FPIs pull ₹34,843 crore from equities in October, second straight month of outflows
Foreign portfolio investors pulled ₹34,843 crore out of Indian equities in October, the second consecutive month of heavy selling, as elevated crude oil prices, global interest rates and a cloudy corporate earnings outlook weighed on allocations.
The October exit followed a ₹35,861 crore withdrawal in September, according to Central Depository Services Ltd data. Before that, FPIs had bought ₹20,200 crore in July and ₹29,631 crore in August. Cumulative outflows from Indian equities in 2026 now stand at ₹2.95 lakh crore.
Anand K Rathi, co-founder of MIRA Money, said the selling reflected concern over crude prices, global rates and earnings. Higher crude poses risks to Indian inflation and corporate margins, while attractive US yields continue to steer global capital, he said. Rathi added that domestic institutional investors have absorbed much of the foreign selling and helped steady the market.
The tone shifted at the end of the month. FPIs turned net buyers, infusing around ₹6,300 crore between October 26 and 30, against net outflows of nearly ₹2,700 crore in the week to October 23, and were net buyers in three of the four sessions ending October 30. VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments, pointed to the Federal Reserve's decision to hold rates, attractive valuations in Indian large-caps and signs of sustained domestic growth. He said foreign investors kept selling large-cap financials while selectively adding pharmaceuticals, healthcare and some digital platform companies.
The buying helped the Nifty reclaim the 23,000 level. Pabitro Mukherjee, deputy vice president of research at Bajaj Broking, called the reversal encouraging for sentiment but cautioned that elevated crude prices and global event risks could cap momentum. Market participants will watch the US mid-term elections, Brent crude, the US-Iran and Russia-Ukraine conflicts, and quarterly earnings, he said. Rathi said one week of buying does not necessarily signal a sustained reversal.
