Indian shares were flat—down 0.4 percent—for the third consecutive month in February 2019, as the street exercised caution amid a flurry of unsupportive domestic and global cues. The trend also reflected in the capital inflow in the mutual fund industry, where net inflows declined 8.7 percent to Rs 4,600 crore in February from Rs 5,1oo crore in January 2019.

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Total assets under management (AUM) of the mutual funds declined 0.9 percent on a month-on-month (m-o-m) to Rs 23.2 lakh crore in February 19, primarily led by a decrease in AUM of liquid funds (by Rs 21,200 crore), balanced fund (by Rs 2,800 crore), income funds (by Rs 1,700 crore) and equity funds (by Rs 1,000 crore), according to a Motilal Oswal report.

Motilal Oswal said, in the month of February 2019, MFs have shown interest in oil and gas, private banks, consumer, cement, capital goods, and utilities, with these sectors witnessing a m-o-m increase in holdings. On the other hand, PSU Banks, healthcare, NBFCs, metals, and Chemicals saw a decline.

Private Banks at 18.6 percent was the top sector holding in, followed by technology (9.5 percent), NBFCs (8.4 percent) and consumer (8.1 percent).

Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries, L&T, and NTPC saw the maximum value change, while, SBI, Vedanta, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Tata Chemicals declined the most, according to the report.

Here's a list of best and worst performing stocks in MFs (according to value) in February:

Source: Motilal Oswal

Axis Bank was one of the preferred stocks among MFs in the month, with net buying by 19 funds. Value of the stock increased by Rs 2,100 crore, despite the stock correcting by 1.9 percent in the month.

Kotak Mahindra Bank was another preferred stock in the month, with net buying by 15 funds. Value increased by Rs 2,040 crore, despite the stock correcting by 3.3 percent in the month.

SBI, on the other hand, saw net selling by five funds and net buying by 13 funds in Feb. Notably, its value decreased by Rs 1,480 crore, as the stock was down 8 percent in the month.

The report also added that MFs were net buyers in 54 percent of the Nifty50 stocks. Highest net buying (in terms of shares) in February was witnessed in Kotak Bank (+16.1 percent), Hero Moto (+15.9 percent), JSW Steel (+12.7 percent), Axis Bank (+10.1 percent) and HUL (+7.9 percent).

Here's a list of most bought and sold stocks by MFs in Nifty50 in February:

Most bought stocks in Nifty50

Source: Motilal Oswal

Most sold stocks in Nifty50

Source: Motilal Oswal