FIIs net sell Rs 3,810 crore while DIIs net buy Rs 4,120 crore-worth Indian equities on September 22

Fresh updates from the financial markets indicate that Foreign institutional market participants (FIIs) remained net sellers in Indian equities on Tuesday, selling shares worth Rs 3,809.99 crore, while domestic institutional market participants (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 4,120.07 crore, according to NSE data.

FIIs bought shares worth Rs 9,845.81 crore and sold shares worth Rs 13,655.80 crore during the session. DIIs bought shares worth Rs 14,599.72 crore and sold shares worth Rs 10,479.65 crore.

With Tuesday's activity, FII selling in September widened to Rs 11,427.13 crore, while DII buying rose to Rs 43,136.02 crore, based on the NSE cash-market series.

On a year-to-date basis, FIIs have now sold a net Rs 3,70,481.79 crore, while DIIs have bought Rs 6,06,640.58 crore.

Market watchers have pointed to elevated crude prices, elevated US yields, India’s valuation premium versus emerging-market peers, and indian rupee pressure as the main drivers. At the same time, they have described the selling as selective rather than a wholesale exit: primary-market interest in IPOs and other deals has continued even as secondary-market flows turned negative. Domestic institutions have remained the steady counterbalance, absorbing a large share of the foreign selling and limiting deeper market declines.

Indian equities are likely to stay sideways to marginally positive in the near term, although global volatility stays elevated. Developments in West Asia, movements in Brent crude, foreign flows and global cues will stay key near-term drivers. On Tuesday, Nifty 50 declined 0.4% after opening elevated and tracking positive global cues, ending softer after four consecutive sessions of marginal upside. Midcap100 and Smallcap100 declined 0.08% and 0.2%, respectively.

Reflecting on the market performance today, Siddhartha Khemka – Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, stated: Sectorally, all sectors ended in the red barring Nifty Media and Realty. Nifty Oil & Gas declined 0.5% after India’s core infrastructure sector expansion slowed to a three-month low of 4.8% in August. Oil production declined 3.6% YoY, while natural gas output contracted 4.9%, weighing on domestic upstream sentiment. The IT index declined 0.8%, with a subdued demand environment anticipated to weigh on the medium-term earnings outlook.