Foreign investors offload Rs 30,294 crore this week, domestic inflows absorb FII selling

New Delhi, Oct 10
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the Indian markets for the eighth straight week, offloading Rs 30,294 crore, according to the exchange data.

On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) extended their buying streak this week, with net purchases of Rs 30,313 crore, fully absorbing the FII selling and enabling Friday’s pullback, said analysts.

“Month-to-date, FIIs have sold a net Rs 39,779 crore against DII net buying of Rs 40,355 crore, with the Nifty down 0.44 per cent from its September-end close of 22,620.45,” said Pabitro Mukherjee, Deputy Vice President-Research, Bajaj Broking.

Over the past eight weeks, FIIs were net sellers throughout while DIIs remained consistent net buyers, limiting the Nifty’s 7.57 per cent slide from 24,366.00 to 22,520.45.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) withdrew a net Rs 35,861 crore from Indian equities in September 2026, against net inflows of Rs 29,628 crore in August 2026, according to the latest study by PL Capital (Prabhudas Lilladher).

Selling in September was broad-based across financials, energy, automobiles, and metals.

Financial Services saw the largest outflow at Rs 13,147 crore, a sharp swing from inflows of Rs 10,494 crore in August and nearly six times its long-term average (LTA) monthly outflow of Rs 2,237 crore.

A handful of sectors continued to attract foreign capital. Consumer Services recorded the highest inflow at Rs 2,333 crore, its fourth straight month of positive flows, followed by Services (Rs 2,302 crore), Healthcare (Rs 2,117 crore) and Construction (Rs 1,311 crore), said the report.

On a year-to-date basis, sectoral FPI flows for January–September 2026 remained negative, with cumulative outflows of about Rs 2.60 lakh crore.

According to Mannat Gandhi, research analyst–Quant, PL Capital, foreign investors continued to add to Consumer Services, Services and Healthcare, where flows remain well above long-term averages.

"The quarterly holding data tells a similar story over a longer horizon, with FII weightage gradually moving away from Banks and IT towards segments such as Electricals and Non-Ferrous Metals," she said.

Going ahead, FII selling and global headwinds are likely to keep markets volatile, though record domestic institutional buying should continue to limit the downside, said analysts.