The hottest mutual funds

Mutual funds bought steel, telecom, construction, oil and gas, and engineering stocks in September. Selling was seen in auto majors, IT, FMCG, chemical, media, and sugar stocks, while stocks were re-aligned in the banking sector. Funds bought huge chunks of refinery major HPCL, while diluted exposure to media major Zee Telefilms.

Equity IPOs Voltamp Transformers, Action Construction Equipment, and HOV Services attracted mutual funds in September with Voltamp being the most popular one.

In terms of value, Patni Computer Systems, Tata Consultancy Services, and HPCL were the top purchases by MFs, while Zee Telefilms, State Bank of India, and Tata Motors topped the sell list.

A study of the top ten mutual funds' equity portfolios as on September 29, which are UTI, Prudential ICICI, Reliance, HDFC, Templeton, SBI, Birla SunLife, Tata, Standard Chartered, and DSP ML MF reveals that seven out of the ten MFs added to their investments in HPCL.

HDFC MF was the top buyer of the stock with almost 17 lakh shares bought, while Pru ICICI and Templeton slashed exposure to the refinery major. Among other oil and gas stocks, over 24.8 lakh shares of BPCL were purchased.

However, Kochi Refineries, IOC, and BRPL were sold.

Andhra Bank, the second top buy in terms of volume, was bought by four MFs. Pru ICICI MF was the top buyer of the stock with over 27 lakh shares bought, while SBI and UTI sold it. Among other banking stocks, Bank of Baroda, Centurion Bank, IDBI, Canara Bank, and LIC Housing Finance were among the top buys, while SBI, Reliance Capital, Vijaya Bank, Corporation Bank, and PNB lost sheen.

Media major Zee Telefilms - the top sell was sold by nine MFs. Templeton MF with almost 43 lakh shares sold was the top seller of the stock. DSP ML MF however, bought Zee.

Among other media stocks, TV Today Network was sold, while HT Media was among the top buys.

Patni Computer - the top value buy was bought by Pru ICICI MF with over 40.6 lakh shares bought. Meanwhile, SBI MF pared exposure to the stock. Among other IT stocks, TCS, and HCL Infosystems were bought, while Tata Elxsi, Aztecsoft, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Cranes Software, and Rolta were among the top sells.

Among the IPOs that listed in September, Voltamp Transformers was the most popular one with a total of over 10 lakh shares bought by five of the top 10 MFs, followed by Action Construction Equipment with over 7.8 lakh shares bought.

Reliance MF was the top investor in Voltamp with over 6.2 lakh shares purchased, while Pru ICICI was the top investor in Action Construction with 5.5 lakh shares purchased. Pru ICICI MF was the sole investor in the HOV Services IPO with over 4.4 lakh shares bought.

Among other sectors, sugar, FMCG, auto, and chemicals weighed heavy on the sell list. Sugar stocks Triveni Engineering, Bajaj Hindustan, and Balrampur Chini were sold. FMCG heavyweights ITC, and HLL too were sold extensively with over 21 lakh and 13 lakh shares sold respectively.

Weightage to auto stocks Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Amtek India, and Maruti skid lower in the MF portfolios, while in the chemical sector, Aarti Industries, Pidilite, United Phosphorous, and Chambal Fertilisers were among the top sells.
 
Telecom, steel, and construction stocks witnessed buying. In the telecom pack, Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel, and MTNL were bought, while VSNL was sold. Steel majors Sail, and Tata Steel were bought extensively. Also, construction stocks Jaiprakash Associates, Nagarjuna Construction, GMR Infrastructure, Hindustan Sanitaryware, IVRCL Infrastructure, and HCC were among the top purchases.

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