Once more on July 13, FPI money made an exit, leaving the market to be steadied by home-grown funds. On a provisional tally, FIIs were out by Rs 3,062.27 crore. DIIs, for their part, put in a solid performance with net purchases of Rs 2,171.70 crore to see the benchmarks through to an unremarkable close.
There is a shift at work here: you can see it in the way local institutions are absorbing global risk. That was in evidence today as tech names put in a late run and the rest of the market held to a narrow band in the run-up to earnings.
Flows flip as locals step in
The numbers from the exchange tell the story for July 13. FIIs were on the buy side for Rs 10,386.48 crore but sold off Rs 13,448.75 crore, for a net outflow of Rs 3,062.27. An end to the brief spell of buying we saw in the prior session.
DIIs were of a different mind. They put in orders for Rs 17,393.46 crore in equities and let go of Rs 15,221.76 crore. The net of that is an inflow of Rs 2,171.70 crore, which did much to even out the intraday action.
A few of the key figures from the day:
– FIIs net: Rs 3,062.27 crore outflow
– DIIs net: Rs 2,171.70 crore inflow
– FII buy/sell: Rs 10,386.48 crore vs Rs 13,448.75 crore
– DII buy/sell: Rs 17,393.46 crore vs Rs 15,221.76 crore
Indices hold the line, led by IT
You would not have known about the foreign selling from the closing bell. The Sensex put in 47.01 points, or 0.06 percent, to 77,616.40. Nifty was 4.10 points (0.02 percent) in the green at 24,211, and the 24,200 mark was never in doubt. The Nifty Midcap inched up 4 to 63,041.
IT was the engine of the day. TCS was up 5.4 percent; HCLTech, Tech Mahindra and Infosys all moved higher, as did Bajaj Auto. Not everyone was in the same camp, though. Grasim was down 2 percent, and there was some weight on Tata Steel, Nestle India, InterGlobe Aviation and Eternal as well.
The advance-decline ratio was about 1:1. A fair reflection of the kind of stock-by-stock churning that goes on even when the headline numbers look fine.
Context from last week’s flow trend
This Monday’s turn of events followed a fairly good week for foreign money. In the four sessions where they were in the market, FIIs came in as net buyers for the week to the tune of Rs 4,669.88 crore. Friday’s Rs 2,603.72 crore was the heaviest single-day inflow.
DIIs were no slouches either over that period, with net buys of Rs 8,275.62 crore. It is the same old story: when the global side wavers, the local buyer is usually there to fill in.
What could steer the next move
Vikram Kasat of PL Capital puts it down to caution. “With the situation in the Middle East and crude where it is, the flat close is not a surprise,” he says. Some profit taking and uneven sectoral moves put a lid on any upside.
From here, it is a matter of watching the usual suspects: what comes out of earnings, where crude is heading, the macro picture from overseas and the direction of fund flows. All of it will tell us if the domestic side has enough heft to counter any more FII exits.
Three things to keep an eye on:
– Earnings season and what it says on margins and demand
– Where crude is going and the cost implications
– Whether DIIs will continue to bid if FIIs de-risk
In the end, the day was a case study in the balance of power in the Indian market. FIIs have their say, but DIIs are the ones keeping the price steady, especially when you have a sector like IT in form. We will see how that holds up once the quarterly results start to come in and the global risk appetite changes.
