- Foreign investors sold Rs 3.1 lakh crore in Indian equities in 2026, nearly double 2025
- Nifty Pharma, Defence, and Healthcare sectors gained 18.31%, 15.91%, and 8.02% yearly
- Nifty 50 index fell 9.64% over the past year amid aggressive foreign institutional selling
The Indian market has been under a downtrend for most of the past year, yet not all equity purchases is akin to catching a falling knife. Some of the sectors have given positive yearly returns to investors, despite the aggressive selloff by foreign institutional investors that has dragged the benchmarks into red.
Foreign investors have sold about Rs 3.1 lakh crore of Indian equities in 2026, per NSDL data, nearly double the Rs 1.66 lakh crore they sold in all of 2025. The pace has worsened since a brief reprieve in the middle of the year.
Foreign investors were net buyers of Rs 20,200 crore in July and Rs 30,919 crore in August, a combined Rs 51,119 crore, depository data show. The selling returned in September at Rs 35,861 crore, and October has taken it further, with Rs 45,416 crore sold so far this month. That is more than Rs 81,000 crore in less than two two months.
On Tuesday, foreign investors were net sellers of Rs 1,305.13 crore, NSE provisional data show, their 13th straight session of selling.
Through all of this, three sectors have beaten the market. Over the past year, NSE data show the Nifty 50 is down 9.64%, while the Nifty Pharma index is up 18.31%, Nifty India Defence is up 15.91% and Nifty Healthcare is up 8.02%. In comparison, the Nifty 50 is down 9.64%.
The chart shows the gap opening in April, when the three sectors began to climb while the Nifty stayed below its starting level.
The gap shows over shorter periods too. Nifty Pharma is down 0.43% over a month against 3.27% for the Nifty 50, market data shows. Nifty India Defence is up 1.16% over a month, while Nifty Healthcare is down 2.69%.
That is not a safe haven. All three fell over the past week and trade 4% to 8% below their 52-week highs. The point is that they have lost less.
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WealthMills Securities' Kranthi Bathini named pharma and healthcare, specifically the defensive names, along with defence and engineering and capital goods tied to power, among the sectors he prefers, in a conversation with NDTV Profit. He said autos and auto ancillaries could be bought on dips.
September shows why such sectors draw attention. When FII turned net sellers again, the Nifty 50 fell 6.06% that month. However, pharma fell lower by 2.75%, defence 4.54% and healthcare 4.74%.
| Index | 1 week | 1 month | 1 year | Below 52-week high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nifty 50 | −0.85% | −3.27% | −9.64% | 14.3% |
| Nifty Pharma | −1.79% | −0.43% | +18.31% | 4.3% |
| Nifty India Defence | −1.04% | +1.16% | +15.91% | 8.1% |
| Nifty Healthcare | −1.49% | −2.69% | +8.02% | 6.4% |
| Nifty Auto | −0.59% | −5.10% | −4.89%†| 15.6% |
Where The Argument Stops
Defensive sectors tend to lag in a rally. On Tuesday, when the Nifty rose 1.6%, pharma was one of only two sectors that fell. Pharma slipped more than 1.5% again in afternoon trade on Wednesday, with about 80% of its stocks lower.
Autos show the other side. The Nifty Auto index is down 5.10% over a month and 4.89% over a year, Anand Rathi data show, and sits 15.6% below its 52-week high. That is why Bathini frames them as a dip-buying idea, not a core holding.
Notably, the sectors that have held up are still falling with the market. What the numbers show is a gap, as over a year, pharma, defence and healthcare are up while the Nifty is down nearly 10%.
Whether that gap holds is the test if foreign selling continues. A market where outflows are heavy and crude is above $100 gives little room to any sector.
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