Mutual Funds Dive into ITC, IndiGo, Swiggy, and Paytm in May; BSE and Coforge on the Sell List
May was a busy month for mutual fund (MF) managers, with significant buying activity in several prominent Indian companies. Data compiled by Nuvama Institutional Equities reveals where MFs placed their bets and which stocks they offloaded.
Big block deals played a role, with substantial fund participation in ITC, Bharti Airtel, and InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo).
Top Stocks Mutual Funds Bought
MFs went big on:
- ITC Ltd: A staggering 18.8 crore shares were scooped up, valued at ₹7,800 crore. This significantly boosted MF ownership from 147.10 crore to 165.90 crore shares month-on-month.
- HDFC Bank Ltd: MFs invested ₹5,900 crore, acquiring 3 crore new shares.
- Eternal Ltd (Zomato): ₹5,400 crore worth of shares were bought, totaling 22.50 crore shares.
- InterGlobe Aviation Ltd (IndiGo): MFs picked up 90 lakh shares, a ₹4,900 crore investment.
- State Bank of India: Saw ₹3,300 crore in MF buying.
- Kotak Mahindra Bank: Attracted ₹2,600 crore in MF interest.
- Swiggy: Recorded ₹2,400 crore in MF purchases.
- NTPC and PNB Housing: Both saw ₹1,400 crore in MF buying.
- Asian Paints, Paytm, and Axis Bank: Each drew ₹1,200 crore from MFs.
Among large-cap stocks, Tata Steel and Bajaj Auto also saw prominent buying. A new entry to the buy list was Adani Green Energy.
Top Stocks Mutual Funds Sold
On the flip side, MFs actively sold shares in:
- Max Financial: ₹1,200 crore worth of 80 lakh shares were sold.
- FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa): Saw ₹1,100 crore in selling.
- BSE: Experienced ₹800 crore in MF selling.
Other significant sells included TCS, Bharat Electronics, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, and IndusInd Bank. Indian Hotels, Coforge, Tech Mahindra, Coal India, and MRF were also on the MFs’ sell radar.
Overall Market Activity
In May, mutual funds injected ₹56,300 crore into the Indian secondary market. Combined with Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), a total of ₹9,600 crore flowed into the secondary market. This robust buying led to a decline in MFs’ cash and equivalents, dropping from 6.58% (₹2,03,500 crore) in April to 6.05% (₹1,96,100 crore) in May, signaling a net deployment of ₹7,400 crore into equity markets during the month.