Geopolitical risk clouds India's market premium

FPIs have pulled nearly ₹8,423 crore from domestic equities in June so far

- Abhinaba Saha

MUMBAI: Cautious investor sentiment because of the Israel-Iran conflict has sparked a significant flight of foreign capital from India, reversing recent inflows.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have already pulled nearly ₹8,423 crore from domestic equities in June. This outflow follows ₹19,860 crore and ₹4,223 crore of inflows in the preceding two months, respectively. FPIs remain net sellers for the year, and experts anticipate further outflows if the conflict extends.

"FPIs are free birds and aren't under any compulsion to buy stocks at specific prices to support the counter, like we do," said Apurva Sheth, head of market perspectives and research at Samco Securities. "Their latest position in the derivatives segment shows that they are heavily bearish on the Indian stock market."

But experts also say such concerns might be transitory as India still offers the best growth story in an era of global slowdown.