Mutual funds bought steel, telecom, construction, oil and gas, and engineering stocks in September. Selling was seen in auto majors, IT, FMCG, chemical, media, and sugar stocks, while stocks were re-aligned in the banking sector. Funds bought huge chunks of refinery major HPCL [Get Quote], while diluted exposure to media major Zee Telefilms.

Equity IPOs Voltamp Transformers [Get Quote], Action Construction Equipment [Get Quote], and HOV Services [Get Quote] attracted mutual funds in September with Voltamp being the most popular one.

In terms of value, Patni Computer Systems, Tata Consultancy Services [Get Quote], and HPCL were the top purchases by MFs, while Zee Telefilms, State Bank of India [Get Quote], and Tata Motors [Get Quote] topped the sell list.

A study of the top ten mutual funds' equity portfolios as on September 29, which are UTI, Prudential ICICI [Get Quote], Reliance, HDFC [Get Quote], Templeton, SBI, Birla SunLife, Tata, Standard Chartered, and DSP ML MF reveals that seven out of the ten MFs added to their investments in HPCL.

HDFC MF was the top buyer of the stock with almost 17 lakh shares bought, while Pru ICICI and Templeton slashed exposure to the refinery major. Among other oil and gas stocks, over 24.8 lakh shares of BPCL were purchased.

However, Kochi Refineries, IOC, and BRPL were sold.

Andhra Bank, the second top buy in terms of volume, was bought by four MFs. Pru ICICI MF was the top buyer of the stock with over 27 lakh shares bought, while SBI and UTI sold it. Among other banking stocks, Bank of Baroda [Get Quote], Centurion Bank, IDBI, Canara Bank [Get Quote], and LIC Housing Finance [Get Quote] were among the top buys, while SBI, Reliance Capital [Get Quote], Vijaya Bank [Get Quote], Corporation Bank [Get Quote], and PNB lost sheen.

Media major Zee Telefilms - the top sell was sold by nine MFs. Templeton MF with almost 43 lakh shares sold was the top seller of the stock. DSP ML MF however, bought Zee.

Among other media stocks, TV Today Network [Get Quote] was sold, while HT Media [Get Quote] was among the top buys.

Patni Computer - the top value buy was bought by Pru ICICI MF with over 40.6 lakh shares bought. Meanwhile, SBI MF pared exposure to the stock. Among other IT stocks, TCS, and HCL Infosystems [Get Quote] were bought, while Tata Elxsi [Get Quote], Aztecsoft, HCL Technologies [Get Quote], Wipro [Get Quote], Cranes Software, and Rolta were among the top sells.

Among the IPOs that listed in September, Voltamp Transformers was the most popular one with a total of over 10 lakh shares bought by five of the top 10 MFs, followed by Action Construction Equipment with over 7.8 lakh shares bought.

Reliance MF was the top investor in Voltamp with over 6.2 lakh shares purchased, while Pru ICICI was the top investor in Action Construction with 5.5 lakh shares purchased. Pru ICICI MF was the sole investor in the HOV Services IPO with over 4.4 lakh shares bought.

Among other sectors, sugar, FMCG, auto, and chemicals weighed heavy on the sell list. Sugar stocks Triveni Engineering, Bajaj Hindustan [Get Quote], and Balrampur Chini were sold. FMCG heavyweights ITC, and HLL [Get Quote] too were sold extensively with over 21 lakh and 13 lakh shares sold respectively.

Weightage to auto stocks Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Amtek India [Get Quote], and Maruti skid lower in the MF portfolios, while in the chemical sector, Aarti Industries [Get Quote], Pidilite, United Phosphorous, and Chambal Fertilisers were among the top sells.
 
Telecom, steel, and construction stocks witnessed buying. In the telecom pack, Reliance Communications [Get Quote], Bharti Airtel [Get Quote], and MTNL [Get Quote] were bought, while VSNL [Get Quote] was sold. Steel majors Sail [Get Quote], and Tata Steel [Get Quote] were bought extensively. Also, construction stocks Jaiprakash Associates [Get Quote], Nagarjuna Construction, GMR Infrastructure [Get Quote], Hindustan Sanitaryware, IVRCL Infrastructure, and HCC were among the top purchases.

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