GRAPHIC: Profit-booking by fund houses

Mutual Funds have been continuously buying shares, aiding the market's upward movement

India’s equity mutual funds (MFs) have been continuously buying shares, aiding the market’s upward movement. However, in July, the fund houses have trimmed shares of several counters which have seen a sharp rally. Reliance Industries (RIL) emerged as the most sold counter during the month. HDFC MF, ICICI Prudential MF and Franklin Templeton MF were the major sellers of RIL shares, and liquidated stocks worth Rs 550 crore. Recently, RIL’s counter had touched a high of Rs 1,665 on the bourses. Reliance was followed by Bharat Petroleum Corporation. Two of the telecom giants — Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular — were also liquidated, following Reliance Jio’s impact. ICICI Prudential MF sold Idea shares worth Rs 370 crore, while DSP BlackRock exited Bharti Airtel. YES Bank, which surged from Rs 1,420-levels to over Rs 1,800 in a few weeks in July, also bore the brunt. According to fund managers, it’s a stock-picking market and several investment calls are being taken as short-term trade call to add value to the portfolio. This is just a part of the normal re-balancing in the portfolio, they added. “In some holdings which sharply rallied, we prefer to take some money off the table and not all. It’s an ongoing process as markets keep throwing such opportunities,” a chief information officer at a top-10 fund house explained.

Chandan Kishore Kant takes a look at the stocks sold most by fund houses in July

Source: Edelweiss Fund Insight Report