FPIs holdings in Q1 FY'17 rises to USD 311 bn: Kotak report

Mumbai: Ownership of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in the BSE-200 companies climbed nearly 7 percent sequentially to USD 311 billion in the April-June quarter of 2016, data from Kotak Institutional Equities has revealed.

FPI holdings in BSE-200 index stood at USD 291 billion in the January-March quarter, this year.

For the April-June quarter, FPI acquired equities worth USD 147 billion with major buying seen in sectors such as automobiles, banking and energy.

In percentage terms, FPI holdings in BSE-200 companies increased to 24.9 percent, as against 24.5 percent in the preceding quarter, the report said.

"FPI ownership (including ADR and GDR) in the BSE-200 Index reached USD 311 bn in the June quarter compared to USD 291 bn in the March 2016 quarter," the report said.

Bharat Financial Inclusion, HDIL and Castrol India saw the highest increase in holdings by FPIs, while J&K Bank, Ipca Laboratories and United Breweries saw the maximum decline in such ownership, during the first quarter of the current fiscal.

While the overseas investors put their money into automobiles and banking stocks, there were selling in the pharmaceuticals sector.

On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) increased their stake in pharmaceuticals sector and sold stocks in automobiles and cement sectors.

"DII holdings in BSE-200 companies increased to 11.4 percent in the June quarter from 11.1 percent at the end of the previous quarter," Kotak said.

Banking Financial and Insurance players upped their stakes by the most in NHPC, Tata Communications, and Indraprastha Gas. They decreased their holdings in Ambuja Cement, Axis Bank and Asian Paints.

Mutual Funds increased their ownership the most in Castrol India, Ipca Laboratories and United Breweries. Sanofi India, Kaveri Seed and Vedanta saw the highest decline in stake by the fund houses.

As per the report, FPIs were overweight on banking and technology and underweight on consumers and industrial sectors.