New Delhi, August 22 (IANS). The Indian stock market remained under pressure for the second consecutive week amid high crude oil prices and US-Iran tension. During this period, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) made a net withdrawal of Rs 1,602 crore from the Indian market, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) supported the market by continuing buying.
According to market experts, FIIs again returned to selling stance after three weeks of continuous buying. Their investment behavior remained mixed throughout the week. They sold in the first trading session of the week, followed by buying in the next two sessions and then started selling again in the last two trading days.
If we look at the period from July 20 to August 21, FIIs were sellers in the first week, followed by buyers for three consecutive weeks and sold again in this week. Despite this, their total activity in the last one month resulted in net purchases of Rs 1,282 crore.
On the other hand, domestic institutional investors continued to buy strongly. They made net investments every week during the last one month, totaling Rs 48,390 crore. This week alone DII made net purchases of Rs 17,320 crore.
If we look at the data so far for the month of August, investors of both categories have overall remained buyers. During this period, FIIs have invested Rs 2,510 crore and DII have invested Rs 34,370 crore.
During the week, major indices witnessed limited fluctuations. The price of crude oil in the international market remained above $92 per barrel and the ongoing tension between America and Iran affected investor sentiment.
Nifty started the week with weakness and touched a low of 24,026 in mid-week. However, there was a recovery in the last two trading sessions, due to which the index recovered from the low levels. Despite this, at the end of the week Nifty closed at the level of 24,252, which shows a decline of about 0.5 percent compared to the previous week.
The broader market fared relatively better. The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed almost flat, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index touched a new all-time high, gaining over 1 per cent for the week. This indicates that investors are still interested in shares of medium and small companies.
Analysts believe that in the coming days, investors' eyes will mainly be on crude oil prices, US-Iran geopolitical developments and activities of foreign investors. If oil prices rise further, pressure on the Indian market may increase. At the same time, strong buying by domestic institutional investors may continue to support the market.
–IANS
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