According to V.K. Vijayakumar, the Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, the trend in Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) investment has shifted from buying over the last few months to selling in September. As per NSDL data, FPIs have divested equity worth Rs 4,402 crore as of 8 September. When excluding bulk deals and investments through the primary market, the selling figure in the cash segment rises to Rs 8,832 crore.
The primary reasons for this reversal in FPI investment are the increasing US bond yields and the upward movement of the dollar index. Vijayakumar believes that FPIs may resume buying when the dollar index and US bond yields decrease, which, in turn, depends on the forthcoming US inflation and growth data.
One notable trend in FPI investment is their consistent buying in capital goods and power sectors. This has led to a notable uptrend in the stocks of power companies and capital goods firms like L&T.
Conversely, FPIs selling in financials has kept the prices of banking blue-chip stocks relatively low. Vijayakumar sees this as an opportunity for retail investors, as this segment is performing well, and the stocks are reasonably valued.