Advance-decline ratio skids after FPIs intensify selloff

At lowest level since March 2023, but remains in the positive

- SUNDAR SETHURAMAN

The advance-decline ratio (ADR), a barometer for overall 1.02 in October, as overseas funds stepped up selling. This was the lowest level since March, with gainers exceeding losers by only 42, compared with an average of 275 in the previous six months.

Elevated US bond yields and persisting worries about the Israel-Hamas war led investors to flee risky assets last month. In October, the BSE benchmark Sensex declined 3 per cent in its biggest monthly fall since December 2022. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 4.1 per cent, the most since June 2022.

The smallcap gauges, however, outperformed the benchmarks, declining less than one per cent and supporting the market breadth.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold domestic shares worth ₹21,680 crore, the most since January. The selling could only be partly offset by domestic institutions, which pumped in ₹11,725 crore last month.