HDFC Bank, IRFC Buck Trend As Mutual Funds Cut Weight In Financials
Financials' weightage among mutual fund holdings fell after advancing for three-months in a row.
HDFC Bank Ltd., Indian Railway Finance Corp. and HDFC Life Insurance Co. were the most-bought large-cap stocks by mutual funds, even as nine out of 10 fund houses reduced their holdings in the financial space.
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Ltd., Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd., were among the top-bought small-cap stocks. Aptus Value Housing Finance Ltd., HFCL Ltd. and CESC Ltd. also made the list, according to a PhillipCapital note dated June 11.
Vodafone Idea Ltd. continued to be a favourite as the top-bought mid-cap stocks, while Suzlon Energy Ltd., Steel Authority of India Ltd., IDFC First Bank Ltd. and Apollo Tyres Ltd. followed.
Sectoral Trends
Mutual funds reduced their holdings in the financial space the most, after having increased it for three months in a row.
Its weightage shrank by 61 basis points during the month, followed by IT, whose weightage fell for the fourth consecutive month, decreasing by 20 basis points in May.
Industrials saw the greatest addition in weightage, expanding by 66 basis points, followed by auto & auto ancillary stocks, with a 44-basis-point growth.
Most Popular Stocks
Berger Paints India Ltd. was the most popular stock among the top 10 additions across mutual fund houses in May. It appeared five times among top 10 additions, followed by Hindustan Copper Ltd., which appeared three times.
Highest-Ever Monthly Flows
Flows into equity-oriented mutual funds schemes recorded a highest-ever figure of Rs 34,697 crore, out of which Rs 9,563 crore were seen by HDFC Manufacturing Fund.
The new fund offers were the third largest ever and pushed its category ahead as the second largest based on total assets under management.
Sectoral/thematic funds now have the most assets, followed by mid-cap funds, which they crossed in May, just behind flexi-cap, which remains the largest category.
Cash Positions Marginally Advance
Overall cash holdings as a percentage of total assets under management of equity-oriented schemes was at 4.3%, up 6 basis points from a month ago, growing the most for value funds, for which it rose by 69 basis points.
On the flip side, cash levels declined most for small-cap funds by 39 basis points.
