ADVERTISEMENT

Foreign Investors Withdraw $4 Billion In May On A Rise In Crude Price

So far this year, FPIs withdrew nearly Rs 30,000 crore from the debt market.

A dealer is reflected on a monitor displaying a graph of the movement of the yen against the U.S. dollar at a foreign exchange brokerage in Tokyo, Japan. (Photographer: Yuriko Nakao/Bloomberg)
A dealer is reflected on a monitor displaying a graph of the movement of the yen against the U.S. dollar at a foreign exchange brokerage in Tokyo, Japan. (Photographer: Yuriko Nakao/Bloomberg)

Foreign investors have pulled out a massive $4 billion (over Rs 26,700 crore) from capital markets so far this month, primarily due to a surge in global crude prices.

This comes after such investors had taken out more than Rs 15,500 crore from capital markets (equity and debt) in April, the steepest outflow in 16 months.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) withdrew a net sum of Rs 7,819 crore from equities and another Rs 18,950 crore from the debt market during May 2-25, taking the total outflow to Rs 26,769 crore ($ 4 billion), according to the latest depository data.

Harsh Jain, chief operating officer at Groww, an investment platform, attributed the latest outflow mainly to a rise in cost of crude oil prices. This would impact all the oil-importing economies, including India, and adversely affect its current account deficit, fiscal deficit, imported inflation and create headwind for economic growth.

Besides, investors were cautious after U.S. President Donald Trump cancelled a planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and threatened to impose tariffs on auto imports. FPIs had started profit-booking before the Karnataka elections, a crucial indicator for the 2019 general elections results, he said.

“Another discomfort among the FPI (Category III) was the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s requirement for additional documents from key people in such a fund. Their concern is around the privacy and data theft,” Jain said.

So far this year, FPIs have put in just Rs 641 crore in equities and withdrew nearly Rs 30,000 crore from the debt market.

Opinion
Three Casualties Of A Recent SEBI Diktat: FPIs, NRIs And Indian Investment Managers