Domestic mutual funds (MFs) seem to have taken a bearish stance in the stock market during the last quarter when they offloaded shares worth Rs 9,000 crore (about $1.65 billion) despite a significant uptrend in the overall market and impressive buying by foreign investors.

Individually, sectors like energy, software and pharma were among the worst hit in terms of net sale by MFs, while net purchases were made in stocks from metal and mining and financial segments.

According to global research report by BofA-Merrill Lynch, domestic MFs sold shares worth Rs 9,000 crore (about $1.65 billion) during the October-December quarter 2012, while they acquired shares to the tune of Rs 3,455 crore (about $633 million) during the same period.

The top stocks sold by domestic MFs were — Wipro, HDFC Bank, energy firms — Reliance Industries (RIL), ONGC and NTPC; while most bought shares were state-run NMDC, State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank, diversified conglomerate Aditya Birla Nuvo and auto component maker Motherson Sumi Systems.

Individually, domestic MFs lowered their exposure to companies like Wipro with sale of shares with an estimated $162 million, followed by HDFC Bank ($149 million), RIL ($143 million), ONGC ($114 million) and NTPC ($97 million), the report said.

Additionally, domestic MFs sold stake in IT major HCL, pharma companies – Divis Laboratories, Sun Pharma, Cipla and Ipca; utility firms – Power Grid and GAIL; consumer goods maker – ITC and Hindustan Unilever, and Coal India.

On the other hand, domestic MFs major investment during the quarter included NMDC ($336 million), SBI ($92 million), ICICI Bank ($65 million) and $53 million each in Aditya Birla Nuvo and Motherson Sumi.