Charticle: Mutual funds continue to lap up banking shares in July

Mutual funds (MFs) continued to lap up HDFC Bank and other major banking sector stocks in July. 

With a deployment of Rs 2,720 crore in July, MFs’ total investment in HDFC Bank in calendar year 2024 (till now) surged to Rs 48,820 crore, shows a report by Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research.

The investment is the aggregate of total net deployment by active equity, passive and equity-oriented hybrid schemes.

Other top buys in the banking space include Axis Bank and State Bank of India. Vedanta, ITC and Asian Bank were also among the most-bought stocks last month.

Among smallcap companies, MFs lapped up shares of PNB Housing, Jyoti CNC Auto, Emcure Pharma, Sobha and Piramal Enterprises, shows the report.

Companies in which MFs trimmed their holdings significantly include Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), NTPC, Avenue Supermart, Bharat Electronics and Sun Pharma.

Bulking up: Banks dominate MFs' buy list

Top buys	Surge in holding (in Rs cr)
Vedanta	3,290
HDFC Bank	2,720
ITC	2,690
Axis Bank	2,130
Asian Paint	2,070
Power Grid Corp	1,620
State Bank of India	1,460

Top sells	Decline in holding (in Rs cr)
TCS	2,710
NTPC	2,580
Avenue Supermart	2,120
Bharat Electronics	2,070
Sun Pharma	2,050

Source: Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research
Note: During two-month period (August and September); **At October 12 closing price