The indifference of foreign investors is not showing any signs of decreasing. After March, now even in April, foreign investors are bent upon withdrawing their money from the stock market. That too when America has announced ceasefire to lighten its war with Iran. The special thing is that FIIs have sold domestic shares worth Rs 48,213 crore so far in April. Whereas in the last 40 days this figure has crossed Rs 1.66 lakh crore. If we talk about the current year, foreign investors have sold more than Rs 1.79 lakh crore.
If we talk about Friday, foreign investors bought domestic shares worth Rs 672.09 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of Rs 410.05 crore. This helped the markets end the day with good gains, after Thursday’s sluggishness. Banks, auto and consumer stocks dominated the market on the last trading day of the week. Nifty closed at 24,050.60, up 275.50 points or 1.16 percent. At the same time, Sensex increased by 918.60 points or 1.20 percent and closed at 77,550.25.
Investing money in South Korea and Taiwan
Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments, said that the outcome of peace talks between Iran and America will decide the direction of the markets, which have been under pressure mainly due to selling by FPIs. It seems that FPIs are intent on selling off India and moving their money to other markets like South Korea and Taiwan, where the prospects for earnings growth in 2026 are much better. He said that the market will wait for the results of the peace talks between America and Iran to be held on Saturday.
On which factors will the market react?
Dr. VK Vijayakumar said that the outcome of peace talks will determine the trend of crude oil prices, which in turn will determine market trends. If talks reduce the conflict and crude oil prices come down, markets—especially markets like India that are dependent on energy imports—will bounce back. If peace talks fail and crude oil prices rise further, the reverse will happen. He said that even in this challenging market environment, many stocks are reaching 52-week highs or all-time highs.
FIIs in 2026
The war-induced selloff in March made it the worst month of the year, with huge outflows of Rs 1,17,775 crore. Foreign investors became net buyers in February, and have bought shares worth Rs 22,615 crore in the domestic markets so far. In January, he had sold shares worth Rs 35,962 crore. In 2025, FIIs’ buying trends remained volatile, but the overall trend was bearish. They pulled out Rs 1,66,286 crore from Indian markets as trade deal delays and premium valuations weighed on investor morale.