Foreign investors pump Rs 17,424 crore into Indian stocks this week despite India-Pakistan tensions

Recently, there has been a major geopolitical concern after terrorists killed innocent tourists in Kashmir. This situation has created an overhang on Indian markets.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) remained net buyers in Indian stock markets this week, with a net inflow of Rs 17,424.88 crore, according to data released by NSDL.  The data shows that FPIs continued their buying trend despite rising tensions at the India-Pakistan border.

Recently, there has been a major geopolitical concern after terrorists killed innocent tourists in Kashmir. This situation has created an overhang on Indian markets. Investors fear the possibility of an Indian retaliation, similar to what was seen after the Uri and Balakot attacks, which happened 10 and 15 days after previous Pakistani misadventures.

Ajay Bagga Banking and Market Expert told ANI "The geopolitical fallout and the elevated risk of an Indian retaliation to the Pakistan sponsored terrorists butchering of innocent tourists in Kashmir is an overhang on Indian markets. Despite good earnings, good FPI inflows and strong global cues with a tariff war detente looking possible, despite these, while global markets rallied, Indian markets went down post the Kashmir killings, this geopolitical overhang could keep Indian markets subdued for the next few weeks".

Even though Indian companies reported good earnings, foreign investors brought in strong inflows, and global cues were positive with hopes of a possible tariff war settlement, Indian markets still moved down after the Kashmir incident. 

Despite the strong inflows over the past two weeks, the net FPI investment in April remains negative. According to the NSDL data, the net outflow for April stands at Rs 5,678 crore. This shows that the inflows seen recently have not been enough to offset the earlier outflows in the month.

Looking at the bigger picture for the year 2025 so far, foreign investors have pulled out a significant amount from Indian markets. The net outflow by FPIs for 2025 till date is Rs -1,22,252 crore.

The current border tensions could continue to keep Indian markets under pressure for the next few weeks, even if global markets stay positive and earnings growth remains strong.