India's forex reserves hit lifetime high of $372.7 billion
Buoyed by sustained dollar inflows into debt and equity markets, India's foreign exchange reserves rose $1.59 billion to reach an all time high of $372.73 billion.
U.S. dollar notes are seen in front of a stock graph in this November 7, 2016 picture illustration.Reuters file
India's foreign exchange reserves hit a lifetime high of $372.73 billion as of April 28, 2017, after a net inflow of $1.59 billion, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data released on Friday. The rise comes on the back of $1.25 billion increase for the week ended April 21.
The earlier all-time high was $371.99 billion reported for the week ended September 30, 2016.
To put things in another perspective, the reserves stood at $312.38 billion on May 30, 2014, four days after the Narendra Modi government was sworn-in.
The increase in foreign exchange reserves as of April 28 was mainly on account of the $1.56 billion rise in foreign currency assets that rose to $349 billion. Gold reserves remained unchanged at $19.87 billion, according to the weekly statistical supplement released by the RBI on Friday evening.
Though foreign institutional investors (FIIs/FPIs), who have been investing in a big way in Indian debt and equity markets and in the process strengthening the rupee, they were net sellers during the week under review.
Kotak Economic Research said in a note a few days ago that the net inflows into debt and equity markets was $2.9 billion for April 2017. The inflows were $3 billion in debt while it was an outgo of $200 million in equities.
However, the overall inflows remained positive for most part of the month as also for the January-April 2017 period). "The equity markets saw inflows of $6.4 billion, double the $3.2 billion in the corresponding period last year. The debt market has seen inflows of $7.6 billion in 2017 so far, againt of $7.6 billion in 2016," Teresa John, analyst at brokerage Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities, told International Business Times, India edition.
On Friday (May 5), FIIs were net sellers of Indian equities worth Rs 364 crore, according to provisional data published by the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
On May 4, 3 and 2 also, they were net sellers of Indian stocks worth Rs 601 crore, Rs 518 crore and Rs 612 crore, respectively.
On Friday, the BSE Sensex closed at 29,859, down 267 points while the NSE Nifty shed 75 points to end at 9,285.
The fall was attributed to profit-booking by investors. "There was profit booking which pulled down the market into negative territory. Weak global cues had negative impact in the market. Both Asian and European markets declined ahead of French election result (7th May)," brokerage Motilal Oswal Securities said in a note.
http://www.ibtimes.co.in/indias-forex-reserves-hit-lifetime-high-372-7-billion-725642