Foreign Investors Sell Net 1.46 Billion Rupees of Indian Stocks

Overseas investors sold a net 1.46 billion rupees ($26.3 million) of Indian stocks on Aug. 31, the first sale after 23 consecutive days of purchases.

Foreigners bought 31.2 billion rupees of shares and sold 32.7 billion rupees, the Securities & Exchange Board of India said on its website today. They purchased 106.1 billion rupees of stocks last month and have invested $12.3 billion in local equities this year.

The benchmark BSE India Sensitive Index (SENSEX) has increased 12 percent this year, helped by the biggest overseas equity flows among 10 Asian markets tracked by Bloomberg. Flows surged to a record in 2010, making the Sensex the best performer among the world’s top 10 markets. The largest-ever outflow in 2008 led to the biggest annual slump of 52 percent.

Offshore funds sold a net 1.45 billion rupees of bonds on Aug. 31, paring their inflow into debt this year to 243.7 billion rupees, the data show.

Foreigners have invested 5.073 trillion rupees in stocks and 1.451 trillion rupees in bonds since they were allowed into the country in 1993.

The regulator provides data on shares bought and sold by large investors, including trades in the primary and secondary markets, with a delay of at least a day.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paresh Jatakia in Mumbai at pareshj@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Arijit Ghosh at aghosh@bloomberg.net