Mutual funds: What's hot, what's not

Mutual funds were predominantly buyers in the cement, construction, metal, telecom, power and auto space in the month of April.

Banking, and chemical stocks weighed heavy on their sell list, while stocks were re-aligned in the oil and gas pack. They continued to buy huge chunks of Reliance Energy Ventures, while diluted exposure to banking heavyweight SBI.

MFs also joined the IPO party in a big way with Adhunik Metaliks, Gallantt Metal, and Godawari Power being the most bought ones. In terms of value, ONGC, Sterlite Industries, and Reliance Industries were the top purchases by MFs, while SBI, Hindustan Zinc, and Siemens topped the sell list.

A study of the top ten mutual funds' equity portfolios as on April 28, which are UTI, Prudential ICICI, HDFC, Templeton, Reliance, SBI, Birla SunLife, Standard Chartered, DSP ML, and HSBC reveals that Reliance and Pru ICICI MF bought Reliance Energy Ventures. Reliance MF continued to be the top buyer of the stock with over 137 lakh (13.7 million) shares bought.

However, DSP ML, Birla, HSBC, and SBI MF pared exposure to the stock. Among other power stocks, Reliance Energy, Neyveli Lignite, and GIPCO were among the top 50 buys, while NTPC was among the top sells.

SBI, the top sell, was sold extensively seven out of the ten MFs. HDFC, Reliance, Templeton, Stanchart, Birla, HSBC, and DSP ML sold the stock, while Pru ICICI, UTI, and SBI MF bought it. HDFC was the top seller in the stock with over 21 lakh (2.1 million) shares sold.

Among other banking stocks, Reliance Capital Ventures, Centurion Bank, LIC Housing Finance, Corporation Bank, and Bank of India topped the sell list, while they bought Union Bank, IFCI, and Federal Bank.

Among the IPOs that listed in April, mutual funds bought over 85 lakh (8.5 million) shares of Adhunik Metaliks, with Pru ICICI MF being the top buyer as it bought over 56 lakh (5.6 million) shares. Templeton also bought over 29 lakh (2.9 million) shares of Adhunik Metaliks. Pru ICICI MF also invested heavily in Gallantt Metal with a total of over 34 lakh (3.4 million) shares bought. HDFC MF invested heavily in Godawari Power IPO with 16.5 lakh (1.65 million) shares bought.

Sun TV, Uttam Sugar Mills, Emkay Shares, Kewal Kiran Clothing, and Solar Explosives were the other IPOs that attracted mutual funds. HDFC, SBI, Reliance, and DSP ML MF bought Sun TV, Pru ICICI MF bought Uttam Sugar Mills, HDFC, and Templeton MF bought Emkay Shares. Pru ICICI and HDFC MF invested in Kewal Kiran Clothing, while HDFC, UTI, Pru ICICI, DSP ML, and Templeton MF bought Solar Explosives.

Oil and gas major ONGC, the top bought stock in terms of value, was bought by eight out of 10 mutual funds. Templeton MF was the top buyer with over 17.4 lakh (million) shares bought. Other oil and gas stocks Reliance Industries, and Gulf Oil also attracted MFs, while Kochi Refineries, Gail, and HPCL were sold.

Metal pivotals Hindalco, Tata Steel, and Sail were bought, while Hindustan Zinc, and Nalco were sold. Buying was also seen in telecom majors MTNL, Bharti Tele, and Reliance Communication Ventures, while VSNL, and Siemens were sold.

Cement and construction stocks India Cement, Gujarat Ambuja, Gammon India, Jaiprakash Associates, and Ambuja Cement Eastern figured among the top 50 buys, while UltraTech Cement, and ACC were the top 50 sells. Auto stocks Ashok Leyland, Maruti, Tata Motors were among the top buys, while TVS Motor was among the top sells.

Among the IT pivotals, heavy selling was seen in HCL Technologies, Wipro, and TCS, while Infosys, and Satyam were bought. Chemical stocks too dominated the sell list with Indo Gulf, Pidilite, Chambal Fertilisers, Colour Chem, and Shasun Chemicals being sold, while Gujarat Alkalies and IPCL were bought.

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