May Fortnight Review: FPIs Stay Risk-Off in Equities; FPI Debt Turns Positive, DIIs & MFs Cushion Pressure
FPIs Remain Selectively Risk-Off in First Half of May; Services Sees Buying, Financials Face Heavy Selling
FPI Selling: Financial Services Leads the Outflows – During 1st–15th May 2026, FPI selling remained concentrated in Financial Services, which saw the highest outflow of ₹17,960 Cr, making it the biggest drag during the fortnight. Selling was also seen in Oil & Gas at ₹6,885 Cr, followed by Telecom at ₹2,542 Cr, Information Technology at ₹1,643 Cr, FMCG at ₹1,625 Cr, Construction Materials at ₹1,207 Cr, Consumer Durables at ₹1,162 Cr and Power at ₹1,157 Cr. This indicates that FPIs continued to reduce exposure across key large-cap, consumption and rate-sensitive sectors.
FPI Buying: Selective Interest in Services and Capital Goods – On the buy side, FPI buying was relatively selective, led by Services, which attracted inflows of ₹7,019 Cr. Capital Goods also saw healthy buying of ₹2,645 Cr, followed by Metals & Mining at ₹1,698 Cr, while Diversified saw marginal inflows of ₹33 Cr.
FPIs Stay Risk-Off in First Half of May: FPIs remained net sellers in Indian equities during 1st–15th May 2026, recording outflows of ₹27,048 Cr. The pressure came mainly from the secondary market, where FPIs sold ₹27,178 Cr, while the primary market/IPOs saw small buying of ₹130 Cr. This shows that foreign investors continued to stay cautious in listed equities, even as IPO participation remained marginally positive.
DII Buying Remains Robust: Domestic Institutional Investors continued their strong buying momentum in the first half of May 2026, with net equity purchases of ₹39,917 Cr during 1st–15th May. For CY2026 till 15th May, DIIs have invested a strong ₹3,41,586 Cr in Indian equities, reinforcing their role as the key stabilising force as persistent FPI selling continues to weigh on market sentiment.
MF Equity Buying Remains Strong: Mutual Funds emerged as the major buyer within DIIs during 1st–15th May 2026, investing ₹33,191 Cr in equities against total DII buying of ₹39,917 Cr. This means MFs contributed nearly 83% of total DII equity inflows during the fortnight. On a CY2026-to-date basis, MFs have invested ₹2,16,307 Cr in equities.
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