IN A CHANGE OF STANCE, FIIS BUY INDIAN EQUITIES

MUMBAI: After selling for April and most of May, foreign investors bought shares worth $1 billion in the past eight sessions, and analysts believe the buying spree could continue for a while amid hopes of a faster reopening of the economy and falling Covid-19 cases.

Data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) showed that from May 18 to May 27, foreign institutional investors bought nearly $944 million of equities while, according to the National Stock Exchange, on May 28 alone FIIS provisionally bought nearly ₹1,275 crore in Indian equities. So far this month, Sensex and Nifty have advanced over 5% each.

Between March 23 and May 17, FIIS sold Indian shares worth nearly $3 billion. Year-to-date, Sensex and Nifty have climbed 7.7% and 10.4% respectively.

“We have seen early signs that new daily infections are starting to stabilize and expect the pace of vaccination to accelerate after June. We believe the market will be forward looking upwards,” said Nomura Research in its May 18 report. “This is consistent with the view of our economists, who believe the economic impact of the second wave will be relatively muted and concentrated towards the second quarter of 2021.,” the report added.

Analysts believe that soft bond yields in the US along with the dollar index remaining comfortable in the existing range amid the assurance of a dovish stand on monetary policy from the US Federal Reserve offer additional comfort which can essentially lead FIIS’ flow to turn favourable for India.