Infosys Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd, Bajaj Finance and NTPC were among stocks that mutual funds bought with both hands in April. The list included new-age stocks Zomato and FNS E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa) the HDFC twins (HDFC, HDFC Bank) and the Adani group flagship Adani Enterprises.
Mutual funds used the recent steep correction in Infosys to buy Rs 1,738.69 crore worth shares in the Bengaluru-based IT firm. Fund managers held 16.36 per cent stake in Infosys at April end against 16.04 per cent stake at March end. Mutual fund holding value, however, fell Rs 10,025.80 crore for the month to Rs 85,021 crore from Rs 95,047 crore as of March 31. The stock was down 12.27 per cent in April, thanks to muted FY24 revenue guidance by the IT major.
RHI Magnesita India was another stock where mutual funds upped stake to 13.86 per cent in April from 7.53 per cent in March. MFs held Rs 1,673 crore worth shares of this smallcap company as of April 30 against Rs 891.96 crore as of March 31. RHI Magnesita India offers high-grade refractory products, systems and solutions. This stock was up 2 per cent for April.
In NTPC, MF ownership crossed one-fifth mark. MFs held 20.37 per cent stake in this utility as of April end against 19.92 per cent as of March 31. As per PRIME Database, MFs bought Rs 755.73 crore worth NTPC shares for the month. The stock was down 1.8 per cent fo the month.
The value was derived by multiplying the difference in March and April shareholding by the average closing price during the month of April.
Nykaa saw MFs upping stake to 7.14 per cent from 5.25 percent on a monthly basis. Net buys amounted to Rs 676.69 crore. This new age stock was range-bound in April after the company in a March quarter business update said consumer pullback in discretionary spends has had some impact on fashion business, leading to subdued growth in net sales value (NSV) for the quarter.
Besides, the company expected revenue growth in Fashion business to be in late teens. This was against a 33 per cent growth it recorded in the first nine months of the financial year.
Hindustan Unilever (to 4.35 per cent from 4.25 per cent), Cipla (to 15.74 per cent from 14.96 per cent) and Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals (to 36.28 per cent from 33.23 per cent) saw Rs 500-600 crore in mutual fund inflows in April.
In Reliance Industries, mutual funds increased stake to 6.20 per cent in April from 6.17 per cent in March. MF stake jumped to 15.12 per cent in HDFC Bank in April from 15.07 per cent in March. In Zomato, MF stake rose to 9.35 per cent from 9.24 per cent.
Dixon Technologies, PVR Inox, HDFC and Adani Enterprises were some of the stocks that saw rise in MF holdings in April. PVR Inox reported a loss of Rs 133 crore for the March quarter. Adani Enterprises' reports more than doubled in the March quarter; HDFC's Q4 profit rose 20 per cent while Dixon Technologies is yet to report its quarterly earnings.