FIIs, MFs break records in May

May 2006 has not only been an exceptional month due to the huge volatility that we have seen in markets, but also due to foreign institutional investors and mutual fund action, reports CNBC-TV18.

If one looks at the FII activity in May 2006, they sold Rs 5,100 crore (Rs 51 billion) of equity till May 24, which is record selling of equities by FIIs in any single month. MFs, on the other hand, bought Rs 5,366 crore (Rs 43.66 billion) of equity till May 23, which again was a record investment by MFs in any single month.

A look at the FIIs' portfolio will show that sector-wise, they are underweight on energy and software. Stock-wise, UTI Bank and Tata Steel have replaced Bharat Forge and ACC.

The top five stocks sold by FIIs in the month of May were Reliance Industries, which was sold for $515 million, Infosys for $210 million, Maruti Udyog for $66 million, Jet Airways for $64 million and Tata Consultancy Services for $61 million.

Sectors that MFs are overweight on are software, consumer staples, pharma and metals. The top five stocks bought by the MFs during the month of May are Infosys, which was bought for $165.9 million, ITC for $87.9 million, Punjab National Bank for $69.6 million, Hindalco for $68.8 million and L&T for $60.5 million.

In midcaps, Goldman Sachs sold Karnataka Bank, Eveready Industries, BSEL Infrastructure and Essar Shipping. While Pru ICICI MF bought Graphite India, India Nippon and Megasoft.