FPIs turn net buyers after day of volatility, pour ₹2,298 crore on Friday

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) made a net investment of ₹2,298.08 crore in Indian markets on Friday, November 14, according to data from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL). This marked a return to positive territory after mixed trading patterns earlier in the week, though the cumulative net outflow for the week stood at ₹13,925 crore through November 14.

The week witnessed significant volatility in FPI flows. Monday, November 10, saw the highest single-day inflow of ₹6,406.12 crore, driven primarily by equity investments of ₹7,738.80 crore. However, this was followed by a sharp reversal on Tuesday, November 11, when FPIs pulled out ₹1,716.16 crore. Wednesday, November 12, brought renewed optimism with net inflows of ₹3,735.14 crore, before Thursday, November 13, recorded a modest inflow of ₹1,471.97 crore.

On Friday, equity investments remained the primary driver of FPI activity, with net inflows of ₹2,053.04 crore in the segment. Of this, ₹735.23 crore came through stock exchanges while ₹1,317.81 crore was routed through the primary market and other channels. The rupee closed at ₹88.7160 against the US dollar on Friday, translating to a net foreign investment of $259.02 million for the day.

The debt segment presented a mixed picture on Friday. Debt-FAR (Fully Accessible Route) securities attracted net investments of ₹970.19 crore, while Debt-General Limit witnessed outflows of ₹577.34 crore. Debt-VRR (Voluntary Retention Route) also saw net selling of ₹105.04 crore. Hybrid instruments recorded net outflows of ₹44.14 crore, and mutual funds saw marginal inflows of ₹1.37 crore.

“Foreign inflows have witnessed continuous volatility with some sign of recovery in coming times,” said Manoj Purohit, Partner & Leader, Financial Services Tax, Tax & Regulatory Services, BDO India. “Major factors contributed to this positive shift are the record domestic sales during this festive month, sustained corporate earnings growth, ongoing talks on India-US trade deals.”

Purohit highlighted regulatory measures aimed at easing market access. “Regulators are also playing a pivotal role to ensure that the concerns of the offshore investor fraternity on easing regulatory parameters and compliance burden is put in place to ease the access into India market and deepen the market participation,” he said. “SEBI’s key proposal announcements include aligning KYC review timelines with RBI norms, eliminating the need for trading and demat accounts, and removing requirements to furnish investor group details for certain categories.”

For the week ending November 14, Monday recorded the highest gross purchases at ₹24,704.21 crore, while Tuesday saw the highest gross sales at ₹15,957.95 crore. The pattern of FPI activity suggests continued preference for equity exposure despite broader market uncertainties.

Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, noted the acceleration in FPI selling towards the week’s end. “The selling by FIIs accelerated on the last few days of the week, and the total FII sell figure for November up to 14th November stood at ₹13,925 crore,” he said. “The long-term trend of FII buying/investing through the primary market continues with an investment of ₹7,833 crore so far in November.”

Looking at year-to-date figures, Dr. Vijayakumar added, “For 2025, till now, total FII sell figure through exchanges stands at ₹208,126 crore. And the total buy figure for the primary market stands at ₹62,125 crore.”

He attributed the recent outflows to relative market performance. “The underperformance of India vs other markets has accelerated the momentum sell trade in India and buy trade in other markets, particularly those like US, China, Taiwan and South Korea which are widely regarded as the beneficiaries of the ongoing AI trade,” Dr. Vijayakumar said. “However, this AI trade cannot continue for long since there are concerns of a bubble building up in AI stocks. When the AI trade loses steam, India will attract FII inflows.”

Published on November 15, 2025