FII holdings plunge to ₹62.38 lakh crore in February, hitting lowest level in 13 months

FII holdings in the Indian equity markets have declined to a 13-month low in February following relentless selling by foreign investors amid the ongoing downfall in the Indian stock markets.

According to the NSDL data, the assets under custody (AUC) of foreign institutional investors stood at ₹62.38 lakh crore in February.

Earlier, the AUC of FIIs had hit a low of ₹61.99 lakh crore in January 2024. The AUC saw a gradual recovery in subsequent months and hit a high of ₹77.96 lakh crore in September 2024 before starting the downward trend thereafter.

FIIs’ AUC has declined by more than ₹15.5 lakh crore since September 2024.

The AUC has dropped for the third straight month in February 2025. FIIs’ AUC had fallen to ₹71.19 lakh crore in December 2024 and later to ₹67.76 lakh crore in January 2025, which was the lowest in 11 months.

According to NSDL data, foreign investors withdrew ₹78,027 crore in January and ₹34,574 crore in February from the Indian markets. Amid intense selling pressure, FIIs withdrew ₹21,272 crore in the first half of February against ₹13,302 crore in the second half of the month.

Auto sector witnesses highest outflows

The auto sector was the most hit by FII outflows which stood at ₹3,279 crore in the second half of February. Healthcare saw FII outflows of ₹2,996 crore and FMCG sector or ₹ 2,568 crore.

Construction materials saw FII outflows of ₹1,820 crore, financial services ₹1,647 crore, construction sector ₹1,465 crore and capital goods sector ₹1,258 crore.

Consumer durables, power, and oil & gas sectors also witnessed significant FII outflows.

However, telecom, chemicals and media sectors saw FII inflows during the second half of February. Telecom sector saw FII buying of ₹5,661 crore, while chemicals sector saw buying of ₹112 crore. Inflows to the media sector stood at ₹34 crore.

Indian benchmark indices fall up to 6% in February due to FII selloff

Key benchmark indices, SENSEX and NIFTY, declined nearly 6% in February 2025, mainly due to FII selloff. Trade war worries, weak financial performance in the December quarter by Indian companies and attractive Chinese valuations were among the key reasons that triggered heavy FII selloff.