Like March, in the month of April too, foreign investors continued to withdraw money from the Indian stock market. They withdrew Rs 19,837 crore ($2.1 billion) in the first two trading sessions of April. The main reasons for this were the ongoing conflict in West Asia, rising crude oil prices and continuous weakening of the rupee. This follows a record withdrawal of Rs 1.17 lakh crore (about $12.7 billion) from domestic equities in March, the largest monthly withdrawal ever.
Earlier, FPIs had invested Rs 22,615 crore in February, which was the highest monthly investment in 17 months. With the recent withdrawals, total foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) withdrawals so far in 2026 have reached Rs 1.5 lakh crore, according to NSDL data. According to the data, FPIs continued to withdraw money in April and sold equities worth Rs 19,837 crore in the cash market till April 2.
Why are foreign investors selling?
Market experts attributed this continuous selling to global economic challenges and increasing geopolitical uncertainty. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments, said that the continuation of the war, crude oil prices again going above $ 100 per barrel, continuous weakening of the rupee and strengthening of the dollar – all these reasons led to record selling by FPIs. He further said that the rupee has weakened by about 4 percent since the start of the war, and fears of further weakening have further worsened the rupee’s condition, due to which FPIs are selling more.
What are the experts saying?
Apart from this, Himanshu Srivastava, Principal-Manager Research, Morningstar Investment Research India, said that the increase in bond yields in the US has increased the attractiveness of fixed-income assets, due to which global investors have started investing in these assets instead of equities. Vijayakumar said that due to continuous selling by FPIs, the valuation of the Indian market has come to a reasonable level, and in some areas it has even become quite attractive. However, FPIs’ investments will come back only when tensions on the war front subside, leading to a fall in crude oil prices.