NRIs emerge wise investors in stock market chaos

The NRIs were net sellers of shares worth close to Rs 23 crore on January 14, the first day of seven-day downslide that continued till January 22.

When market was going through one of its toughest times over the past few days, non-resident Indians held their nerves, they dumped stocks right at the start of southward journey and turned buyers at the bottom.

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The NRIs were net sellers of shares worth close to Rs 23 crore on January 14, the first day of seven-day downslide that continued till January 22, according to data with the BSE.

The benchmark Sensex dropped 100 points on January 14 and fell further 476 points on the next day, when the NRIs were net sellers of shares worth about Rs four crore.

During the next four trading sessions, when the Sensex was continuing its downslide including its largest one-day fall of 1,408 points on January 21, NRIs were seen bottom-fishing by purchasing shares at the lower levels.

On all these four days, NRIs were net buyer of shares, although in smaller quantities ranging from Rs 1-5 crore each.

They were net seller of Rs 2.2 crore on January 22, when the Sensex had fallen by 875 points. On that day, the Sensex had lost more than 2,200 points in the intra-day trade, but later staged a smart recovery of over 1,300 points from the lows, prompting net sales by the NRIs.

On the very next day, January 23, when signs of recovery became further clearer, NRIs again invested over Rs 11 crore in the market. The Sensex rose by 864 points that day.

In the seven trading sessions between January 14-22, the Sensex lost close to 4,100 points. During this period, NRIs dumped shares worth about Rs 29 crore at higher levels, while they pumped in Rs 22 crore by purchases at lower levels.

NRI's investment pattern was in sharp contrast to FIIs, who were net seller of shares worth Rs 10,503.6 crore from January 17-23, but made a net purchase of about Rs 500 crore between January 14-16.