Foreign investors net invested Rs 12,594.4 crore in Indian markets on Thursday, with the bulk of the inflows targeting index heavyweights like HDFC Bank Ltd., State Bank of India Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Shriram Finance Ltd. and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
Private banks alone contributed 110.24 points — nearly a third of the day’s gains — to the NSE Nifty 50, pushing the benchmark above 25,500, its highest close in nearly nine months.
The activity suggests strong participation from passive funds, as indicated by the delivery-based trading statistics. On an average, more than 55% delivery was observed in the top 15 Nifty 50 stocks by market capitalisation, contributing to a delivery-based turnover of over Rs 15,000 crore.
HDFC Bank led the pack with a delivery-based turnover of Rs 3,492.7 crore, followed by Reliance Industries Ltd. at Rs 2,246.6 crore and SBI at Rs 2,007 crore.
In the cash market, foreign investors recorded gross purchases worth Rs 32,020.1 crore and gross sales of Rs 19,425.7 crore, resulting in net buying of Rs 12,594 crore — the highest provisional single-day inflow since Sept. 20, 2024.
The surge in foreign inflows coincided with an appreciation in the Indian rupee, which closed at 85.70 against the US dollar. Additionally, foreign investors were net buyers in index futures on the June series expiry day. They added Rs 4,806.7 crore in long open interest positions — comprising Rs 3,138 crore in the Nifty 50 futures and Rs 1,660.7 crore in the Nifty Bank futures.
Foreign investors are entering the July series with 37.92% long positions, a significant increase from 19.3% at the beginning of the June series. The FII net open interest put-call ratio rose to 1.18 due to increased put writing, particularly at the 25,000 and 25,500 strike prices, indicating confidence in market support at those levels.
. Read more on Markets by NDTV Profit.