Foreign portfolio ownership in listed companies at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has fallen to a 15-year low of 16.9 per cent amid continued outflow of net foreign portfolio investments.

The ownership of domestic mutual funds, meanwhile, has hit a new high at 10.9 per cent as of September 30, on the back of persistent retail investor participation through systematic investment plans.

“Barring a marginal uptick in two quarters, FPI ownership in NSE-listed companies had been on a steady decline since March 2023, mirroring volatility in foreign capital flows.

“The trend continued in the first half of FY26, with the FPI share in NSE-listed companies falling by 63 basis points during this period to 16.9 per cent — the lowest level in over 15 years. This can be ascribed to FPI net outflows of US$8.7 billion during the quarter,” said NSE in its September edition of the India Ownership Tracker report.

Within the sectors, FPIs maintained their strong overweight position on financials, turned incrementally positive on communication services and remained cautious on consumption and commodity-linked sectors such as consumer Staples, energy and materials. They also continued to hold a negative stance on industrials, NSE said.

“Net FPI buying will need bull markets elsewhere to fade, plus a rise in corporate issuances,” said Ridham Desai and Nayant Parekh, equity strategists at Morgan Stanley.

Domestic mutual funds, meanwhile, invested ₹1.64 lakh crore in Q2FY26 — the 18th straight quarter of positive flows — lifting their ownership to record highs of 10.9 per cent in NSE-listed companies.

This steady rise pushed domestic institutional investors — comprising domestic mutual funds, banks, financial institutions, insurance and other institutional non-promoters — to 18.7 per cent ownership in NSE-listed firms.

“The momentum was driven by persistent retail participation through systematic investment plans, averaging ₹28,697 crore per month in Q2FY26 (up by 6.8 per cent quarter on quarter and 20.6 per cent year on year). Within domestic mutual funds, active funds expanded their share by 31 basis points quarter on quarter to 9.0 per cent, while passive funds remained steady at 2.0 per cent,” NSE said.

Among the sectors, domestic mutual funds retained their overweight stance on large-cap financials and mid-tier consumer discretionary, turned incrementally bearish on consumer staples and maintained a negative stance on commodity sectors, including energy and materials.

The share of individual investors in NSE-listed companies remained range-bound between 9.5 per cent and 9.8 per cent over the past nine quarters, ending the September 2025 quarter at 9.6 per cent, broadly unchanged on a quarterly basis, NSE said.