Mumbai, Apr 4 (IANS): Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) continued to flock to Indian equities in March with net inflow into the segment at Rs 10,482 crore.

However, amid surging bond yields globally and resurgence of Covid cases both in Indian and Europe, the investments have declined.

The net FPI inflow last month was less than half of that in February. Net FPI inflow in equities stood at Rs 25,787 crore in February.

The bull run in the Indian equities was brought to a halt last month by a surge in the US bond yields. High bond yields are likely to impact the market in the near future too, analysts said.

Rusmik Oza, Executive Vice President, Head of Fundamental Research at Kotak Securities, said: "This calendar year to date, the US 10-year bond yield has appreciated by 81 per cent (from 0.91 per cent to 1.72 per cent). In the same period, India's 10-year bond yield has gone up by only 5.1 per cent (from 5.86 per cent to 6.17 per cent)."

He noted that expectation of inflation acceleration and strong US economic growth has led to rise in bond yields. Globally rising bond yields are putting pressure on richly valued sectors and companies, Oza said.

However, the inflow of FPIs into equities stood at a record Rs 2.74 lakh crore in the financial year ended March 2021. The net inflow during January-March 2021 stood at Rs 55,742 crore.

"The massive fiscal stimulus by governments and monetary stimulus by central banks has led to inflows into select emerging markets. India has been the biggest recipient of FPI flows in FY21 amongst emerging markets because of the stronger recovery in the economy and surprise in earnings growth," said Oza.