BENGALURU, Dec 29 Reuters Foreign investors39; selloff in Indian equities was the biggest on record in 2022, dragging the benchmark indexes to their smallest annual gain in four years, but analysts expect purchases by crossborder investors to rebound next year.

Foreign portfolio investors FPIs sold 1,219.08 billion rupees 14.73 billion worth of Indian equities in 2022, till Dec. 29, the biggest selloff in Indian shares in a year since 1993, when data became available.

Volatility in equities triggered by rate hikes globally, and geopolitical concerns were the key reasons for the massive FPI selloff, said Sumit Pokharna, vice president of fundamental research at Kotak Securities.

The secondworst FPI selloff was in 2008 at 529.87 billion rupees 6.40 billion, which triggered a 51.79 fall on the Nifty 50.

This year, however, the index demonstrated resilience and posted an annual gain of more than 4.

Liquidity is definitely moving towards India. I expect more buildup on liquidity in January, ahead of the union budget, said Deven Choksey, managing director at KRChoksey Holdings.

Foreign funds purchased around 958.78 billion rupees worth of stocks in the second half of 2022, after being net sellers of shares worth 2,173.58 billion rupees in the first half.

FPIs are staying in bunkers till sirens are blowing and will pour funds into India once some of the global challenges ease, Kotak39;s Pokharna said.

Foreign institutional investors will focus on quarterly earnings,…