Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling streak on D-Street as Indian markets ended flat on August 14, after which government data showed that India’s retail inflation surged to a 15-month high peak of 7.44 per cent in July 2023. Mixed global cues also failed to aid the cautious mood. Rising US dollar and treasury yields drove investors away from the riskier equities.
The domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net buyers and invested ₹1,461 crore during Monday’s session. As per the NSE data, FIIs cumulatively bought ₹7,334.69 crore of Indian equities, while they sold ₹9,658.92 crore — resulting in an outflow of ₹2,324.23 crore crore. Meanwhile, DIIs infused ₹7,640.75 crore and offloaded ₹6,179.95 crore, registering an inflow of ₹1,460.90 crore.
Sensex closed with a mild gain of 79 points, or 0.12 per cent, at 65,401.92 while the Nifty50 closed 6 points, or 0.03 per cent, up at 19,434.55. Mid and smallcaps suffered more as the BSE Midcap index declined 0.44 per cent while the smallcap index fell 0.50 per cent.
A mixed trend was witnessed on the sectoral front wherein IT, FMCG and media edged higher while metal, realty and financials ended in the red. India’s consumer price index (CPI) inflation surged sharply to a 15-month high peak of 7.44 per cent in July 2023, driven by high food and vegetable prices. July CPI print had breached the Reserve Bank of India’s upper tolerance limit of 6 per cent for the first time in five months.
The consumer food price index (CFPI) in July also surged to 11.51 per cent – the highest level since October 2020, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on August 14.
High inflation numbers may weigh on market sentiment as both indices are already about two per cent down in August so far. ‘’After a tepid start, Nifty made a gradual recovery during the day as buying emerged at lower levels in index heavyweights. The index closed with minuscule gains of 6 points at 19435 levels. Except for IT, FMCG, and Media, all sectors ended in red,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
‘’Persistent selling by FIIs since July end too is keeping the Indian equities on edge. Thus the market is witnessing consolidation at higher levels in the absence of any positive trigger. We expect this trend to continue in the near term as a series of macro data around the world and FOMC meeting minutes will be released during the week which could keep markets subdued,” added Khemka.
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Updated: 14 Aug 2023, 08:22 PM IST