Foreign institutional investors stepped up selling in Indian equities on Wednesday, with net outflows rising to ₹582.99 crore from ₹123.19 crore in the previous session, according to provisional data from the exchanges. FIIs bought equities worth ₹16,392.90 crore and sold shares worth ₹16,975.89 crore on Wednesday, resulting in net selling of ₹582.99 crore.
The outflow was nearly five times the ₹123.19 crore net selling recorded on Tuesday. FIIs had turned net sellers on Tuesday after being net buyers in the previous session. On Monday, they had reported net purchases of ₹280.13 crore, following net selling of ₹3,111.94 crore on Friday.
Domestic institutional investors , meanwhile, remained net buyers for the second straight session. DIIs bought equities worth ₹18,130.76 crore and sold shares worth ₹16,621.72 crore on Wednesday, resulting in net buying of ₹1,509.04 crore. On Tuesday, DIIs had reported net buying of ₹1,349.64 crore, with purchases of ₹14,678.53 crore and sales of ₹13,328.89 crore.
Markets slide to three-month lowsThe latest FII-DII data came as Indian equity markets fell for a third straight session on Wednesday, with the Nifty slipping below 23,500 to close at 23,432, down 204 points. The Sensex declined 813 points to 74,764.
Both benchmarks ended at their lowest levels in three months as Brent crude crossed $100 a barrel, adding to pressure on equities. The sell-off was broad-based, with 38 of the 50 Nifty stocks ending lower. IT stocks were among the biggest laggards, with Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Wipro and TCS featuring among the top Nifty losers.
The Nifty Bank fell 482 points to 56,296, while the Midcap index declined 323 points to 62,593. Insurance stocks also saw a sharp decline despite healthy August data. HDFC Life fell 4%, while HDFC Bank remained weak, declining nearly 2% to end at a 52-week low.