How have FPIs been buying and selling in the month of April so far?

The latest week has been a week of FPI selling, although they remain net buyers for the month of April till date. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) withdrew Rs.4,500 crore from Indian equity markets in the truncated week ended on 13th April, due to fears of a long weekend. However, it must be remembered that the FPIs had infused a total of Rs.7,707 crore in the first week, leaving them net buyers in April 2022 to the tune of Rs.2,500 crore.

The FPI buying in the month of April so far may be relatively small but does give a degree of comfort after the frenetic selling witnessed in FY22. It may be recollected that in FY22, FPIs were net buyers at the end of Sep-21. However, the selling was so intense in the second half of the year that FPIs closed FY22 with net withdrawals of over Rs.140,000 crore. FPIs selling in Indian equities had been driven by concerns over Ukraine war, inflation concerns, Fed hawkishness as well as vulnerability of Indian markets to value contraction.