Telecom, services draw big FPI flows; IT faces selloff in late May

Synopsis

In the latter half of May, foreign funds favored telecom, services, capital goods, and consumer goods, with telecom experiencing significant inflows due to the Singtel-Bharti Airtel deal. Conversely, IT saw the largest outflows amid concerns about the US economy and geopolitical shifts. Investors realigned portfolios, recognizing unwarranted sell-offs in services and FMCG sectors due to a rural demand pickup.

Mumbai: Telecom, services, capital goods and consumer goods were the top recipients of the foreign fund flows in the second-half of May, according to data from NSDL. Traditional heavyweights like banks and information technology sectors saw outflows in this period, when overseas fund managers resumed purchases of Indian equities after a pause.

Telecommunications stocks received the highest inflow at ₹7,052 crore in the second-half of the month after Singapore's Singtel sold Bharti Airtel shares worth ₹12,880 crore in a bulk deal on May 16.

"Most of the foreign inflows in the telecom sector can be attributed to the deal," said UR Bhat, co-founder & director, Alphaniti. "The reduced competition with Vodafone Idea languishing, is also expected to benefit the other two players."

Agencies

In the second-half of the month, the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector witnessed foreign inflows worth ₹1,872 crore after outflows worth ₹1,057 crore in the first-half of May.

"Investors have possibly realised that the earlier sell-off in services and FMCG sectors was probably not warranted, as there has since been a pickup in rural demand," said Bhat. "This led foreign investors to realign their portfolios.

The information technology sector witnessed the highest outflows worth ₹2,725 crore, after inflows worth ₹289 crore in the first-half.

Divam Sharma, fund manager at Green Portfolio PMS, said that the business outlook for IT sector is impacted by geo-political realignment and the concerns in the US economy.

“There is a portfolio churn, and overseas investors are exiting sectors where valuations are expensive,” said Sharma. “However, they are shying away from making aggressive bets as the uncertainty surrounding the US-China trade war continues to linger.”

Foreign investors offloaded shares worth Rs 2,008 crore in the healthcare sector in the last 15 days of the month and divested shares worth over Rs 1,500 crore in the power, consumer services and automobile sectors

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