FPIs invest Rs 22,038 cr in Feb so far amid post-Budget cheer

NEW DELHI: Continuing their buying trend, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pumped in a net Rs 22,038 crore into the Indian markets in Februar y so far amid positive sentiments around the Union Budget.

According to depositories data, overseas investors poured in Rs 20,593 crore into equities and Rs 1,445 crore in the debt segment, taking the total net investment to Rs 22,038 crore during Februar y 1-12.

Himanshu Srivastava, associate director - manager research, Morningstar India, attributed the strong inflows in Februar y to "the positive sentiments around the equity markets af ter the Union Budget." The government's efforts in the Budget to bring the economy back on track have been lauded by investors, he added.

V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, noted that there is sectoral rotation happening in the market now. In 2020, pharma sector was a preferred choice and the sector did ver y well, while banking stocks underper formed due to potential non-per forming assets concerns. "Now the banking stocks are again sought af ter by the FPIs. IT stocks continue to be favourites with high deliver y buying," he added.

S Ranganathan, head of research at LKP Securities, said "sectors like private banks, consumer, FMCG and IT have seen foreign flows as Indian companies have exhibited resilience and demonstrated growth post lif ting of the lockdown restrictions.”