Retail holding in NSE cos hit an all-time high in Q2

Retail investors bought shares worth ₹7,596 crore during the quarter ended September, taking their share in companies listed on NSE to an all-time high of 7.62 per cent — up 12 percentage points from the previous quarter.

The holding of domestic institutional investors crossed ₹50-lakh crore and the FPI to DII ownership ratio decreased to an all-time low of 1.15 for the September quarter from an all-time high of 1.99 in quarter ending March 31, 2015, per primeinfobase.com, an initiative of PRIME Database Group.

Among DIIs, while net inflows by domestic MFs stood at ₹53,715 crore during the quarter, insurance companies sold a net of ₹23,996 crore and banks sold a net of ₹10,424 crore. Net inflows from DIIs, on an overall basis, stood at ₹42,632 crore during the quarter.

FPIs’ share declined as well to 18.40 per cent, down 56 bps from the previous quarter, despite net inflows of ₹44,113 crore. The FPI share, too, went up in the Nifty-500 and Nifty-200 universe, from 19.04 to 19.45 per cent and from 20.44 to 21.05 per cent, respectively, showing greater concentration towards larger companies.

The share of domestic mutual funds rose to 8.73 per cent as on September 30, from 8.63 per cent as on June 30. MFs increased their exposure to healthcare and consumer discretionary sectors; while trimming their exposure to industrials and financial services.

The share of insurance companies declined to 5.48 per cent as on September 30, 2023, down from 5.66 per cent as on June 30, 2023. LIC continues to command a lion’s share of investments in equities by insurance companies (at least 68 per cent share or ₹11.72-lakh crore).

LIC’s share across 274 companies where its holding is more than 1 per cent also decreased to 3.73 per cent at the end of September from 3.85 per cent in the previous quarter. Insurance companies increased their exposure to information technology and services sectors, while paring their exposure to FMCG and telecommunication.

Govt share up

The share of the government as promoter increased to a 5-year high of 8.79 per cent as on September 30, 2023. Over a 14-year period, the share of the government has declined considerably, from 22.48 per cent as on June 30, 2009, primarily due to its divestment programme, not enough new listings as also lacklustre performance of many CPSEs relative to their private peers.

On the other hand, the share of private promoters declined to a 4-year low of 41.55 per cent as on September 30, down 306 basis points from a year ago. Stake sales by promoters to take advantage of bullish markets, relatively lower promoter holding in companies getting listed and also overall institutionalisation of market has resulted in this, said Pranav Haldea, Managing Director, PRIME Database.