MUMBAI: Domestic investors have lapped up beaten down stocks in the recent market selloff. The jump in delivery volumes in blue chips and mid-cap stocks last week on both the exchange indicates local institutions and rich investors, who felt left out in the Dalal Street frenzy till June, were buying. In theory, when an investor takes delivery of a stock, it is usually seen as a sign that he is willing to hold it and is confident about the stock’s prospects. Delivery-based trades in the cash market generally peak when the market is near its highs. Last week, the average daily delivery volumes on the BSE and NSE combined was 46 per cent of the total volumes as against 42 per cent from August 1 to August 21. In the BSE 200 index, 165 stocks saw an increase in delivery volumes last week as against their average daily delivery volumes between August 1 and 21. On August 24, when Sensex fell over 1,600 points, overall delivery volumes on both the exchanges was 50.60 per cent — the highest in three months. “Though retail investors were worried about the volatility last week, there has been a good delivery based buying by domestic mutual funds and high networth investors at lower levels,” said Deven Choksey, managing director, K R Chokesy Shares & Securities. “Increase in delivery-based buying indicates investors’ confidence in India’s long-term growth story.” For instance, average delivery volumes for ABB between August 1 and August 21 was 51 per cent. Last week, this ratio rose to 83 per cent with rise in volumes. Similarly, delivery-based volumes for Federal Bank increased to 80 per cent from 49 per cent. For Info Edge, the ratio rose to 87 per cent from 57 per cent. In the case of Oil India, it rose to 74 per cent from 28 per cent. Delivery based volumes in stocks such as Bosch, GE Shipping, Tata Communications, Cummins India, Tata Global, Nestle, Tata Power, Godrej Industries and L&T Finance jumped between 20 per cent and 40 per cent last week compared with the previous 20 trading days. “Many stocks, including blue chips, corrected up to 15 per cent early last week, which had given an opportunity for those who were sitting on cash to buy,” said Sudip Bandyopadhyay, CEO& MD, Destimoney Securities. “However, this trend was seen only in top quality stocks and not in general.” Between August 24 and August 28, domestic institutional investors purchased stocks worth Rs 7,715 crore while foreign investors sold shares worth Rs 12,605 crore.