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According to National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) data, this was much lower than the $6.47 billion and $12.72 billion worth of Indian stocks they had dumped in the previous two months, with most of the challenges caused by the West Asia war already largely factored into the markets by investors. The benchmark Indian stock indices are down 6-8% since February 27, including an around 2-3% fall in May.

On Friday, the BSE’s benchmark Sensex index ended 1,092.05 points or 1.4% lower at 74,775.74. The Nifty 50 index closed 1.5% lower at 23,547.75. Most stocks in both indices closed the session in the red, with shares of InterGlobe Aviation among the biggest laggards. The parent of flight operator IndiGo slumped 3.3% amid worries about the impact of higher fuel costs ahead of its Q4 earnings, due after the close of the market. Meanwhile, IT stocks gained on AI-related optimism.

The pace of the selloff by FPIs slowed down as the month progressed, with investors now increasingly getting used to the constant news flow out of West Asia, with the focus now also on corporate earnings. “Of course, West Asia will continue to remain in focus. However, with a lack of developments there, traders have probably kept it in the back burner for now, with earnings-specific stock movements increasing in the market,” the head of research at a domestic broking firm said.

FPIs had dumped Indian equities worth $2.85 billion through exchanges in the first half of May, compared to the around $928.1 million of shares dumped in the second half, according to data compiled from the NSDL.

This slowdown in foreign outflows has also coincided with increased hopes of a peace deal in West Asia over the past week. Over the past weekend, US President Donald Trump had said that a memorandum of understanding for a peace deal with Iran had largely been negotiated, which had buoyed the market.

“Hopes of a peace deal in West Asia had helped stem some of the foreign flows, and a deal looks much more likely after Trump’s comments earlier in the week. But with Trump you never know. There have already been fresh attacks,” said G Chokkalingam, founder of Equinomics Research. Since Trump’s announcements, both countries have already traded fresh strikes, keeping investors on edge.

The financial services sector had seen the biggest selloff by FIIs during the initial half of the month. FIIs had sold off financial services stocks worth $1.87 billion between February 1 and 15. This was followed by a $718 million selloff in the oil and consumable fuel sector and a $265 million selloff in the telecom sector.

On the other hand, the services ($732 million), capital goods ($276 million), and metals and mining ($177 million) sectors saw the highest FPI inflows for the period. The data for the second half of the month has not yet been released.