Retail stake cut in 284 BSE 500 companies in Q4

At 284 companies, it was the highest reading in at least 12 quarters, according to an analysis by ETIG. They had pared holdings in 271 and 259 companies, respectively, in the December quarter of FY26 and in the year-ago quarter. The sample consists of 453 companies from the BSE500 index, which have declared shareholding information in each of the past 13 quarters.

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Number of cos with reduction at a 12-quarter high as investors turn cautious amid geopolitical uncertainties

Retail investors, included under the ‘public and others’ category, observed caution amid rising geopolitical uncertainties that caused the benchmark indices to tumble nearly 16% in the first three months of 2026. Based on a market cap basis, they reduced holdings in 65% of the companies having ₹25,000 crore or more in market cap and in 60% of the companies below this threshold. They reduced stakes in majority of the companies from sectors. including auto and ancillaries, banking, finance and insurance (BFSI), capital goods, and pharmaceuticals.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPI), notwithstanding their heavy selling in Indian equities during the period, increased stakes in 201 companies, surpassing the previous quarter’s reading of 179 companies. They increased stakes in companies from sectors, including capital goods, metals & mining and pharmaceuticals while reducing stakes in auto and ancillaries, BFSI and IT companies in the March quarter. Domestic funds, too, increased stakes in 280 companies in the March quarter compared with 261 in the prior quarter.

Company promoters joined institutional investors by raising their shareholding in 42 companies, highest in at least 12 quarters, in the March quarter, thereby taking advantage of lower stock valuations. They had increased holdings in 32 and 34 companies in the previous quarter and year ago, respectively.

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According to reports by broking firms on the ownership structure in the March quarter, FPI stake continued to fall in Indian companies in the March quarter. Elara Securities mentioned in a report that the stake of FPIs in the Nifty 500 companies fell to 17.6% from 18.2% a quarter ago while domestic institutions raised their holding marginally to 19.9% from 19.8% by similar comparison.