FIIs invest $4.6b in stocks in Feb

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth over Rs 24,000 crore ($4.6 billion) in Indian stock markets during February, the eighth consecutive month of inflows, taking their total investment tally to $8.4 billion so far this year.

According to market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) data,  FIIs were gross buyers of shares worth Rs 78,888 crore, while they sold equities amounting to Rs 54,449 crore, a net inflow of Rs 24,439 crore.

The CMD of financial services firm CNI Research,   Kishor Ostwal said: “FIIs continued to be bullish on Indian equities and heavily invested in Sensex and Nifty companies. We expect inflows to continue in the coming months as Finance Minister P Chidambaram has hinted that he would take reform initiatives in the current session.”

To attract more foreign investment into Indian equities, Finance Minister P Chidambaram proposed to cut the securities transaction tax to bring down overall costs for investors. He also said that Sebi will simplify procedures and prescribe uniform registration norms for foreign portfolio investors.

FIIs also infused Rs 4,001 crore ($743 million) in the debt market in February, taking their overall net investments  into debt markets to Rs 7,712 crore ($1.43 billion) so far this year, Sebi data revealed.