From January to August, overseas investors pulled ₹64,932 crore out of the shares in the sector.
Overseas investors sold shares worth ₹7,054 crore across eight sectors in the second-half of the month. The consumer services sector witnessed the highest foreign outflows at ₹2,784 crore, after receiving inflows worth ₹4,158 crore in August.
“The FTSE weight up in ICICI Bank and Kotak Bank in the latter half of September would have been one of the drivers of foreign inflows in financial services,” said Sriram Velayudhan, senior vice president, IIFL Securities.
Velayudhan said that the non-banking financial company theme was gaining momentum in September due to anticipation of an interest rate cut.
Analysts said that the momentum in China due to the recently announced stimulus to revive its economy in the latter half of September will have a bearing on the sentiments here. “Financial services sector is directly correlated with foreign flows and given the risk-off sentiment on India among foreign investors, the sector is likely to bear the brunt in the upcoming months,” said Divam Sharma, founder and fund manager, Green Portfolio PMS.Sharma said that given the rise in crude oil prices, oil & gas could also see a dent in foreign flows.Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and healthcare continued to receive strong foreign inflows worth ₹3,528 crore and ₹2,987 crore, respectively, in the last 15 days of September.
