LIC buys Rs 8,700cr shares in 17 Sensex cos in June quarter

State-run insurance giant LIC has increased its exposure in 17 blue-chip firms, with purchase of shares worth an estimated Rs 8,700 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

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Life Insurance Corporation of India's (LIC) holding declined in eight other blue-chip companies in the April-June 2013 quarter from the level seen in the preceding quarter, showed an analysis of the shareholding pattern of Sensex constituents.

The insurer stake in two companies -BHEL and Sterlite Industries- remained unchanged during the same period.

LIC did not hold any stake in Jindal Power & Steel and and Sun Pharmaceuticals in the past few quarters and data for one company was not available.

At current share prices, LIC picked up shares worth Rs 8,730 crore in a total of 17 Sensex constituents. At the same time, the insurance giant sold shares to the tune of Rs 5,866 crore in eight blue-chip companies, resulting in a net inflow of Rs 2,864 crore in all the Sensex firms together.

The hike in LIC stake in 30-blue chip firms coincided with a three per cent gain in BSE's benchmark index Sensex during the quarter.

Individually, LIC increased its stake in Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, Hindalco Industries, Cipla, State Bank of India (SBI) and Bajaj Auto among others during three months ended June 30, 2013.

On the other hand, the biggest institutional investor in the stock market, trimmed holdings in Tata Steel, Tata Power, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever Ltd

Wipro saw LIC hiking its exposure by 1 percentage point, while the state-run insurer's stake in Tata Motors climbed by 0.99 percentage points, 0.98 percentage points in Hindalco Industries and 0.91 percentage points each in SBI and Cipla.

During January-March quarter, LIC had sold shares to the tune of Rs 8,800 crore in 17 Sensex companies, while it purchased scrips worth Rs 6,200 crore in nine blue-chip firms.