Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank among 4 PSBs among mutual funds’ top sells in midcap space in October

Public sector banking stocks are performing well amid improving fundamentals, and Nifty PSU Bank has moved higher by 17 per cent on a year-to-date basis. Nevertheless, four of its constituents, namely UCO Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India, and Indian Overseas Bank were among the top 10 stocks that were offloaded in the mid-cap basket by mutual funds in the October month. Besides, Bandhan Bank is another private bank from the mid-cap space that saw the highest selling by funds.
 
As per the ICICI Direct report, AMCs reduced their holding in Indian Overseas Bank from 1.37 crore shares in September to 1.24 shares in October. For UCO Bank, fund houses have diluted their holdings from 1.04 crore to 0.99 crore in the previous month.

Similarly, Bank of Maharashtra’s holding has been pared from 3.22 crore in September to 2.93 crore in October. Central Bank of India shares were also reduced from mutual funds’ portfolios during the month.

In the small-cap stock segment, Ujjivan Small Finance is another banking stock that saw the highest selling in the previous month. The other top stocks that have been offloaded from the small-cap space include Alembic Limited, ITD Cementation, Orient Paper and Industries, Uniparts India, Lux Industries, Suzlon Energy, Neuland Laboratories, PCBL, and LT Foods.
 
Broader indices have been clinging to new all-time highs on the back of retail investors’ euphoria. But experts have earlier warned against blindly taking positions in smallcaps. Dr. V. K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, earlier cautioned investors, saying they should not be blinded by the recency bias and should not chase small caps running away without fundamental support.