FPIs invest Rs 46,602 crore in August, highest foreign inflows in five years

Mumbai: Private banks' huge fund raising spree through qualified institutional
placement (QIP) route bloated August month foreign fund flows in
Indian equity market and balanced outflows due to profit taking by the
domestic mutual funds.

Total foreign portfolio investment stood at Rs 46,602 crore so far,
this is the highest foreign inflows in a month this year so far and
also during the last five years.

It should also be kept in mind that such a large inflow is coming in a
world flooded with abundant liquidity and after huge withdrawal by the
foreign portfolio investors (FPIs)earlier this year worth Rs 61,973
crore in March and Rs 6,884 crore in April 2020.

In the first half of August ICICI Bank raised Rs 15,000 crore through
QIP, also Axis Bank and home loan financier HDFC raised Rs 10,000
crore each through QIPs where both FPIs and domestic institutions were
bidders.

FPIs cornered lion's share in ICICI Bank’s QIP, the Government of
Singapore was allotted over 46.44 lakh shares comprising 11.08 per
cent of the total equity shares issued in the QIP issue. Morgan
Stanley Investment Management’s Global Opportunity Fund was allotted
over 30.63 lakh shares (7.31 per cent of the issue) and Societe
Generale got over 23.24 lakh shares or 5.55 per cent of the issue.

Axis Bank’s after close of the QIP said,”Despite a challenging
macro-economic environment, the placement has witnessed strong
reception from the global and domestic investor community, including
several large foreign portfolio investors, domestic mutual
funds and insurance companies.”

FPIs shareholding in Axis Bank has gone up from 45.96 per cent as on
June 30, 2020 to 48.47 per cent as on August 11, 2020 as per the
updated shareholding data post the QIP closing.

In HDFC QIP of Rs 10,000 crore  Government Of Singapore was allotted
over 75.96 lakh shares comprising 13.37 per cent of the total equity
shares issued in the QIP while another FPI Invesco Oppenheimer
Developing Market Fund was allotted over 31.40 lakh shares comprising
5.54 per cent of the QIP.

ICICI Bank and HDFC are yet to update FPIs shareholding post QIP
closing on the stock exchanges.