FIIs pump it up as MFs watch the show

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to pump money into Indian equities even as local mutual funds remained in the profit booking mode in the run-up to the historic 19K level recorded by the Sensex on Monday.

The latest 1,000-point rally, however, was built on much lower foreign fund flow base than those witnessed during the index’s journey from 17K to 18K.

Based on figures available with SEBI and BSE, FIIs bought shares worth Rs 6,388 crore between October 10 and 15 (four days), compared with nearly Rs 18,000 crore between September 27 and October 9 (eight days) when the Sensex shot up from 17K to 18K.

Local mutual funds, however, were seen cashing on the opportunity to book profit while their foreign counterparts remained on a buying spree.

Mutual funds net sold Rs 1,360 crore worth of stock compared with Rs 1,600 crore during the 1,000-point rally to 18K. FIIs have invested Rs 18,317 crore in the current month so far (till October 12) while their total inflows in the current calendar year has touched Rs 69,500 crore, or $16.7 billion, according to SEBI.