Mutual funds load up on defensives in June, book profits in financials

HDFC Asset Management Company, Coal India and Shriram Finance saw the highest buying interest from mutual funds (MFs) in June. These firms were in the news over block deals and offer for sales. The other two in the top five most bought stock list — Timken India and Kotak Mahindra Bank — also witnessed block deals last month.

The large-cap allocation rejig in June shows that MFs loaded up on defensive stocks while booking profits in financial shares. Coal India, Hindustan Unilever and Sun Pharma were the top large-cap buys, while Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finance were among the top five most sold large-cap stocks by MFs, shows a report by Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research.

MFs were low on deployment of funds in the equity market in June as they invested a net of Rs 5,664 crore in a rising market scenario. The Nifty50 went up 3.5 per cent in the month. Among the newly listed stocks, IKIO Lighting and ideaForge Tech made their way into MF portfolios. Mangalore Refinery, Kolte-Patil and BSE were the other stocks to make an entry into MF schemes.