FIIs have stepped back, but the stock market has a new pillar

livemint.com:

₹3,01,684 crore into the Indian stock markets till 21 August, up nearly threefold from ₹1,08,887 crore a year earlier. At the same time, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) cut their investments to ₹15,940 crore from ₹1,40,105 crore a year earlier.

The outsized presence of domestic institutions reflects in the continued stock market rally: Since the beginning of the year, Nifty 50 has gained 14%, while MSCI AC Asia Pacific index has risen 9%. Over the last four years, local investors have viewed every market dip as a buying opportunity, said Manuj Jain, co-head of product strategy at WhiteOak Capital AMC.

"Whether it was the covid-related decline in 2020, the volatility from geopolitical tensions in 2022, the fall due to global slowdown worries in 2023, or the recent election result day drop on 4 June, the market has consistently rebounded and reached new all-time highs in a short period," said Jain. The benchmark Nifty 50 index which stood at 12182.5 points on 1 January, 2020 before the pandemic outbreak, closed at 24823.15 on Friday, a gain of 103.8% during the period.

Experts said that corrections no longer alarm retail investors who view them as normal, indicating inflows through systematic investment plans might remain steady. The two categories of investors leading the DII advance are retail investors and high networth individuals, (HNIs), said Nitin Raheja, executive director of Julius Baer India.

“We do believe that while in the short term, the momentum of flows could see some cooling if the markets were to correct, over the long term, however, these flows will only keep on increasing". Jain of WhiteOak AMC too said this momentum “may continue for the time being" in the absence of any major disappointments or