Domestic mutual funds load up Rs 1,000 cr on large private banks in October

Domestic mutual funds (MFs) pumped in over Rs 1,000 crore, each in Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank in October. Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, and Bajaj Auto were the other top buys by equity fund managers. On the other hand, State Bank of India, Infosys, and ONGC were the stocks that saw the highest reduction in MF holdings in absolute terms. In the mid cap space, Dixon Tech, Coforge, and Federal Bank were the top-buys, while BSE, Nazara Technologies, and Karnataka Bank saw the highest inflows among small cap stocks. In October, the benchmark Nifty50 index fell 2.8 per cent, the most since December 2023, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index declined 4.1 per cent, the most since June 2022. The Nifty Smallcap 100 was relatively resilient as it fell less than a per cent. The declines came amid increased selling pressure by foreign portfolio investors. Samie Modak However, despite the volatility and FPI selloff, equity schemes continued to attract encouraging flows at Rs 20,000 crore, with all the 11 equity sub-categories registering positive flows. This provided fund managers enough dry powder to invest in stocks and counter the FPI selling