Weekly Musings – FPI flows for week ended August 22, 2025

26 Aug 2025 , 12:19 PM

FPI SELLING WAS MEASURED FOR THE WEEK

FPIs were net sellers in the week to August 22, 2025 to the tune of just $(122) Million; after they had net sold $(4.90) Billion in previous 5 weeks. For the week, the FPIs were sellers on 4 out of the 5 days as the tariff overhang on sentiments continued. With Trump bent on punitive tariffs on India for trading with Russia; even the sovereign rating upgrade by S&P did not alter the FPI sentiments too much.

During the week, the dollar index was flat at 97.73 levels, after the dissensions in the FOMC opened up prospects of a September rate cut. However, the USDINR stayed in a range at ₹87.33/$, as sovereign upgrade helped the rupee. Brent Crude bounced to $67.73/bbl mark over Russia supply concerns. Meanwhile, the sentiments are likely to crystallize better after the Jackson Hole symposium, where global monetary policy heads will debate.

MACRO FPI FLOW PICTURE UP TO AUGUST 22, 2025

The table captures monthly FPI flows into equity and debt for last 4 calendar years.

Calendar Month	FPI Flows Secondary	FPI Flows Primary	FPI Flows Equity	FPI Flows Debt/Hybrid	Overall FPI Flows
Calendar 2022 (₹ Crore)	(146,048.38)	24,608.94	(121,439.44)	(11,375.78)	(132,815.22)
Calendar 2023 (₹ Crore)	1,27,759.75	43,347.14	1,71,106.89	65,954.38	2,37,061.27
Calendar 2024 (₹ Crore)	(1,21,210.21)	1,21,637.15	426.94	1,65,342.98	1,65,769.92
Jan-2025 (₹ Crore)	(81,903.72)	3,876.78	(78,026.94)	815.91	(77,211.03)
Feb-2025 (₹ Crore)	(41,748.97)	7,174.62	(34,574.35)	10,273.72	(24,300.63)
Mar-2025 (₹ Crore)	(6,027.77)	2,055.16	(3,972.61)	36,953.97	32,981.36
Apr-2025 (₹ Crore)	3,243.03	980.28	4,223.31	(24,413.24)	(20,189.93)
May-2025 (₹ Crore)	18,082.82	1,777.41	19,860.23	11,089.48)	30,949.71
Jun-2025 (₹ Crore)	8,466.77	6,123.51	14,590.28	(22,153.36)	(7,563.08)
Jul-2025 (₹ Crore)	(31,988.32)	14,247.74	(17,740.58)	12,202.89	(5,537.69)
Aug-2025 (₹ Crore) #	(25,564.49)	3,524.54	(22,039.95)	15,758.32	(6,281.63)
Total for 2025 (₹ Crore)	(1,57,440.65)	39,760.04	(1,17,680.61)	40,527.69	(77,152.92)
For 2025 ($ Million)	(18,052.07)	4,606.17	(13,445.90)	4,578.97	(8,866.93)
# – Recent Data is up to August 22, 2025

Data Source: NSDL (Net Outflows in brackets)

Overall FPI flows for 2025 are still negative at $(8,867) Million. This comprised $(13,446) Million of net selling in equities, offset by $4,579 Million of net buying in debt. Within equities, secondary market selling was to the tune of $(18,052) Million; offset by IPO buying of $4,606 Million. Big IPOs are seeing a lot of institutional traction in recent weeks.

FPI SENTIMENTS – THE WEEK THAT WAS

For the week to August 22, 2025, FPIs were net sellers in equities worth $(122) Million. Here are the key market drivers.

• The sovereign upgrade in the previous week had limited impact on the FPI sentiments for the week. The Trump tariffs and its implications for Indian exports and for the Indian rupee was the overhang. Exports could put pressure on growth.
• Core sector growth for July 2025 came in at 2.03%. This may be lower than the 2.20% core sector growth for June, but that was after a 49 bps upside revision. In July, cement and steel flattered; while coal output applied pressure on the core sector.
• RBI published the minutes of the August MPC deliberations on August 20, 2025. The minutes underlined that the MPC was only pausing on rate cuts; and not the end of rate cuts. The sharply lower inflation made a case for one more rate cut in October.
• The FOMC minutes published on August 21, 2025 showed the emergence of two distinct camps. The Powell camp wants rates static to deal with inflation risks. The dissent vote from Waller and Bowman was all about risk of tariffs to jobs and consumer spending.
• Automobile and lending companies may get a leg-up as the RBI plans to reduce risk weights on auto loans from the current 100%. That is likely to make auto loans cheaper and indirectly boost the demand for cars, where urban demand has been fairly tepid.

Let us turn to the granular FPI flow story in last 4 weeks.

DAILY FPI EQUITY FLOWS FOR LAST 4 ROLLING WEEKS

Here is the last 4 rolling weeks data on FPI flows in rupee terms and in dollar terms.

Date	FPI Flow (₹ Crore)	Cumulative flows	FPI Flow($ Million)	Cumulative flows
28-Jul-25	-1,419.44	-1,419.44	-164.05	-164.05
29-Jul-25	-5,963.60	-7,383.04	-689.03	-853.08
30-Jul-25	-3,692.35	-11,075.39	-425.18	-1,278.26
31-Jul-25	-162.10	-11,237.49	-18.58	-1,296.84
01-Aug-25	-6,153.28	-17,390.77	-702.80	-1,999.64
04-Aug-25	-1,445.44	-18,836.21	-165.47	-2,165.11
05-Aug-25	-1,967.77	-20,803.98	-224.88	-2,389.99
06-Aug-25	1,561.31	-19,242.67	177.84	-2,212.15
07-Aug-25	-4,398.51	-23,641.18	-501.54	-2,713.69
08-Aug-25	-5,519.81	-29,160.99	-629.44	-3,343.13
11-Aug-25	2,826.16	-26,334.83	322.55	-3,020.58
12-Aug-25	-964.60	-27,299.43	-110.13	-3,130.71
13-Aug-25	-2,648.54	-29,947.97	-302.10	-3,432.81
14-Aug-25	-2,264.38	-32,212.35	-258.21	-3,691.02
15-Aug-25	0.00	-32,212.35	0.00	-3,691.02
18-Aug-25	-1,208.35	-33,420.70	-138.12	-3,829.14
19-Aug-25	1,015.64	-32,405.06	116.19	-3,712.95
20-Aug-25	-12.27	-32,417.33	-1.41	-3,714.36
21-Aug-25	-297.77	-32,715.10	-34.19	-3,748.55
22-Aug-25	-562.34	-33,277.44	-64.66	-3,813.21

Data Source: NSDL

• In previous 7 weeks, FPIs saw net outflows of $ (348) Million, $(1,344) Million, $(2,000) Million, $(113) Million, $(1,090) Million; net inflows of $614 Million, and $497 Million. The week to August 22, 2025, saw net FPI selling of $(122) Million in equities.
• In last 4 rolling weeks, total net FPI outflows from equities were ₹(33,277) Crore or $(3,813) Million. Debt markets continue to see strong inflows in August 2025.

In the coming week, FPI flows will react to the hints coming from the Jackson Hole Symposium.  In data flows, the coming week will see US GDP, India IIP, India fiscal deficit update, and the US PCE inflation update. For FIIs, it will be a data-heavy week!