Mutual Funds' Rs 13k cr balm as FPIs bleed out HDFC Bank in January

MFs bought 88.2 million shares in January after selling 53.3 million shares during the November-December period

After a two-month selling spree, mutual funds (MFs) embraced HDFC Bank shares in January amid a sharp correction in the stock price following the announcement of third-quarter results.

MFs purchased 88.2 million shares in January after divesting 53.3 million shares during the November-December period, according to Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research reports.

The total corpus deployed is estimated to be Rs 12,890 crore. In the previous two months, they had withdrawn around Rs 8,600 crore.

HDFC Bank had seen a 14.4 per cent correction in January amid record selling by foreign portfolio investors.

Due to disappointing results, the stock registered an 8.4 per cent decline on January 17, its biggest one-day fall since the pandemic crash.

In their outlook for calendar year 2024, most fund houses expressed bullish sentiments towards larger banks due to comparatively better valuations than other segments of the market and strong fundamentals.

Apart from HDFC Bank, the top buy list for MFs features Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, and State Bank of India. The investments ranged from Rs 3,280 crore to Rs 1,460 crore.

ICICI Bank was the most sold stock as MFs pulled out Rs 3,470 crore. Infosys, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Motors were also among the most sold stocks.