MFs purchase shares of private banks amid correction, offload tech

Making the most of weakness in the markets, mutual funds (MFs) lapped up shares of private banks and automobile companies in September. On the other hand, they booked profits in technology and financial shares. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the most-sold shares by domestic money managers last month, according to an Edelweiss report. In absolute terms, equity MFs pumped in the highest amount in Reliance Industries and Vedanta — nearly Rs 17 billion in each of the counters. Notably, most of the shares fell even further in October. Industry players said funds used the correction to pump in more money into some of the blue chip names. MFs were also seen buying shares of public sector banks, including SBI and Bank of Baroda. Meanwhile, Wipro and HCL Technologies are among companies whose name features in the most-sold list. Among financial stocks, MFs offloaded Shriram Transport Finance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, YES Bank, and HDFC Asset MF.