New Delhi, Aug. 26 -- Retail investors are shifting their direct equity allocations back towards listed stocks in FY27, reversing the unusual pattern seen last year, when they sold shares in the secondary market but continued to invest in initial public offerings (IPOs).

Individual investors bought a net Rs.39,053 crore worth of secondary-market shares in the NSE cash market during FY27 so far, compared with a net outflow of Rs.5,803 crore in the whole of FY26, according to data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Their primary-market investment, meanwhile, stood at Rs.7,134 crore during FY27 so far, substantially lower than the Rs.42,608 crore deployed in the previous financial year.

The contrast points to a clear shift in the sou...