Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Sunday, Mar 23, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Sunday, Mar 23, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home Page
-
Stock Markets Markets - Mutual Funds
‘There is hardly any positive clue coming from any quarters, so some selling is expected.’ Tania Kishore Jaleel Mumbai, March 22 As stock markets continue to face a bearish onslaught, domestic mutual funds are turning net sellers. So far, in the current month up to March 18, they have been net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,515 crore, according to the data on mutual fund transactions released by SEBI. The development comes in the wake of their waning interest in taking up fresh investment commitment with the mutual fund industry’s net purchases coming down to Rs 513 crore in February from Rs 7,700 crore in January. Analysts see this as a natural reaction to the market trend as during March alone the pivotal index of the BSE, the Sensex, fell by 10.09 per cent. During January-February it declined by more than 13 per cent. A fund manager with a leading MF, who would not like to be quoted, said that in the current market anyone would be cautious. One is not sure at what level the market will stabilise. There is hardly any positive clue coming from any quarter. So some selling is expected. A view echoed by Mr R. Swaminathan, Vice-President & National Head of Mutual Funds, IDBI Capital, as well. “One cannot expect the fund managers to be bullish for all the 365 days of the year and keep buying all through the year! They have to keep the best interest of their clients in mind and make their decisions wisely. They have to tread very cautiously as the markets are very volatile right now”, he said. But Mr. Bharat M. Shah, Head Institutional Sales, Ventura Securities Ltd, had a different take on the situation. He said that the amount by which the domestic institutions are net sellers is not that big. But he, however, conceded that MFs are worried about the overall negative sentiment in the market. But Ms Anitha Gandhi, Head Institutional Business Arihant Capital Markets Ltd, felt that there could be redemption pressure besides mutual funds wanting to preserve cash for a re-entry once they feel that the market has bottomed out. The FIIs too are on a selling spree, if the SEBI data is anything to go by. The FIIs have been net sellers to the tune of Rs 3,597.80 crore in 2008. “Usually the domestic institutions move in a contrary direction to the FIIs. When the FIIs sell the domestic institutes buy, but now these exceptional figures have come about due to the global financial crisis”, said a fund manger with a mutual fund. As to the future, Mr Swaminathan is clear that unless there is some clarity in the market there will not be much interest that would be generated. Funds did not switch to cash ahead of declines Funds reduce holdings in heavyweights in Dec MF investors take meltdown in their stride More Stories on : Stock Markets | Mutual Funds
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page
|
Stories in this Section |
 |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | The Hindu ePaper | Business Line | Business Line ePaper | Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | The Hindu Images | Home |
Copyright © 2008, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|
