Equity schemes buoyancy continues, debt schemes steady: CRISIL~RRR

The stock market exuberance continued in December 2005 with the S&P CNX Nifty scaling an all time high of 2842 points during the month. The markets were, however, range bound in the second half of the month owing to the year-end holiday mood. FII investment aggregated over $1.5 billion during the month and over $10 billion during the calendar year to become the key force behind the market climb.

The benchmark S&P CNX Nifty delivered returns of 6.95 per cent during December 2005 while the CNX Midcap Index delivered 5.17 per cent. The money market remained tight and call money rates crossed 7 per cent as a result of SBI's "India Millennium Deposits" (IMDs) maturing during the month. The IMDs sucked out $7.3 billion (Rs32,850 crore) in foreign exchange from the system. The month also saw the firming up of US interest with the Federal Reserve increasing the Fed Funds Rate by 25 basis points to 4.25 per cent deteriorating the already weak sentiments.

The equity funds category benchmark, the CRISIL Fund~eX, generated a return of 43.47 per cent for the year-ended December 2005.

  • SBI Magnum Global Fund topped the ranking at CRISIL~RRR 1
  • Sundaram Select Midcap - Growth moved a notch up to second spot at CRISIL~RRR 2
  • Birla Midcap Fund - Growth moved up four notches to be at CRISIL~RRR

In the software sector category:

  • Birla India Opportunities Fund Plan B (Growth) moved up a notch to CRISIL~RRR 1
  • SBI Magnum Sector Umbrella (Infotech Fund) also moved up a notch at CRISIL~RRR 2
  • DSP Merrill Lynch Technology Fund - Growth was at CRISIL~RRR 3.

The income funds benchmark, the CRISIL Fund~dX, generated returns of 4.89 per cent for the year-ended December 2005.

  • LICMF Bond Fund (Growth) continued to be at CRISIL~RRR 1
  • UTI Bond Fund continued at second spot at CRISIL~RRR 2
  • Templeton India Income Fund (Growth) moved up a notch to bag the CRISIL~RRR 3

In the debt- short term category:

  • Reliance Short Term Fund (Growth) at CRISIL~RRR 1,
  • Kotak Bond Short Term Plan (Growth) CRISIL~RRR 2
  • Principal Income Fund - Short Term Plan - Growth) CRISIL~RRR 3