FPIs adopt cautious stance ahead of Budget; take out ₹17,000 cr from equities in Jan

Foreign investors have pulled out a net of over ₹17,000 crore this month so far due to the attractiveness of the Chinese markets and the cautious stance adopted by them ahead of the Union Budget and US Federal Reserve meeting.

The outflow in January came after a net inflow of ₹11,119 crore in December and ₹36,239 crore in November.

Overall, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pulled out ₹1.21-lakh crore from the Indian equity markets in 2022, following aggressive rate hikes by the central banks globally, particularly the US Federal Reserve, volatile crude, rising commodity prices and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

For FPIs, 2022 was a subdued year in terms of flow and withdrawal from equities after a net investment in the preceding three years. According to the data with the depositories, FPIs have made a net withdrawal of ₹17,023 crore this month (till January 27).

Himanshu…