ET Intelligence Group: Though foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) intensified their selling in the Indian secondary equity market in the two months to January, their outflow at $16.7 billion ( ₹1.5 lakh crore) in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year (FY26) remained significantly below $23.5 billion ( ₹2 lakh crore) in the comparable period of the previous year.

This was on account of a record high monthly outflow of $13.6 billion in October 2024 and their favourable stance in the first quarter of FY26 when they invested $3.5 billion compared with an outflow of a similar magnitude in the first quarter of FY25.

While the secondary market selling by FPIs has slowed in FY26 so far, their buying in the primary market too has decelerated. This may raise concerns as it implies waning interest of foreign investors in Indian equities amid relatively rich valuations and lucrative opportunities in other emerging markets. They invested $7.2 billion in initial public offering (IPOs) and qualified institutional placement (QIPs) in the first 10 months of FY26, nearly half of $13.3 billion which they had invested in the year-ago period.

The total outflow of FPIs including primary and secondary markets was $9.5 billion in the 10 months to January 2026, lower than the selling worth $10.2 billion year-on-year.

On a monthly basis, FPIs continued to sell Indian equities for the third consecutive month in January, recording a total outflow of nearly $4 billion. They have been net sellers so far in six out of 10 months in the current fiscal year.

Domestic mutual funds continued to support the equities with the help of an unabated inflow of funds. They ploughed in ₹43,973.7 crore in January till 29 th . They remained net buyers of equities in each of the first 10 months of FY26. Their net investment reached ₹4.2 lakh crore in the 10 months to January 2026, similar to ₹4.1 lakh crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.