MUMBAI, July 7 (Reuters) - India's No. 4 mutual fund firm, UTI Asset Management, has deferred plans to launch an IPO after falling stocks hit investor sentiment, six sources, including bankers, with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday.

"It's deferred," one source in UTI told Reuters, referring to the initial public offer that was expected to be launched by July 22.

"Pre-IPO will also not happen now," he said.

UTI Chairman U.K. Sinha could not be immediately reached for comment. (Reporting by Nishant Kumar and Narayanan Somasundaram; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan) (([email protected]; +91-22-6636 9247; Reuters Messaging: [email protected])) Keywords: INDIA UTI/