Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have been selling off stocks in the financial services and consumer durable sectors in the last two weeks of February.
According to data from Prime Infobase, FPIs sold finance stocks worth Rs 2,263 crore and consumer durable stocks worth Rs 1,111 crore. Selling also occurred in information technology, metals and mining, and power sectors. However, FPIs bought shares in services firms, energy companies, and capital goods stocks, as well as firms in the construction and construction material sectors.
Despite this selling, financial services remained the highest sectoral allocation as of February end, at 33.81%, followed by information technology at 11.57% and oil and gas at 10.20%. Experts suggest that FPIs remain in “sell” mode and are taking money out of the Indian markets, with IT and financial sectors offering them an opportunity to exit with some profit or without much loss.
However, buying in oil and gas stocks was attributed to the positive demand outlook on the back of China reopening, and expansion in the Indian services sector has made FPIs bullish. The S&P Global India Services Purchasing Managers’ Index rose from 57.2 in January to 59.4 in February, its highest since February 2011.