Inflows into Indian equity funds last month were the smallest in 13 months as some investors sold before a tax on stock holdings took effect from April 1 and volatility returned to markets worldwide.
Equity funds took in a net 66.6 billion rupees (US$1.03 billion), the least since last February, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed.
That is less than the average of 142.5 billion rupees a month in the past year.
Shares tumbled globally toward the end of last month as trade skirmishes between the US and China cooled demand for riskier assets. India’s S&P BSE Sensex benchmark entered its first correction in more than 15 months as the sell-off hit investor sentiment already weakened by the government’s decision to bring back a tax on equity gains after 14 years to boost revenue.
“Global volatility spooked some investors into redeeming funds as our market fell 10 percent in a little over a month from its January high,” FundsIndia head of research Vidya Bala said.
Exits by institutional investors looking to avoid the tax by selling before March 31 contributed to the reduced inflows, she said.
Even so, flows should recover in the coming months as AMFI data suggest that mom-and-pop investors are buying the dip.
Equity funds posted total sales of 436.4 billion rupees last month, versus 346.41 billion rupees in February.
“If we look at the numbers closely, we see that the gross inflows continue to rise, which is a key positive in volatile times,” said Siddharth Bothra, senior vice president and fund manager at Mumbai-based Motilal Oswal Asset Management Co. “The secular story of more Indians putting their savings into financial assets stays.”
There was concern that a move to end the tax break on equities would affect flows from individual investors, who have flocked to funds since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014.
Continued local flow support of US$2 billion to US$2.5 billion a month is needed to support the equity paper supply expected in the year that began April 1, CLSA India Pvt said in a note.
Local stock funds received 1.71 trillion rupees of net inflows in the fiscal year ended last month, more than double those of the same period a year earlier, the AMFI data showed.
Inflows into balanced funds, which buy stocks and bonds, jumped 34 percent over February to 67.5 billion rupees, the data showed.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS