FIIs reduce holding in 15 blue chips in past 3 months

Much before the SEBI crackdown to limit PN-exposure to Indian market, the Foreign Institutional Investors cut down their holdings in some of the country's biggest blue chips by up to six per cent over the past three months.

The FIIs reduced their shareholding in as many as 15 companies present in the benchmark Sensex, including Ranbaxy Laboratories, Bharti Airtel, Ambuja Cement, Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra, during the July-September quarter, according to an analysis of shareholding pattern in these companies.

Meanwhile, the foreign investors raised their stake in 11 other Sensex companies, including HDFC Bank, ACC, Larsen and Toubro, HDFC and Reliance Industries, by up to four per cent. The investment remained unchanged in the State Bank of India.

FII shareholding in Ranbaxy Laboratories reduced to 14.88 per cent in the quarter ended September 30, as compared to 20.71 per cent in the corresponding period last year. Telecom major Bharti Airtel witnessed a decline of over 5 per cent in FII holdings during the reviewed quarter to 26 per cent from 31.5 per cent in the previous there months ended June 30.

While Ambuja Cement, Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra saw FIIs reducing their holdings by 4.64 per cent, 2.43 per cent and 2.29 per cent, respectively.

"This may signal a shift in FII concentration from blue chip stocks to other high growth stocks in mid-cap segments among others," a leading analyst from a domestic brokerage said.