FIIs sell over Rs 2 lakh crore worth of Indian equities in 2026. What lies ahead?

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have offloaded domestic equities worth Rs 2.06 lakh crore in 2026, remaining net sellers for the third successive month-to-date. They have sold shares worth Rs 14,231 crore, so far this month.

On Friday, FIIs sold domestic shares to the tune of Rs 4,110.60 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers at Rs 6,748.13 crore.

Despite DIIs throwing around their weight, benchmark indices ended with sharp cuts on Friday, recording their second successive decline amid significant selling in the financial stocks. While Nifty plunged 150.50 points or 0.62% to close at 24,176.15, the BSE Sensex settled at 77,328.19, down 516.33 points or 0.66%.

Commenting on the current trends, N. ArunaGiri, CEO at TrustLine Holdings said domestic markets continue to see FII selling despite a nearly $50 billion sell-off since September 2024 at a time when South Korea received nearly $4 billion and Taiwan around $5.5 billion in flows.

“India is still not getting its due share of emerging market allocations. This clearly indicates that FIIs currently do not find India as attractive from an allocation perspective. As a result, large caps have relatively underperformed, while strong domestic flows have continued to support the SMID segment. As long as FIIs do not meaningfully increase India allocations, the market is likely to remain highly stock-specific, driven by earnings visibility and bottom-up opportunities rather than momentum rally led by large caps,” ArunaGiri said.

Outlook

Bajaj Broking said institutional activity is expected to be largely driven by global developments, going forward. The progress or deterioration of the U.S.–Iran negotiations will remain a key factor to monitor, he said, outlining significant implications for geopolitical stability and the potential impact on crude oil price volatility.

FIIs in 2026

War-induced sell-off in March made it the worst month this year, witnessing an exodus worth Rs 1,17,775 crore. April was not kind too, with outflows of Rs 60,847 crore. Foreign investors turned net buyers in February, buying shares worth Rs 22,615 crore in the domestic markets so far. In January, they sold Rs 35,962 crore worth of shares.

In 2025, the FIIs buying trends remained patchy, but the overall trend was bearish. They took Rs 1,66,286 crore from Indian markets as trade deal delay and premium valuations weighed on the sentiments.

Also read: FII ownership hits 14-year low to 14.7%; DII cushions Indian markets with 18.9% rise: Report(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)