Auto, pharma stocks offering margin of safety top funds' buy list in July

With broad market indices touching lifetime highs in July, India's share valuations were at a premium to emerging markets and long-term averages. Against this backdrop, fund managers scouted for opportunities in sectors trading at relatively attractive valuations.

Shares in the pharma and automotive sectors were among those that fit the bill. Fund managers lapped up pharma given the recent underperformance, lower input prices and attractive valuations. With first-quarter results encouraging, they bought into stocks like Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Aurobindo Pharma, and Suven Pharmaceuticals. Within the automobile space, fund managers used a bottom-up approach to buy into two-wheelers and auto ancillaries. They stayed away from passenger vehicles and bought into companies like Balkrishna Industries, Eicher Motors and Hero MotoCorp, where valuations provide a margin of safety.