The indifference of foreign investors towards the Indian stock market is continuously increasing. The special thing is that foreign investors have sold more than 44 thousand crore rupees in the month of October. If we look at the figures for the year 2026, this sale has crossed 3 lakh crore rupees. NSDL has been collecting this data since 2002. This is the first time in 24 years that foreign investors have withdrawn Rs. More than 3 lakh crores have been withdrawn. This is the third year since 2020 when foreign investors have withdrawn Rs. More than 1 lakh crore has been withdrawn. The years 2022, 2025 were the years when foreign investors invested Rs. 1 lakh crore was sold. This is the largest withdrawal in any single month since June. This figure may increase further for October. There is still a lot of time left for the month to end. Let us also tell you what kind of statistics have been seen.

Big selling by foreign investors in October

The process of selling from the Indian stock market by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) continues. So far in October, foreign investors have invested Rs. 44,166 crore shares have been sold. With this, their total withdrawal till now in the year 2026 is Rs. 3.04 lakh crore has been crossed. High crude oil prices, a strong dollar and rising yields on US bonds have dampened foreign investor interest in the Indian market. According to National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) data, foreign investors also withdrew Rs. 35,861 crore was withdrawn. However, in July he paid Rs. 20,200 crore and in August it invested Rs. 29,631 crore had been invested.

3 lakh crore historical sales

The withdrawals so far this year are much higher than last year. During the year 2025, foreign investors withdrew a total of Rs 1.66 lakh crore from the Indian stock market, while this figure has increased to Rs 3.04 lakh crore in the current year. The special thing is that foreign investors have not withdrawn more than 3 lakh crore rupees in any year. Since 2002, there have been only three occasions when foreign investors in a single year have received Rs. Have withdrawn more than 1 lakh crores. 1,21,439 crore rupees were withdrawn in the year 2022. This was the year when the Russia-Ukraine war began. Due to which the price of crude oil increased. The rise in inflation led to an increase in interest rates and foreign investors started selling. In the year 2025 Rs. 1,66,286 crores profit was made. This was an all-time record. It is possible that this profit booking in the year 2026 may not double as compared to last year.

This is the biggest selling point

According to Vedanta Gupte, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of investment platform Track, this sell-off by foreign investors should be seen as a reallocation of capital globally rather than a lack of confidence in India’s investment prospects. He said that crude oil prices remain high due to supply risks in the Gulf region. Additionally, a strong US dollar and high yields on US bonds are attracting investors to safer investment options. At the same time, the artificial intelligence (AI)-related boom in North Asian markets is also attracting foreign capital.

Big fall in stock market too

VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments Ltd, said the main reason for the relatively weak performance of the Indian market this year is heavy selling by foreign investors. So far in the year 2026, Nifty has recorded a decline of 13.87 percent. According to him, it is logical for foreign investors to withdraw capital from the Indian market in the current scenario, as the yield on 10-year US government bonds is said to be above 5.2 percent. In such a situation, investors are getting attractive returns in relatively safe options. Foreign investors also sold the Indian debt or bond market in September. They have released ₹1,921 crore under Full Access Route (FAR) and ₹233 crore under Voluntary Retention Route (VRR). However, through the normal route they have collected Rs. 4,729 crore has been invested.