Finance Desk – As the new year starts, many stock market investors want to know how stocks might perform in January. Looking back over the last ten years, January hasn’t been great for the stock market in India. In fact, seven out of the last ten Januaries have ended with the stock market down, mostly because foreign investors have been selling their stocks.
The Nifty index, which tracks big companies in India, has only had three good Januaries in the last decade, gaining more than 4% each in 2015, 2017, and 2018. However, most years haven’t been so good. For example, in 2016, the Nifty dropped by almost 5%.
Foreign investors have mostly been pulling their money out of the market in January for the last three years, selling billions of rupees worth of stocks. Some years they bought more stocks, like in 2015, 2020, and 2021, but usually, they have been selling.
On the other hand, domestic investors in India, like big funds and financial institutions, often buy stocks when foreign investors are selling. They were buyers for most Januaries, except in 2015, 2020, and 2021.
What does this mean for this January? According to Nuvama, a brokerage firm, if foreign investors don’t buy a lot of stocks, the Nifty might not do very well and could be a time when selling during rallies might be a good strategy. This pattern suggests that the stock market might have a tough start to the year again.
