This was contrary to the general perception in the market that FIIs would remain on the sidelines after booking profits over the last two months. Market players and fund managers were of the view that FIIs would not be active in the month of November.

But in a market that has seen the Sensex falling by almost 941 points (from an intra-day high of 5,150 points on October 11 to a low of 4,209 on November 2), there could not have been a better opportunity to pick up stocks. FIIs, it appears, have played the game tactfully, moving in just when the operators had pulled down the market and the mood was turning bearish in the short-term.

All the talk of FIIs pulling out from the market due to Y2K fears appears to have been proved wrong. In fact, on Wednesday and Thursday it was not so much the Sensex stocks but infotech stocks which have firmed up, suggesting that FIIs might have adopted a quick entry and exit strategy when the going is good in these stocks.

Market players also point out that FIIs would have been picking up non-Sensex stocks, which is why there has not been any significant movement in the Sensex. ``Look at ITC and Lever or for that matter other index majors, they have not moved much,'' points out a chief dealer at a brokerage. The first two account for about 28 per cent of the Sensex. On Wednesday, FIIs bought stocks worth Rs 286 crore and sold stocks worth Rs 108 crore, or the purchase to sales ratio was 2.86:1.

On Monday, when the Sensex crashed by 174 points, the net FIIs investment was in the positive territory. On Tuesday, when the Sensex shot back by 221 points, it was the UTI which triggered the buying. But, with the market failing to sustain this level, FIIs stepped in with a net investment of Rs 179 crore on Wednesday.

Net FII investments had turned negative since the beginning of September, though the Sensex kept rising and the rally spread to a large number of stocks in B1 and B2 categories on the BSE. During the month of October, FIIs had pulled out about Rs 750 crore, but in the last three days Rs 305 crore has come back into the market.