World happenings:

August ‘24 saw settling in of sorts as far as the US elections go – Trump spouting statements he’s best known for and Ms. Harris getting far greater support than previously imagined. This of course translated to the S&P 500 rising by 2.4% and the Nasdaq Composite by 0.7%. Closer home, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Haseena, took refuge in India on her way to France; avoiding a sticky situation back home. Paris Olympics saw India win a few medals, however the major upset was Vinesh Phogat’s weight check not coming through. Meanwhile, our PM, Shri Narendra Modi strengthened diplomatic ties by visits to Russia and Ukraine, ready to intervene if asked. The extremely horrifying incident in Kolkata’s R.G.Kar Hospital had no influence on the markets but non the less it shook the nation’s belief in humanity.

Sensex climbed from 81,867 points to reach a new high of 82,365 points. Gold prices also saw an upward trend - from Rs.72,300 to Rs.73,181 for 10gms of 24cts purity. A rare occasion when both equity markets and gold were performing so well.

Open-ended equity mutual fund inflows rose 3.03% to Rs.38,239.16 crore during August due to a heavy demand for small-cap and mid-cap funds, according to the data released by the Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI). Net assets under management (AUM) of the mutual fund industry reached the Rs.65 lakh crore level for the first time, with the net AUM at the end of August standing at a whopping total of Rs.66.70 lakh crore.

Inflows in the SIP section hit a fresh record high of Rs.23,547 crore during August. Investments into small-cap funds jumped 52% to Rs.3,209.33 crore. Further, net investments into mid-cap funds zoomed 86% to Rs.3,054.68 crore. Large-cap category saw net inflows of Rs.2,636.86 crore during August, a jump of 293 % over the previous month. And unlike July, Multicap funds had a reversal of fortune, investments falling by 65%.

Sectoral or thematic funds remained stable at around Rs.18,000 crores in August because five New Fund Offers (NFOs) collected almost Rs.10,202 crore. Hybrid funds category, which invests in more than one asset class was down to Rs.10,005 crore this month.

Debt mutual funds saw net inflows of Rs.45,169.36 crore during the month as against Rs.1,19,588 crore in July. Liquid funds category saw net investments of Rs.13,595 crore, a drop of 81% from the previous month. Money market funds were down to Rs.10,093 crore from Rs.28,738 crore. Only Overnight debt funds did well showing an increase from Rs.4,452 crore in July to Rs.15,106 crore in August.

With the equity markets being so bullish, investments into small, medium and large-cap funds have shown a considerable surge in their figures; whereas the Debt funds haven’t done well this month. Investments in gold products, like ETFs and digital gold, have also seen more buyers due to the gold prices being again on the upswing. All things considered, mutual funds and gold as investment categories are having a great run for the investors.