EconomyMarkets
Foreign investors' October selling reaches ₹53,337 crore, but the pace eases
Overseas funds were net sellers for a tenth straight week, though they bought on two days as US yields cooled and the rupee firmed. Crude above $100 keeps the pressure on.
Key points
- Foreign portfolio investors have sold a net ₹53,337 crore of Indian shares so far in October.
- Their selling through the exchanges this year has reached ₹3,69,164 crore.
- Selling slowed in the week to 23 October and FPIs turned buyers on two days.
Foreign portfolio investors have pulled a net ₹53,337 crore out of Indian shares so far in October, extending a selling streak to ten weeks, although the outflow slowed sharply in the week that ended on 23 October.
Overseas funds turned buyers on two days of that week. Against the selling in the secondary market, they put a net ₹5,281 crore into shares through initial public offerings this month.
“The total FPI selling through the exchanges for this year stood at Rs 3,69,164 crore,” said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments.
Why the selling slowed
Analysts point to three things that took some heat out of the exits. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell from 5.36% to about 5%, making American bonds a little less of a draw. The rupee firmed to 94.94 to the dollar. And large Indian companies now look cheap enough, on valuation, to tempt some buyers back.
Domestic institutions have cash to spare and have been buying fairly valued large caps, which has helped hold up the bigger stocks.
Why it may not be over
Oil remains the main worry. Brent crude closed on Friday at $116.72 a barrel, its highest since 29 April, after rising 6.2% in the week. Analysts expect that crude staying above $100 will weigh on India’s economy, and that foreign funds will keep selling into rallies.
The smaller end of the market took the worst of the week. The Nifty 50 fell about 2.35%, but the Nifty Midcap 100 lost 5.6% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 dropped 7.3%. Market talk blamed forced selling of positions bought with borrowed money for the slide in mid and small caps.
The pace of exits has been relentless. By 11 October, FPIs had already sold ₹44,166 crore of shares this month, and depository data then put their net equity outflow for 2026 at ₹3.04 lakh crore, against ₹1.66 lakh crore in the whole of 2025.