FII inflows touch record 1 lakh cr

Inflows from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark in a calendar year for the first time on Wednesday.

Inflows from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark in a calendar year for the first time on Wednesday.

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Coupled with strong global market cues, this Rs 700-crore gust of investment wind took the Indian markets to their new 33-month high and closer to their all-time high of January 2008.

FIIs have invested Rs 1,00,574 crore ($22 billion) since January 2010, the highest ever.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex and the National Stock Exchange Nifty saw their highest intraday gain in five months. They rose by 2.4% each to close at 20,688 and 6,234 respectively on Wednesday. Both the indices are now 0.9% short of their all-time high closing.

FII inflows have been driving the strong Sensex rally since the beginning of September 2010. The Sensex has risen by 15.1% since September on the back of an FII inflow of Rs 41,193 crore in the same period.

But if these developments raise the enthusiasm in the market, it also brings along certain concerns. “I think things are happening too fast and when this happens the risk of the reverse flows in case of a global problem always remains,” said S Ramesh, chief operating officer, Kotak Mahindra Investment Banking.