Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have withdrawn more than $60 billion from Indian equities since late 2024, marking one of the largest such sell-offs in India's equity-market history. According to CNBC TV18, this represents a significant escalation from the ₹35,861 crore outflow recorded in September and ₹31,282 crore in October. The selling pressure intensified on Thursday with another $1.34 billion outflow, representing the biggest single-day outflow since May 29 when FPIs sold $2.3 billion worth of equities. This compares to previous major sell-offs, where overseas investors sold about $35 billion during the Covid-driven sell-off that ended in June 2022, and outflows during the global financial crisis stood at around $16 billion.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their selling streak into October, offloading shares worth ₹31,282 crore in just the first five sessions, according to latest NSE data. This brings October's total selling to ₹31,282 crore, following the ₹35,861 crore outflow recorded in September. FIIs were net sellers in all three sessions of October, with cumulative selling of about ₹17,145 crore. However, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) provided strong support, buying ₹5,088.92 crore worth of equities on Tuesday and remaining net buyers in all three sessions with buying of about ₹20,312 crore. The combined FII-DII flow for October remains positive at about ₹3,167 crore, as reported by NSE. The increased selling was driven by block deals in ITC, where global investor GQG Partners offloaded around a 3% stake for about ₹9,400 crore, while Fidelity Advisor Overseas Fund bought a little over a 1% stake in ITC for ₹3,448 crore.
Latest provisional exchange data reveals that FIIs sold Indian equities worth ₹30,294 crore on a net basis during the week ended October 9, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth ₹30,313 crore. On Friday alone, FIIs were net sellers of ₹3,568.90 crore while DIIs bought equities worth ₹4,743.26 crore, resulting in net institutional inflows of ₹1,174.36 crore for the session. Over the entire week, FIIs purchased equities worth ₹65,610.73 crore and sold ₹95,904.02 crore, while DIIs bought shares worth ₹95,434.53 crore and sold ₹65,122.06 crore. FIIs were net sellers in each of the five trading sessions during the week, with outflows reaching ₹12,943.58 crore on October 8, while DIIs provided consistent support with their strongest net buying of ₹10,703.11 crore also recorded on October 8.
Financial stocks experienced the most significant selling pressure during September, with FPIs offloading ₹13,147 crore in financial services alone, accounting for more than a third of their total equity outflow during the month. Banks bore the brunt of FII selloff, with the sector recording the highest outflows at ₹13,147 crore for the full month, followed by oil and gas at ₹6,854 crore and automobiles and auto components at ₹6,212 crore. Together, these three sectors saw net selling of ₹26,213 crore. The pressure intensified in the second half of the month, with FPIs selling ₹6,943 crore of financial services stocks between September 16 and 30, after dumping equities worth ₹6,204 crore in the first fortnight. The selling has been concentrated in financials and technology, while industrials, metals and mining, and utilities have continued to attract inflows. According to CNBC TV18, the heavy selling by overseas investors has also weighed on the Indian rupee, which has depreciated as much as 7.1% since the start of the year.
Despite continued FPI selling, Indian equities extended their recovery for the second consecutive session on Tuesday, with the Nifty advancing 1.0% (220 points) to close at 22,776, following a 0.6% gain in the previous session that ended a four-day declining streak. The rebound follows an eight-week decline in which the Nifty fell 8.8%, the longest sequence of weekly losses since 2020. On a year-to-date basis, FIIs have sold a net ₹4,20,212 crore, while DIIs have bought about ₹6,59,847 crore. With the October outflows, total FPI withdrawals from Indian equities in 2026 have reached ₹2.91 lakh crore, surpassing the ₹1.66 lakh crore outflow recorded during the whole of 2025. The correction has brought valuations to more reasonable levels, while Q2 business updates triggered stock-specific buying. BSE-listed companies added nearly ₹6 lakh crore in market capitalisation over the two sessions, with the Nifty Bank index rising 0.76% to 55,128.40. The institutional flows came as Indian equity benchmarks snapped an eight-week losing streak, supported by a strong rally on Friday, with the Sensex and Nifty gaining nearly 1% each over the week.
