Financials, FMCG lead FPI sell-off; IT stocks buck the trend in first half of October

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FMCG and automobile stocks also saw heavy selling, with FPIs offloading shares worth ₹8,172 crore and ₹6,533 crore, respectively, in the first half of October.

FMCG and automobile stocks also saw heavy selling, with FPIs offloading shares worth ₹8,172 crore and ₹6,533 crore, respectively, in the first half of October. This compared with sales of ₹972 crore in FMCG and ₹3,542 crore in auto stocks during the second half of September.

Healthcare and telecom stocks saw FPI selling of ₹5,497 crore and ₹3,928 crore, respectively, during the first half of October. Capital goods, metals and oil and gas stocks also witnessed outflows of ₹3,886 crore, ₹3,693 crore and ₹3,689 crore, respectively.

IT stocks, however, bucked the trend. FPIs bought shares worth around ₹2,599 crore in the sector during the first half of October, after selling around ₹1,000 crore in September, amid a sell-off in AI-related stocks elsewhere in Asia on concerns over the durability of their recent rally. In August, FPIs were buyers of IT stocks of around ₹4,103 crore, while in July they bought around ₹3,358 crore.

"Investors found value in Indian IT stocks as valuations moved closer to or below their long-term averages," said Kranthi Bathini, equity strategist at WealthMills Securities. He said some IT companies had reported encouraging results.