FPIs made strong return to inject Rs 2 lakh cr in equities
Optimism surrounding the country’s robust economic fundamentals amidst a challenging global environment
FPI selling in equity markets getting absorbed by domestic funds, retail investors
New Delhi: Foreign investors made a strong return by injecting more than Rs 2 lakh crore into Indian equities in 2023-24, driven by optimism surrounding the country's robust economic fundamentals amidst a challenging global environment.
Looking forward to 2025, Bharat Dhawan, Managing Partner at Mazars in India, said that the outlook is cautiously optimistic and anticipates sustained FPI inflows supported by progressive policy reforms, economic stability, and attractive investment avenues. "However, we remain mindful of global geopolitical influences that may introduce intermittent volatility, emphasising the importance of strategic planning and agility in navigating market fluctuations," he added. The outlook for FY25 from an FPI perspective, continues to remain strong, Naveen KR, smallcase Manager and Senior Director at Windmill Capital, said. In the current fiscal 2023-34, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have made a net investment of around Rs 2.08 lakh crore in the Indian equity markets and Rs 1.2 lakh crore in the debt market. Collectively, they pumped Rs 3.4 lakh crore into the capital market, as per data available with the depositories. The dazzling resurgence came following an outflow from equities in the preceding two financial years. In 2022-23, Indian equities witnessed a net outflow of Rs 37,632 crore by FPIs on aggressive rate hikes by the central banks globally. Before this, they pulled out a massive Rs 1.4 lakh crore. However, in 2020-2021, FPIs made a record investment of Rs 2.74 lakh crore. The flows from foreign investors were largely driven by factors such as inflation and interest rate scenarios in developed markets such as the US and UK, currency movement, the trajectory of crude oil prices, geopolitical scenario, and the health of the domestic economy among others, Himanshu Srivastava, Associate Director – Manager Research, Morningstar Investment Research India, said. "Investors increasingly favoured Indian equities, drawn by the market's demonstrated resilience during uncertain periods.
Compared to other similar markets, India's economy stood out as more robust and stable amidst global economic turbulence, further attracting foreign investment," he said. smallcase's Naveen said that economies like the UK and Japan have fallen into recession, Russia and Ukraine are still at war, the USA's inflation is running hot and the debate of soft versus hard landing still persists, while China has become the global anti-hero.
Therefore, India has stolen the spotlight and is delivering numbers with strong GDP growth even amidst a tough business environment. After withdrawing funds in the preceding fiscal, FPIs poured a staggering Rs 1.2 lakh crore into the debt market too, marking a noteworthy shift in their capital flow.
They took out funds to the tune of Rs 8,938 crore in FY23. FPIs' debt investments have been extremely robust this fiscal due to attractive yields on Indian sovereign debt relative to the
US treasury.
This has been supported by strong macros in the form of the robust growth outlook for the Indian economy, stable inflation and a stable currency, and the stated objective of the Government to improve its fiscal deficit, Nitin Raheja, Executive Director, Julius Baer India, said. Additionally, the upcoming inclusion of Indian bonds in JP Morgan's index has led to an inflow in advance into the Indian debt markets.
