Mutual fund managers were on a shopping spree in the month of March, deploying Rs 222 billion, taking their total buying to Rs 1.6 trillion in the previous financial year. Top of their shopping list in March were banking and finance sector stocks such as Kotak Mahindra Bank, Housing Development Finance Corporation, along with ONGC, Reliance Industries, and Maruti Suzuki India. On the other hand, mutual funds were seen trimming their stake in FMCG major ITC accompanied by Hindalco Industries, Bharti Airtel, and TCS. During the month of March, Sensex and Nifty rebounded from lows, soaring nearly 4% each. Bank Nifty closed with marginal gains.
Stocks bought by mutual funds
- Data collected by Edelweiss Alternative Research showed that Kotak Mahindra Bank shares were high in demand during the month of March with fund managers buying Rs 27.22 billion worth of the lender’s stock. A total of 15.5 million additional shares were added by various fund houses. Shares of the bank were down 4.8% in March.
- Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) was the second most purchased stock in March. Data showed 8.9 million shares of the mortgage lender were added by fund houses, between February and March, worth Rs 21.38 billion. HDFC share price rose 1% during the previous month.
- ONGC was also in high demand during the month. Fund managers lapped up 123.7 million shares of the company in March, worth Rs 20.27 billion. A 2% rise was registered by ONGC shares in March.
- Maruti Suzuki: 2.5 million shares bought, worth Rs 19.27 billion.
- Hindustan Unilever: 7.3 million shares bought, worth Rs 14.96 billion.
- Reliance Industries: 5.3 million shares bought, worth Rs 13.95 billion
Other top stock buys by mutual fund houses included Coforge, Indian Hotels, Vedanta, and ICICI Bank.
Stocks sold by mutual funds
- ITC was the most sold stock during the month of March. Fund managers sold a total of 119.9 million shares of the cigarette to hospitality major, worth Rs 30.05 billion. ITC share price rallied 16% during the month.
- Hindalco Industries was the second most sold scrip, according to the Edelweiss data. Fund managers sold 26.9 million shares of the company worth Rs Rs 15.35 billion. Shares of the company ended the previous month flat.
- Sun Pharmaceuticals was the third most sold company among fund houses. Data showed that a total of 11.7 million were sold by mutual funds, worth Rs 10.69 billion.
- Bharti Airtel: 12 million shares sold, worth Rs 9 billion.
- JSW Steel: 9.2 million shares sold, worth Rs 6.74 billion.
- Tata Consultancy Services: 1.4 million shares sold, worth Rs 5.06 billion.
Other stocks sold by fund houses included Cipla, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, and Voltas.
