If the fortnightly data for the first half of November is any indication, foreign portfolio investors bet heavily on stocks of information technology, automobile and auto components, construction, telecom operators in a month that saw net buying totaling Rs 35,000 crore. Institutional Category.
FPIs bought equities totaling Rs 34,959 crore in November, the second highest monthly inflow in 2022 so far. FPIs bought financial stocks worth Rs 11,452 crore in the first 15 days of November, followed by FMCG (Rs 3,514 crore) and IT stocks (Rs 3,005 crore), data available with depository NSDL showed.
The data showed that automobiles and auto components (Rs 2,251 crore), oil and gas (Rs 1,765 crore) and consumer services (Rs 1,680 crore) were other sectors where FPIs bought in the first 15 days of November.
Among these sectors, FPIs were net buyers in IT, auto, construction and healthcare sectors in the last fortnight as well.
Net buying by FPIs in the first 15 days stood at Rs 28,888 crore, which constituted over 80 per cent of total FPI inflows for the month. Overall, FPIs managed Rs 49,09,960 crore of domestic assets as on November 15 as compared to Rs 47,97,660 crore as on October 31.
HDFC, the biggest FPI bet in the BSE 100 pack, jumped 7.9 per cent in November against a 2.85 per cent rise in the benchmark index. FPIs held 67.76 per cent stake in the mortgage lender as of September 30. It is difficult to ascertain whether HDFC’s November growth was due to FPI buying or not.
Shriram Transport Finance Company (up 3.39 per cent), Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (up 4.51 per cent), ICICI Bank (up 4.22 per cent) and IndusInd Bank (up 3.26 per cent) were the other FPI favorites that gave good returns in November.
“We believe that FPI aggression in pumping cash into equities will continue in the coming months. With rate hikes looming, inflation under control and the economy developing well, we can’t see India being in the lead. Don’t see any reason why and the most preferred choice by the international community not only for equities but also for other markets in the long term,” said Manoj Purohit, Partner & Leader – Financial Services Tax, BDO India.
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