UTI Mutual books profit in frontline stocks

UTI Mutual Fund bought market favourites and booked profits in frontline stocks in July 2004. The equity portfolio details shows the fund house made fresh purchases of 9.10 million shares and sold 16.3 million shares in July 2004.

The portfolio details further reveals that the fund house targeted stocks which were in the limelight in June 2004. Profit booking was done where the UTI's fund manager believed that these stocks were fully ripe.

The portfolio churning in July was sector specific. The excessive buying was seen in sectors such as steel, oil drilling, financial institutions, auto ancillaries, information technologies and engineering.

Profit booking was concentrated in automobile-cars, sugar, banks, shipping, integrated steel, refineries, telecom and entertainment.

The fund house bought 8.36 lakh shares of Satyam Computer, over eight lakh shares each of IPCL and IDBI, fover ive lakh shares each of MTNL and TVS Motors, around three lakh shares of ACC, 2.69 lakh shares of National Aluminium, 2.18 lakh HCL Technologies, aound two lakh shares each of G E Shipping and Bharti Electtronics.

UTI MF bought over one lakh shares earch of Patni Computers, Bharat Forge, Mastek, Jindal Iron, Infosys Technologies, Tata Steel Elgi Equipment and Excide Industries.

While most of the equity research firms were sending buy recommendation in Bharti Tele-Ventures, the UTI MF proposed to book profit. The fund sold 16.79 lakh shares of Bharti Tele-Ventures in July 2004.

The fund house also found the market value of Sail attractive enough for booking profit. UTI MF sold 15.18 lakh shares of Sail.

The fund house offloaded Alok Industries (sold 6.66 lakh shares), Shipping Corporation (4.53 lakh shares), Maruti Udyog (5.73 lakh shares), Ashok Leyland (4.28 lakh shares), Gujarat Alkalies (3.96 lakh shares) and Zee Telefilms (3.27 lakh shares).

The other major selling was seen in banking stocks. Oriental Bank of Commerce (6.15 lakh shares), Vijay Bank (4.97 lakh shares), Bank of Baroda (4.19 lakh shares), SBI (2.23 lakh shares), Bank of Maharashtra (1.64 lakh shares) and UTI Bank (1.58 lakh shares).

Among the frontline stocks, UTI MF were sellers in Tata Motors (2.77 lakh shares), ITC (2.46 lakh shares), HPCL (2.08 lakh shares), Hero Honda (1.88 lakh shares), BPCL (1.66 lakh shares), Larsen & Toubro (1.65 lakh shares) and Hindustan Lever (1.60 lakh shares).