Foreign investors continued to exit Indian equities, withdrawing ₹19,837 crore ($2.1 billion) in the first two trading sessions of April, weighed down by the West Asia conflict, rising crude oil prices, and persistent rupee depreciation.

This came following a record withdrawal of ₹1.17 lakh crore (about $12.7 billion) from domestic equities in March, making it the worst monthly outflow. Before this, FPIs pumped in ₹22,615 crore in February, the highest monthly inflow in 17 months.

With the latest withdrawals, total Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) outflow has reached ₹1.5 lakh crore so far in 2026, according to NSDL data.

As per the data, FPIs continued to take out money in April, offloading equities worth ₹19,837 crore in the cash market till April 2.

Market participants attributed the sustained selling pressure to global macroeconomic headwinds and heightened geopolitical uncertainty.

“Continuation of the war, crude again spiking to above the $100 level, the steady decline in the rupee and appreciation of the dollar triggered this record selling by FPIs,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments.

Moreover, the rupee has depreciated by about 4% since the war began, and fears of further depreciation have added to the weakness of the rupee, which, in turn, is triggering further selling by FPI, he added.

Additionally, elevated US bond yields have improved the relative attractiveness of fixed-income assets, prompting global investors to rebalance away from equities, said Himanshu Srivastava, Principal-Manager Research at Morningstar Investment Research India.

Vijayakumar said that sustained selling by the FPIs has made Indian market valuations fair and in some segments attractive, although FPI inflows can happen only when there is de-escalation on the war front, leading to a decline in crude oil prices.