Mutual funds buy select financials, IT and consumption stocks

Mutual fund managers employed a stock-specifi c approach in July, buying select fi nancials, IT and consumption stocks. Fund houses, buoyed by record fl ows into their equity schemes, added banks and non-banking fi nance companies (NBFCs) such as SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank, LIC Housing Finance and Manappuram Finance, consumer fi rms such as Avenue Supermarts and Trent, even as they booked profi ts in stocks like HDFC Bank and Sun Pharma.

As broad market valuations remained elevated, money managers remained selective in their purchases, while cutting exposures in areas where prices have run up excessively.