Foreign investors not done with selling, FMCG tops list in 2026

Mumbai: The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector bore the maximum brunt of the foreign sell off in the first 15 days of 2026, dumping shares worth ₹6,128 crore in the period. Financial services and information technology stocks also witnessed outflows as overseas investors pulled ₹22,420 crore out of 19 sectors in the first half of January, as per NSDL.

The foreign selling in FMCG stocks in the new year comes on the heels of ₹35,000 crore worth of outflows in 2025 – the second-highest sectoral withdrawal last year.

“The FMCG sector has witnessed mostly value driven foreign outflows as these stocks typically command a high Price to Earnings (PE) of over 50 times,” said Pranay Aggarwal, director and CEO of Stoxkart. “Since foreign investors are valuation sensitive, they seem to have withdrawn funds.”

Financial services and IT saw foreign outflows worth ₹3,190 crore and ₹2,075 crore, respectively, in the first half of the month. In 2025, foreign investors offloaded shares worth ₹14,903 crore and ₹74,698 crore in the sectors, respectively.

Bhavik Joshi, business head at INVasset PMS said banking and financial services stocks had shown resilience even as mid- and small-cap segments weakened through much of 2025. “There may be some profit-taking by global investors in BFSI after last year’s strong run, but the fundamental outlook for the sector remains constructive,” he said.

Aggarwal said the higher tariff threat is outweighing the tailwinds from rupee depreciation for the sector prompting foreign investors to take a backseat in IT stocks.

Global investors were buyers in fewer sectors, purchasing shares worth ₹3,406 crore across three sectors in the first half of January. They bought the most in metals and mining worth ₹2,689 crore.The sector had received inflows worth Rs 2,984 crore in December. Gold prices jumped 5.1% on Wednesday while silver prices gained 3.1% in India. When dollar-denominated metal prices strengthen, mining and metal stocks typically respond positively, said analysts.

“Foreign investors appear to be rotating allocations toward metal-linked equities, driven by the recent outperformance of gold and silver, said Joshi. “With the current rally being further supported by geopolitical tensions, this uptrend could extend over the next six to twelve months,” he added. Joshi said industrial metals such as copper and aluminium are seeing renewed investor interest, partly because there are no direct ETF avenues for these metals, making equities the primary route for exposure.