Thursday, Dec 16, 2004
FII inflows cross $9.4 b
NEW DELHI, DEC. 15. Foreign institutional investments in equities soared by 43 per cent to over $9.43 billion this year giving a push to the Sensex, which touched a new high of 6402.29 today.
The inflows have been more than $9.6 billion till December 14 if FII investments in government securities and treasury bills are added, according to figures compiled by the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
The net investments of FIIs in shares of Indian companies stood at $9.426 billion or Rs. 42,834 crores since January. In 2003, these investments aggregated $6.5 billion or Rs. 30,459 crores.
FII inflows started picking up since September last year and continued to be robust till May when the UPA Government assumed office. There was a sharp fall in FII inflows as foreign investors were apprehensive of the continuation of reforms, especially with the Left parties opposing some of the major policy decisions of the previous NDA regime. However, after the budget presentation in July, the foreign funds again evinced renewed interest in the Indian market and pumped in more than $3.3 billion since August.
FII inflow, which peaked to $1.69 billion in April, tapered off to $118 million in June and $201 million in July, but started rising from August and touched $1.47 billion in November this year.
The foreign portfolio investment has touched $1 billion mark in the first 15 days of this month. In the current fiscal beginning April, FII inflows amounted to almost $7.4 billion. — PTI
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