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Sensex Opens Higher; Power Stocks Gain
Mon, 20 Jan 09:30 am

Asian stock markets are higher today as Chinese and Hong Kong shares show gains. The Shanghai Composite is up 0.1% while the Hang Seng is up 0.2%. The Nikkei 225 is trading up by 0.3%. Wall Street climbed to record highs on January 17, with major indices turning in their strongest weekly gains since August, after strong US housing data and signs of resilience in the Chinese economy raised hopes of a rebound in global growth.

Back home, India share markets opened in green. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 125 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 23 points. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.4% and BSE Small Cap index opened up by 0.5%.

Sectoral indices have opened the day on a mixed note with power stocks and realty stocks witnessing buying interest. Oil & gas stocks and telecom stocks are trading in the red.

The rupee is currently trading at 71.06 against the US$.

In the news from the financial markets. Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) remained net buyers in the Indian capital markets in January so far despite heightened geopolitical tensions between the US-Iran and domestic economic challenges.

According to the reports, a net amount of Rs 102 billion was invested into equities while a net Rs 89.1 billion was pulled out from the debt segment. This resulted into a net investment of Rs 12.9 billion between January 1 and 17.

Post a strong comeback in 2019 by the FPIs, the year 2020 began on a muted note.

This was largely due to increased volatility witnessed in equity markets worldwide due to heightened geopolitical tensions between the US-Iran.

This spooked the investor sentiment and FPIs chose to withdraw money from emerging markets like India.

Signs of easing tensions between the US and Iran and positive developments on US-China trade deal front led to renewed buying interest by the FPIs.

Going ahead, earnings and upcoming budget would play a critical role in shaping their investment trend.

Speaking of upcoming budget, in this video, Tanushree Banerjee tells how you should react to the biggest economic event of the year - the Union Budget which is going to be announced in a couple of weeks.

Watch Now...

Moving on to the news from the mutual funds space. As per an article in a leading financial daily, Investors pumped in nearly Rs 750 billion in equity-oriented mutual fund schemes in 2019, a sharp plunge of 41% from the preceding year, mainly hit by extreme market volatility amid slowing economic growth.

In 2017, such schemes had witnessed an impressive inflow of around Rs 1.3 trillion as compared to Rs 510 billion in 2016.

The pace of inflows in equity funds tapered off towards the end of the year with the inflow in such schemes hitting a 41-month low of Rs 13.1 billion in November as investors did not see the index returns in their own funds.

Besides, weakness in the mid and small-cap space dented the investor confidence.

Speaking of mutual funds, have a look at the chart below. A quick comparison of assets under management (AUM) of mutual funds in India versus abroad will give you an idea of the huge megatrend.

Mutual Funds: Megatrend of the decade?

India's mutual fund AUM as a percentage of GDP is 11%. This is far lower than the world average of 55%.

Here's what co-head of research, Tanushree Banerjee wrote about it in the latest edition of The 5 Minute WrapUp...

  • I strongly believe, the next decade could be the decade of financialisation in India.

    Traditionally, Indian households have preferred to invest in physical assets like real estate but things are changing.

    Indians now are more open to investing in financial assets like mutual funds. Better awareness, financial education, increasing urbanisation are all driving this change.

    Mutual fund AUM grew 24% annually in the last 5 years. I expect India's GDP to grow at 6-7% over the next decade.

Just combine these growth rates and you can see the massive growth opportunity.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

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