Overseas investors continued to remain net sellers in the Indian market by pulling out Rs 3,825 crore in October so far.
Huge buying was witnessed in the debt segment in the past two months when the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pumped in Rs 13,363 crore in September and Rs 14,376.2 crore in August.
However, the FPIs have pulled out Rs 1,494 crore in October so far, depositories' data showed.
Foreign investors took out Rs 2,331 crore from the equities segment while the overall net outflow stood at Rs 3,825 crore during October 1-22. FPIs have been buyers in financial services in the said month, V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services told PTI.
Also Read: FPIs turn net sellers in Oct so far; pull out Rs 1,472 cr
"FPIs have sold software stocks worth Rs 5,406 cr in the first half of October even though the second quarter (Q2) results of software companies were good. So, this is a clear case of profit booking. FPIs have been buyers in financial services, Vijayakumar stated.
Himanshu Srivastava, associate director (manager research) of Morningstar India, said FPIs have preferred to stay on the sidelines, adopt a wait-and-watch approach and continue to book profits along the way.
He further added that there continues to be a concern among FPIs with respect to the tapering of easy liquidity after the US Federal Reserve hinted of a rate hike sooner than expected.
Also, concerns such as rising oil prices, US bond yields and challenges to the Chinese economy have been on their radar, thus keeping them on the tenterhook and preventing them from substantially investing in Indian equities.
Also Read: FPI remain net buyers so far in Oct, invest Rs 1,997 cr
"FPI flows October till date was mixed," said Shrikant Chouhan, head (equity research-retail) at Kotak Securities. Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand reported FPI inflows of $617 million, $38 million and $679 million, respectively. On the other hand, Taiwan and South Korea reported FPI outflows of $2,956 million and $2,472 million, respectively, he added.
"Driven by sharp increase in energy prices globally, which can be a key headwind for the developed and emerging markets.
"Any increase in the rate by the US Federal Reserve in the near future would also act as a key headwind for overall flow in the emerging markets," Chouhan said.
(With inputs from PTI.)