Cheap stocks aren’t enough: The one trigger FIIs need to return to India

Foreign investors net sold $59.2 billion in the 24 months through September 2026, and October month-to-date outflows of about $5 billion widened the total to roughly $64 billion, the longest and deepest sell-off in a two-decade dataset. JM Financial analysis identifies Brent crude above $105 a barrel as a danger zone for sustained FII selling, with a fall below $90 likely needed to ease pressure; Brent was about $115 in late October. Nifty's one-year forward price-to-earnings multiple had fallen to 17.1 times, but cheaper valuations and improving earnings had not reversed outflows, while domestic institutions absorbed much of the selling.