Foreign Institutional Investors Net Buy Indian Equities Worth Rs 382 Crore, Domestic Institutional Investors Net Sell Rs 3,428 Crore on April 16

Market Performance Reflects Geopolitical Developments

Foreign investors (FIIs/FPIs) net bought Rs 382 crore worth of Indian equities on April 16, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 3,428 crore, according to provisional exchange data. This mixed performance is evident in the trading session, where DIIs purchased shares worth Rs 16,538 crore and sold shares worth Rs 19,966 crore. FIIs, on the other hand, bought shares worth Rs 16,209 crore and sold shares worth Rs 15,827 crore.

For the year so far, FIIs have been net sellers of shares worth Rs 2.13 lakh crore, while DIIs have net bought shares worth Rs 2.75 lakh crore. This disparity in investor sentiment highlights the ongoing market trends.

Market Analysis

The market performance today reflects the ongoing geopolitical developments. The Indian equities are likely to maintain a gradual upward bias in the near term, with the direction largely hinging on geopolitical developments. Efforts to revive US-Iran negotiations gathering pace are a key re-rating trigger for the market. Markets witnessed mild profit booking on Thursday, with the Nifty 50 slipping 0.1 percent.

The index failed to sustain its early gap-up opening after a sharp ~10 percent rally over the past nine trading sessions. Broader markets, however, remained resilient — the Midcap 100 rose 0.6 percent and the Smallcap 100 gained 0.9 percent, signalling continued risk appetite beyond large-caps. Sectoral trends were mixed.

Sectoral Performance

| Sector | Change | | --- | --- | | Nifty Metal | 1.5% | | IT | 0.9% | | Private Banks | -0.6% | | Auto | -0.4% |

Nifty Metal led the gains with a 1.5 percent rise, followed by IT (+0.9 percent), while Private Banks (-0.6 percent) and Auto (-0.4 percent) lagged. Notably, the Nifty Metal index touched a fresh intraday high of 12,816, extending its strong uptrend and taking its April gains to nearly 15 percent. The rally is being driven by a sharp uptick in global commodity prices — particularly aluminium, where London Metal Exchange (LME) prices have surged around 6 percent over the past four sessions amid supply disruptions in West Asia and concerns over potential interruptions in alumina shipments via the Strait of Hormuz.

Global Market Trends

The initial positive opening was driven by a strong overnight US session, where the S&P 500 and Nasdaq scaled fresh record highs amid improving geopolitical cues. The S&P 500 rose 0.8 percent to close at a fresh all-time high of 7,022.9, while the Nasdaq Composite surged 1.6 percent to 24,016. Notably, the S&P 500’s two-week rebound has outpaced both the post-Liberation Day recovery and the April 2020 Covid bounce, underscoring the strength of the current uptrend. Further supporting sentiment, President Donald Trump indicated that Israeli and Lebanese leaders are set to hold direct talks — their first engagement in over three decades.