New Delhi: Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought Indian equities worth Rs 2,085 crore in the first half of August owing to improvement in economic activity. As per depositories data, overseas investors pumped in a net Rs 2,085 crore between August 2-13.

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During the same period, they pulled out a net Rs 2,044 crore from the debt segment. The inflows in August can be attributed to an improvement in economic activity in the domestic market, even though concerns over the third wave of COVID-19 lingers globally, as per Shrikant Chouhan, executive vice president, equity technical research at Kotak Securities.

The small figure indicates lack of conviction on the part of FPIs, said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services. FPIs were sellers in financial services and IT in July, he added.

Since markets are at record highs with stretched valuations, some profit booking by FPIs can be expected, going forward, Vijayakumar added. With respect to other emerging markets, Chouhan said flows in South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan continues to be negative to the tune of USD 1,906 million, USD 362 million and USD 184 million, respectively. On the other hand, Indonesia and the Philippines reported FPI inflows to the tune of USD 5 million and USD 8 million, respectively.

”FPI flows in India is expected to be volatile, given the concern pertaining to the pandemic third wave and Federal Reserve’s plans to eventually taper its asset purchases,” Chouhan said.

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First Published:Aug 15, 2021 4:24 PM IST