FIIs log biggest sell-off since May 20 at Rs 6,517 crore; DIIs record strongest buying since Aug 8 at Rs 7,060 crore

At close, the Sensex was down 849.37 points or 1.04 percent at 80,786.54, and the Nifty was down 255.70 points or 1.02 percent at 24,712.05. The BSE midcap index fell 1.3 percent while the smallcap index fell 1.7 percent.

Foreign investors (FIIs/FPIs) net sold Rs 6,517 crore into Indian equities on Tuesday, August 26, marking their highest selling since May 20. At the same time, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 7,060 crore as their highest since August 8, according to provisional exchange data.

During the trading session, FIIs bought shares worth Rs 44,147 crore and sold shares worth Rs 50,663 crore. DIIs purchased equities worth Rs 22,000 crore while selling shares worth Rs 14,940 crore.

For the year so far, FIIs have been net sellers of shares worth Rs 1.97 lakh crore, while DIIs have net bought Rs 4.84 lakh crore worth of shares.

Market view

At close, the Sensex was down 849.37 points or 1.04 percent at 80,786.54, and the Nifty was down 255.70 points or 1.02 percent at 24,712.05. The BSE midcap index fell 1.3 percent while the smallcap index fell 1.7 percent.

The biggest Nifty losers were Shriram Finance, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Trent, while gainers included Eicher Motors, HUL, Maruti Suzuki, Nestle India and ITC. Except FMCG, all other sectoral indices ended in the red.

On today's market, Nandish Shah - Deputy Vice President, HDFC Securities noted that the pain was even more acute in the broader market today, with both the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices continuing their underperformance. "The Nifty Midcap 100 Index plunged 1.62%, while the Nifty Smallcap Index plummeted by over 2%. Market breadth remained negative for the third day on the trot, with declining shares sharply outnumbering advancing ones, as indicated by an advanced decline ratio on the BSE of 0.42," he said.

Shah added that the Nifty has breached the crucial 20 and 50-day DEMA supports. "The Nifty is now close to filling the entire upward gap that was formed between 24673 and 24852. If it falls below 24673, it could be dragged down to the next support level near 24340. On the upside, 24900 is expected to offer short-term resistance," Shah said.