Foreign investors turn net buyers for first time in 2026 after India-EU FTA, buy Rs 480-crore equities

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty extended their gains on Wednesday, tracking sustained optimism over the India-European Union free trade agreement and firm cues from global markets

• FIIs became net buyers in 2026, selling Rs 480 crore on Jan 28.
• DIIs net bought shares worth Rs 3,361 crore as markets extended gains
• India-EU free trade pact boosted investor sentiment and market optimism

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Foreign investors (FIIs/FPIs) turned net buyers for the first time in 2026, selling Rs 480 crore worth of Indian equities on January 28, a day after India and the European Union concluded trade negotiations. At the same time, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 3,361 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

DIIs purchased shares worth Rs 19,578 crore and sold shares worth Rs 16,218 crore. In contrast, FIIs bought shares worth Rs 21,045 crore but sold shares totaling Rs  20,564 crore.

For the year so far, FIIs have been net sellers of shares worth Rs 43,288 crore, while DIIs have net bought shares worth Rs 67,182 crore.

Market Performance

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty extended their gains on Wednesday, tracking sustained optimism over the India-European Union free trade agreement and firm cues from global markets. Nifty was above 25,300 level while Sensex surged 487 points.

Gaurav Garg, Lemonn Markets Desk, reflects on the market performance today, saying, "Gains were led by stocks such as Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, Coal India and Axis Bank, which rose as much as 6 percent. In contrast, Asian Paints and Tata Consumer Products weighed on the benchmarks, declining up to 6 percent amid stock-specific selling pressure.

He added that investor sentiment remained buoyant after India and the European Union sealed a landmark free trade agreement, described as the “mother of all deals”. The pact is expected to create a market of nearly two billion people and covers tariff reductions on 99 percent of Indian exports to the EU and over 97 percent of EU exports to India, together accounting for nearly a quarter of global GDP.

Global cues also remained supportive, with major Asian markets trading higher and US equities ending mostly positive in the previous session. Further comfort came from easing volatility, as India VIX declined over 2 percent to around 14, reflecting improved risk appetite among investors.