Gold ETFs top weekly returns chart

Gold exchange traded funds, the returns of which have been steadily rising, posted highest average returns of 0.46 per cent across all categories of schemes for the week ended Friday.

Each of the three ETFs from UTI Mutual Fund, Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund and Benchmark Mutual Fund posted 0.46 per cent returns.

For the week ended Friday, UTI Gold and Gold Benchmark ETFs' prices rose 0.68 per cent and 0.24 per cent, respectively, on the National Stock Exchange.

Following credit market problems in the U.S., central banks around the world have been injecting a lot of liquidity. "Gold has been one of the biggest beneficiaries", said an official at a commodity brokerage.

Gold for December delivery Friday closed at $681.60 (Rs 27,632) an ounce, up $8.80 from Thursday, in the commodity trading division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

All equity funds, barring information technology schemes, took a major hit last week.

IT funds, which had been on a downward journey, took a break and posted 0.20 per cent average returns, compared with negative 2.37 per cent average returns for the week ended August 3.

BSE and NSE IT indices rose 1.48 per cent and 1.85 per cent, respectively, for the week. Banking sector-dedicated funds, which had posted the highest average returns for the week to August 3, took the biggest hit last week to end up at the bottom of the chart with 1.73 per cent negative returns.

The meltdown in global markets had its impact on bank stocks, which registered a sharp fall last week. In comparison, the CNX Bankex fell 3.04 per cent. Last week, Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex shed 1.78 per cent, while the National Stock Exchange's Nifty declined 1.55 per cent.

As a result, average returns of equity-linked savings schemes, diversified equity schemes and index funds suffered.

On the debt side, short-term schemes maintained a steady performance. Performance of gilt funds, on the other hand, declined with both short and long-term term gilt schemes slipping into the negative zone.

The yield on the 8.07 per cent, 2017-benchmark gilt rose to 7.9995 per cent versus 7.841 per cent on August 3.