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Ownership of foreign institutional investors in Indian stocks -- NSE 500 companies -- hit an over two-year low of 19.5 per cent in the month of March 2022, a report by multinational firm BofA Securities said.

March of 2022 was the sixth consecutive month of FII outflows (-) $5.4 billion, most severe since March 2020, the initial days of Covid, on the back of continued geopolitical risks, sustained elevated inflation led by supply-side issues, rising commodity costs.

In April so far, however, fund outflows by FIIs slowed down at (-) $1.2 billion, indicating potential stemming or reversal of the FII outflows, the report said.

At the same time, domestic institutional investors, on the other hand, remain upbeat with monthly flows touching new highs at (+) $6 billion, up 19 per cent month-on-month, crossing the $5 billion mark for the second consecutive month.

In January-March, DIIs invested $ 14.6 billion, the report said.

"We expect markets to be sideways near term given inflation impacting volume growth and margins across several sectors. Our year end Nifty target of 17K offers no upside but we prefer financials, industrials, select autos among cyclicals and utilities and healthcare among defensives."