FIIs yank Rs 10,000 crore from Indian stocks before Trump tariff bomb detonates. Are you prepared?

“The element of uncertainty regarding reciprocal tariffs is expected to decrease with the tariff declaration today. However, considering Trump’s flip-flops on tariffs in the past, the uncertainty is likely to persist beyond today,” says Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments.

End-of-year considerations likely played a role in FIIs turning aggressive buyers toward the last leg of March, he notes. Their buying spree triggered short-covering, which in turn drove India’s outperformance. But the tide has turned, and FIIs have now resumed shorting. “Investors can wait for clarity to emerge regarding tariffs and market trends. If the tariffs are worse than expected, there could be another round of sell-off. Even in such a scenario, domestic consumption-driven sectors will remain resilient.”
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What’s Spooking the FIIs?

Jahangir Aziz of JPMorgan warns that India may not be spared from reciprocal tariffs, and even if it is, sectoral tariffs could still come into play. “Clearly, one has to see what is going to happen to India. More than the tariffs, two other factors matter—whether we get a global risk-off event and how it affects the dollar. If US equities take a hit, history suggests global equities, including India’s, won’t be spared.”

Market expert Sunil Subramaniam sees this turbulence as short-term pain but medium-term gain. “A lot of the price correction is in anticipation of bad news. Unless there’s a