Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) extended their buying streak to nine consecutive sessions on Monday, investing a provisional ₹1,312.03 crore in equities according to exchange data. For the week ending July 20, DIIs remained the dominant buyers in the cash market, investing a net ₹9,808.64 crore in equities over five trading sessions. In contrast, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers for the sixth straight session, offloading shares worth ₹1,121.04 crore on Monday alone. The cumulative net outflows for the week totaled ₹9,119.76 crore, as reported by CNBC TV18.
Retail investors made a strong comeback to Indian equities in the June quarter, purchasing ₹39,287 crore worth of equities according to National Stock Exchange (NSE) data. This marks their highest quarterly investment since the December quarter of 2024, when they purchased shares worth ₹42,746 crore. The revival represents a sharp turnaround from the previous two quarters, when retail investors net sold ₹3,843 crore in the January-March period and pulled out ₹37,365 crore in the October-December quarter of 2025. As reported by The Economic Times, this reversal came after a ₹12,000 crore sell-off in February, with retail investors going on a buying spree over the next four months.
The institutional flows coincided with mixed market performance on Monday, with benchmark indices ending lower despite recovering from intraday lows. The BSE Sensex declined 443 points to close at 77,708, while the Nifty 50 fell 96 points to settle at 24,239, managing to hold above the crucial 24,200 level. Private sector banking stocks remained under pressure after their June-quarter earnings, with HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank falling between 2% and 5%, weighing on the benchmark indices. However, gains in ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel helped the market recover part of its losses by the close. According to CNBC TV18, banking stocks were the biggest contributors to the benchmark gains, with ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank among the top contributors to the Nifty's advance.
The week's institutional flows showed consistent patterns across daily sessions. On July 13, DIIs purchased ₹2,171.70 crore while FIIs sold ₹3,062.27 crore. The following day saw DIIs buy ₹2,927.71 crore against FII outflows of ₹739.69 crore. July 15 witnessed DIIs purchasing ₹704.93 crore while FIIs sold ₹735.83 crore, followed by DIIs buying ₹2,986.41 crore on July 16 against FII outflows of ₹4,205.56 crore. The trend continued on July 17 with DIIs purchasing ₹1,017.89 crore while FIIs sold ₹376.41 crore. On Monday, DIIs purchased equities worth ₹16,187.84 crore and sold shares worth ₹14,875.81 crore, while FIIs/FPIs bought equities worth ₹13,312.67 crore and sold ₹14,433.71 crore.
Domestic institutional investors remained the market's strongest support throughout the week, with their net purchases totaling ₹9,808.64 crore over five trading sessions. According to The Economic Times, they had bought ₹2.51 trillion in the March quarter and ₹1.69 trillion a year earlier. DIIs have remained net buyers in each of the nine quarters since June 2024, supported by steady inflows into mutual funds, insurers and other domestic investment vehicles. Vedant Gupte noted that DIIs invested about ₹4.7 trillion during the first half of 2026, compared with ₹3.57 trillion a year earlier, strengthening the market's structural domestic demand. The continued support from domestic investors has helped cushion the impact of sustained foreign selling, which has now extended into a sixth consecutive trading session.
