Amid profit booking and slowdown in buying from foreign institutional investors (FII), the benchmark Sensex fell sharply from its day high but managed to end the session with 21.31 points gain at 21,101.03.
The broader index Nifty also rose marginally by 10.25 points to 6,284.50. Buying was seen in midcap and small cap indices as investors chose to book profits from front line shares, said analysts. Carrying the momentum forward, rupee also appreciated by 9 paise and closed at a week high of Rs 61.95 per dollar.
Most of the Asian stock indices closed higher after US economic growth beat expectations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it would raise its outlook for US. The Small Cap and Mid Cap indices outperformed the Sensex with gains of 1.2 per cent and 1.26 per cent, respectively, indicating the return of retail investors, analysts added.
However, HDFC Mutual Fund did not disclose the deal size, Barve added, “We have signed a definitive agreement to acquire all the eight schemes of Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund in India.” He also stressed that the deal would help in increasing customer base of HDFC Mutual Fund which currently has Assets Under Management (AUM) of well above Rs 1 lakh crore.
The US based financial services giant, Morgan Stanley, got Sebi’s registration to run mutual fund business in India 20-years ago in 1993, while first scheme was launched in 1994. At the end of November 30, total AUM of mutual funds rose to Rs 8.9 lakh crore from Rs 7.01 lakh crore as on March 31, 2013.
Going through a tough phase, the deal expected to kick start the consolidation of business in the mutual fund sector. The sector for many months has been tackling issues on distribution side, volatile stock markets and loss of investor interest. For some time now, Sebi Chairman, UK Sinha has been urging for consolidation in the asset management industry.
As per the data provided by Sebi, mutual funds have been net sellers in the stock markets in December. By December 19, mutual funds have withdrawn Rs 1,013.4 crore from equity markets and invested Rs 38,949.39 crore in debt markets. In the month of November as well, mutual funds stayed out of the choppy equity markets and invested more into the debt markets. As per Sebi, for the month of November, mutual funds sold shares worth Rs 482.20 crores while invested Rs 41,623.50 crore in debt markets.