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Mumbai [India], : Foreign Portfolio Investors turned net sellers in the Indian equity markets this week, offloading shares worth ₹4,784.32 crore between May 19 and May 23, according to data released by the National Securities Depository Ltd .

This selling has significantly reduced the net inflows for the month of May. As of this week, the total FPI investment in May stands at ₹13,835 crore, down from ₹18,620 crore recorded till the previous week.

This indicates that nearly ₹4,800 crore of investments were pulled out by foreign investors in just five trading sessions.

The sharpest selling was witnessed on Wednesday, , when FPIs sold shares worth over ₹10,000 crore in a single day. However, the week had started on a positive note, with good inflows recorded on Monday and Tuesday.

With this week's outflows, the cumulative net investment by foreign investors in Indian equities for the year 2025 now stands at a net outflow of ₹98,516 crore. The data indicates that foreign funds continue to remain cautious amid global uncertainty.

Experts suggest that this selling trend may not be due to any fundamental issues within the Indian markets, but more likely reflects external pressures.

One key reason could be the ongoing turmoil in global bond markets.

Ajay Bagga Banking and Market told ANI "This one of an up down flow points to the turmoil in global bond markets impacting leveraged funds or carry trade funds to pull out some profits from the Indian markets to cover liquidity needs elsewhere".

He further added, "Another possibility is the gaming of option pricing by FPIs who came to move option premiums by buying and selling the underlying shares in the cash markets. That may explain why index heavyweights saw selling on particular days and why sharp reversals happened in the markets on two days"

Analysts are viewing these outflows as instances of "hot money" movement, quick, speculative investments, rather than any sign of weakening fundamentals in the Indian economy.

The NSDL data further highlighted that net investments by FPIs in Indian equities stood at ₹4,223 crore during April, indicated a turnaround in foreign investment trends.

In previous months data also showed that FPIs had sold stocks worth ₹3,973 crore in March. In January and February, they had sold equities worth ₹78,027 crore and ₹34,574 crore, respectively.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

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