Foreign investors pull out Rs3,000 cr from India in a week

Overseas investors pulled out nearly Rs3,000 crore from Indian stock market in the week ended 24 August, data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) showed. At the same time, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) infused a net amount of Rs1,601 crore in the stock market during the week.

Factors like concerns over economic recovery, high inflation and widening current account deficit (CAD) made foreign investors pull out.

The rupee has been slumping to newer and newer record lows, hitting a lifetime low of 65.56 (intra-day) against the dollar on 22 August, though it recovered by 135 paise to close at 63.20 on Friday. Since 30 April, the Indian currency has depreciated by nearly 15 per cent.

Since the beginning of the year, foreign investors have made a net investment of about Rs65,000 crore in equities, while they pulled out over Rs25,000 crore from the country's debt market.