FPIs infuse Rs 11,000-crore in stock markets in March

New Delhi: Overseas investors are raising their bets on Indian market as they have pumped in over Rs 11,000 crore into the domestic equities so far this month on continued hopes that the RBI would bring down the monetary policy rate.

However, they pulled out Rs 1,027 crore from the debt markets during the period under review.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have turned net buyers of equities in March after pulling out a massive Rs 16,648 crore from the market in the previous two months.

Inflows accelerated on expectations that Reserve Bank would reciprocate to the government's commitment to fiscal prudence with a rate cut sooner than later, market analysts said.

In addition, a sign of recovery in global market has raised optimism among market participants, they added.

According to the data available with depositories, FPIs invested Rs 11,166 crore in equities during March 1-18, while Rs 1,026 crore was withdrawn from the debt market in the same period, leading to a net inflow of Rs 10,140 crore (USD 1.5 billion).

Prior to that, FPIs had pulled out Rs 11,126 crore from equities in January and Rs 5,521 crore in February on account of continuous fall in crude prices and fears of a global slowdown.

Capital inflows by FPIs are often referred to as hot money due to their unpredictability though the funds continue to remain one of the key drivers of the stock market.

In 2015, FPIs had brought in a net Rs 17,806 crore in equities and Rs 45,856 crore in bond markets.