Record foreign selling of ₹1.8 trillion in FY26 marks a deeper shift in overseas capital flows
For foreign investors backing Indian equities, the financial year 2026 was one they would rather forget. It was a period dotted with global disruptions, starting with US-led tariff uncertainties and ending amid the US-Israel-Iran war.
Each external shock raised risks to India Inc.’s headline earnings and triggered a sharp exodus of overseas capital throughout FY26, making market flows more volatile and returns less predictable.Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) turned the most bearish on India in 34 years, with net outflows surging 42% year-on-year to nearly ₹1.8 trillion in FY26—the highest since 1992, when data first became available, according to Mint’s analysis of National Securities Depository Ltd data. The rout intensified in March 2026 alone, which saw a sharp ₹1.18 trillion sell-off, as the West Asia war unsettled India’s macroeconomic outlook and raised the risk of earnings downgrades for FY27.After the December-quarter earnings, the Street was pencilling in around 16% earnings growth for the Nifty 50.
But the recent surge in crude prices amid the war and its potential spillover into slower economic growth have forced a reset, with estimates now being sharply cut. Goldman Sachs has lowered its forecast to 8%.“Most foreign investors track headline earnings growth closely, and their allocation to India tends to follow the trajectory of earnings,” Dikshit Mittal, senior equity fund manager at LIC Mutual Fund AMCsaid.Strong earnings growth in the post-pandemic phase, particularly till FY24, had drawn FPIs into India as double-digit earnings growth and a relatively stable rupee supported attractive dollar returns, Mittal said.
Read on livemint.com