FIIs exodus sparks Nifty's longest weekly fall
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mumbai: The Nifty snapped a three-day losing streak on Friday, but posted the longest weekly losing streak of this year on relentless selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who have flocked to China beginning late last month chasing a stimulus-led recovery in the world's second -biggest economy. Analysts expect the intense battle between bulls and bears to continue amid tepid earnings and muted sentiment among direct retail investors.
The Nifty ended lower for the third week in a row, shedding 0.44% to 24,854.05. On a daily basis though, it snapped a three-day losing streak, closing up two-fifth of a percent at 24,854.05 from highly oversold positions. The recovery was led by the banking pack, which has seen maximum FII selling in the first half of the month.
ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank contributed to the bulk of the Nifty's 0.4% movement. "FIIs are selling and direct retail is not as confident as they were a few months back, which is why we will see these crests and troughs, until there is a sharper move," said Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market analyst. "What's leading to the sell on rise, aside from FII outflows, is partial booking out by direct retail investors who were hugely long railways, defence and PSUs.
They are probably not as confident as they were until a few months back," he added. Direct retail category includes investors who buy and sell from the cash market rather than use the mutual fund route. FII cash selling continued with provisional outflows of ₹5485.70 crore, even as DIIs purchased a provisional ₹5214.83 crore worth of shares, BSE data showed.
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