Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have continued to be net buyers in Indian equities for the fourth straight month, with July seeing fresh inflows of Rs 3,839 crore so far, according to data from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL). This adds to the buying momentum witnessed in April, May, and June, when FPIs picked up stocks worth Rs 4,223 crore, Rs 19,860 crore, and Rs 14,590 crore, respectively.Foreign Portfolio Investment refers to the purchase of financial assets in a foreign country by an investor. Their return has helped fuel the recent rally in Indian stock markets, which had earlier seen a sharp dip. However, the BSE benchmark Sensex still remains around 3,500 points below its all-time high of 85,978, having once fallen nearly 13,000 points from that peak. Despite this, Indian equities have outperformed global peers in recent weeks, even as international markets remain jittery amid fears of potential US reciprocal tariffs.VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, “the first three months of this year, FPI inflows were negative, and this trend was reversed in the next three months.”“For 2025, so far, inflows show a negative figure… This is due to the massive selling that happened in January and February. An important trend in FPI investment is that FPIs have been consistent buyers/investors in the primary market even when they have been selling through the exchanges,” Vijayakumar added.“Since other markets are cheaper relative to India, FIIs may again sell and move money to cheaper markets as a short-term strategy. In H1 2025, the Indian market underperformed most markets, including the MSCI EM index,” PTI quoted the strategist.In 2024, both the benchmark indices posted gains of around 9–10%. This followed a stronger performance in 2023, when both Nifty and Sensex rose by 16–17%. In contrast, 2022 saw only marginal growth, with each index edging up by just 3%.