Foreign investors have pulled out of India at record pace

Moneycontrol BureauFaced with increasing turmoil in global markets and a weak economic outlook triggered in part by the government's unprecedented demonetisation move, foreign portfolio investors have pulled out of Indian stocks at a record pace.In November, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net sold equities worth Rs 18,909 crore, the highest ever monthly outflow, triggering a streak that saw net sales for 18 consecutive days from November 9 through to December 5.Before this, the longest FPIs had remained net sellers for was a streak of 12 days, in October 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis. Back then, they net sold Rs 11,662 crore in Indian equities.November's FPI outflow, however, did not impact markets in a major way -- the Sensex fell only 4 percent through the month -- mostly because domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought Rs 18,277 crore, a majority of this being buying by mutual fund houses.The 18-day outflow streak was broken yesterday (December 6) when FPIs turned net buyers, as per provisional data.In the last one year, on a monthly basis, FPIs bought highest in March 2016 accumulating Rs 23,620 crore.