Mutual funds (MFs) bought equities worth over Rs 23,000 crore for the second straight month in January on the back of strong inflows into equity schemes. With this, their deployment has topped Rs 1 trillion in the past five months.
According to experts, the MF buying in January proved to be a strong support for the market. Benchmark indices ended the month nearly flat even as foreign investors pulled out Rs 26,100 crore. Meanwhile, the broader market small and midcap indices rallied over 5 per cent on domestic liquidity support.
The MF deployment in equity funds is linked to the investor inflows into equity and hybrid funds. In the last two months, equity schemes have received a net of Rs 38,800 crore.
With the inflows into equity MF schemes remaining positive for the past 35 months, domestic MFs have emerged as a pillar of support for the stock market. The net deployment has exceeded Rs 1.7 trillion in the past two calendar years.