Top Buys And Sells: Mutual Funds' Top Bets In September

Indian investors made inflows of over Rs 34,000 crore to active equity mutual funds during September, pushing the size of assets held under such schemes to a new record high of Rs 31 lakh crore.

As investment in equity-oriented schemes continues to grab a major chunk of inflows, the share of assets under such schemes as a percentage of the total asset base of the mutual fund industry has also grown to its highest ever at 46.3% during the month.

With Indian equities continuing their uptrend, here's how mutual funds re-allocated holdings in September.

HDFC Bank Ltd. took the spot as mutual funds' biggest 'buy' during the month, with its value going up by Rs 15,800 crore, up 6.3% month-on-month.

Bharti Airtel Ltd. followed second, with its holding value increasing by Rs 7,465 crore.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. was next with its holding value rising by nearly 13% against the month before. The company announced strong sales figures at the beginning of the month, and the stock rose 10.3% during the month.

Among stocks which saw their holding value rise across the most number of mutual fund houses, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. saw an increase across 29 fund houses, with its overall value held by mutual funds rising by 5% over the month.

Mahindra & Mahindra followed, recording a rise in holding across 27 mutual fund houses.

Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank also made the list, while also recording the largest increase in mutual funds' holdings on an absolute increase in value of shares held.

In terms of the biggest decline in value of holdings, Tata Motors Ltd. took the top spot, with a decline by Rs 6,800 crore, down 15% against the August figure.

The company reported weaker than expected auto sales figures during the month, leading to a sell-off in the stock, following which it declined 12.3% over the course of the month.

ONGC saw the second largest decline in value of shares held by mutual funds as oil exploration companies came under pressure led by falling oil prices.

Amid those with the largest decline in value of holdings, Vodafone Idea Ltd. stands out with a decline by 48.5% against the previous month. The stock pared a third of its value during the month following an unfavourable Supreme Court judgement on the re-computation of Adjusted Gross Revenue dues.

Popular stocks which saw value of holdings decline were tied between Larsen & Toubro Ltd., State Bank of India, and  Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

Even as 23 mutual fund houses pared their holdings in the stock, the value of L&T's share held grew marginally by Rs 124 crore, a 0.13% rise.