Mutual funds looked beyond frontline stocks in April, say analysts

Equity fund managers were seen offloading shares of the country’s biggest companies and buying stocks that are a notch below. In HDFC Bank, ITC, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), mutual funds (MFs) sold stakes between Rs 1,170 crore and Rs 1,817 crore. Market experts say the selling could be on account of profit-booking.

“MFs were aggressive buyers when large-caps dropped like ninepins. They took money off the table when the stocks rebounded in April,” said an industry official. After dropping 23 per cent in March, the benchmark indices had soared over 14 per cent in April.

Meanwhile, fund managers were seen buying shares of companies, such as HDFC Life, Eicher Motors, and Page Industries — which are arguably a notch below the frontline names. In terms of sectoral preference, MFs were seen buying stocks in the pharma, IT and automobile space. Stocks in the financials and consumer goods space dominated the April ‘sell’ list. In April, MFs were net-sellers to the tune of Rs 7,966 crore. The selling came on the back of record Rs 30,300 crore worth of buying in March.