days as the collapse of the SVB Bank in the US has impacted sentiments in the market, V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.

According to the data, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) invested Rs 13,536 crore in Indian equities till March 10.

"This (inflow) is inclusive of the bulk investment of Rs 15,446 crore by GQG in the four Adani stocks," Vijayakumar said.

Also, Nirav Karkera, Head of Research at Fisdom, said that a large share of the inflows is attributable to chunky block deals buying into the Adani group entities during the first week of the month itself.

Excluding this, FPI activity in equities represents a strong selling undercurrent. However, the intensity of the selling has subsided.

Himanshu Srivastava, Associate Director - Manager Research at Morningstar India, attributed the latest inflows to better prospects of Indian equities over longer time frames.

Although like many other countries, India has also been going through a rate hike cycle given high inflation levels, it is still perceived to be relatively better placed with respect to macro conditions compared with other markets.

In addition, there have been enhanced focus of the government on capital expenditure and achieving higher GDP growth, which could potentially improve India's fiscal condition, he said.

In the calendar year 2023, FPIs have sold equities to the tune of Rs 20,606 crore.

On the other hand, FPIs pulled out Rs 2,987 crore from the debt markets during the period under review.

In terms of investing in sectors, there is no consistency in FPI activity. For instance, FPIs were buyers in financial services in the first half of February and sellers in the second half. Similarly, they were buyers in IT in the first half and sellers in the second half, Geojit Financial Services' Vijayakumar said.