Mutual Funds Cut Stake In Heavyweights Like RIL, TCS, Airtel In Jan: Report

Mutual funds have trimmed their stake in index heavyweights in January as part of their portfolio rejig exercise, a report said.

Among stocks which mutual fund companies cashed out of were Reliance Industries (RIL), Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), said a recent report by Edelweiss Securities, adding that these funds lapped up on share purchases of all the three companies that came out with initial public offerings (IPOs) in January.

Other stocks that mutual funds cashed out on during the month were Bandhan Bank, KNR Constructions Limited, HDFC Life Insurance, Adani Ports and Grasim Industries.

While mutual funds were net sellers in telecom major Bharti Airtel, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) raised their stake in the Sunil Mittal-controlled firm in the same month, causing the stock to add 8% in January. It is expected that FIIs will further add Bharti Airtel to their portfolio, resulting in fresh flows of $700 million in the firm in February due to MSCI increasing weight in the stock.

Meanwhile, top shares that mutual funds picked up in January were HCL Technologies, Axis Bank, Asian Paints and Larsen & Toubro (L&T). Other names include HDFC, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, SBI Cards and Payment and SAIL.