If fortnightly data for the first half of November is any cue, foreign portfolio investors bet heavy on stocks from information technology, automobile and auto components, construction, telecom operators in a month that saw a total of Rs 35,000 crore worth of net buying by the institutional category.
FPIs bought a total of Rs 34,959 crore worth equities in November, the second biggest monthly inflow in 2022 so far. FPIs bought a net of Rs 11,452 crore worth of financial shares, followed by FMCG (Rs 3,514 crore) and IT stocks (Rs 3,005 crore) in the first 15 days of November, data available with depository NSDL suggested.
Automobile and auto component (Rs 2,251 crore), oil & gas (Rs 1,765 crore) and consumer services (Rs 1,680 crore) were other sectors where FPIs bought into the first 15 days of November, data showed.
Among these sectors, FPIs were net buyers in IT, auto, construction and healthcare sectors in the previous fortnight as well.
Net buying by FPI buying in the first 15 days stood at Rs 28,888 crore, which was over 80 per cent of total FPI inflows for the month. Overall, FPIs managed domestic assets worth Rs 49,09,960 crore worth as of November 15 compared with Rs 47,97,660 crore as of October 31.
HDFC, the biggest FPI bet in the BSE100 pack, jumped 7.9 per cent in November against 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 rise was due to FPI buying.
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 among other FPI favourites, which delivered healthy returns in November.
“We believe the FPI’s aggressiveness in pumping cash into equities to continue in coming months. With the slowing down on hiking of rates, inflation under control and the economy being well incubated, we see no reason for India to not be in the leading position and most preferred choice by the international community, not only for equity but also other markets in the long term,” said Manoj Purohit, Partner & Leader – Financial Services Tax, BDO India.
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