Financial sector FPIs pull Rs 23,000 crore over credit-deposit gap concerns

Mumbai: The financial services sector witnessed outflows to the tune of Rs 23,000 crore by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) between July 16 and August 15, according to National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) data.

While in the first fortnight of August (from August 1-15), FPIs pulled out Rs 14,790 crore of shares, they offloaded equities worth Rs 8,119 crore worth of stocks between July 16 to 31 from the financial services sector, the data showed. Analysts said that selling by FPIs in the financial sector was mainly on concerns over slower deposit growth compared to loan growth, which can affect profitability of banks.

Overall, FPIs dumped Rs 18,824 crore of shares, on a net basis, between August 1 and 15, compared to purchase of Rs 11,645 crore worth of equities across sectors in the previous fortnight ended July 31. After the financial services sector, FPIs sold the highest amount of shares in the metals and mining sector at Rs 2,668 crore during the first fortnight of August.