Market Review – November 2024
World happenings:
The big news in November was the unexpectedly expected win of Donald Trump! This began the upswing in dollar-rupee rates (Rs.84.15 to $1.00)and subsequent fall in gold prices as all American investments look attractive now. It is also hoped that the incoming 47th President will be able to settle the Israel situation that is now bordering to genocide. President Putin’s signing of a defence pact with North Korea is concerning for all as neither country supposedly believe in peaceful coexistence.
Major layoffs are expected in some European companies like Bosch and ThyssenKrupp, just as Boeing USA announced dismissal of 17,000 workers. Indian industrialist Gautam Adani, was indicted in the US for bribery and fraud, this impacted the Adani stocks but not the market as a whole, as anticipated by some. In entertainment news, pop star Beyoncé was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards, the maximum for any artist. The Booker Prize was awarded to Samantha Harvey for her “out of the world” work Orbital.
Market Round-up:
Sensex went from 79,724 points on the 1st of Nov to 79,802 points at the end of the month. There were some dips during the month, seeing a low of 77,155points on the 21st. Gold prices also saw fluctuations - from Rs.81,367 on the 1st to Rs.78,147 on the 30th of Nov, for 10gms of 24cts purity. The lowest price seen was Rs.76,690 for 24ct purity, as a direct effect of the US election results.
Inflows in the SIP section stayed at around October levels this month - at Rs.25,320 crore, with the number of SIP accounts reaching 10.23 crore. Venkat Chalasani, Chief Executive, AMFI said, “The unwavering monthly SIP inflows remained above Rs.25,000 crore in November, showcasing the investors' long-term vision and commitment to their financial goals, despite the short-term market fluctuations.”
Investments into small-cap funds jumped up by 9% to Rs.4,111.89 crore. Further, net investments into mid-cap funds went up by a mere 4.3% to Rs.4,883.40 crore. Large-cap category saw net inflows of Rs.2,547.92 crore during November, a dismal fall of 26% over the previous month. According to industry experts this extreme volatility was due to geopolitical events and the US election results as stated earlier.
Sectoral or thematic funds plunged by 37.6% to Rs.7,657.75 crore in November as there were few new funds on offer. Hybrid funds category, which invests in more than one asset class was down by 76% to Rs.4,123.60 crore this month.
Debt mutual funds also presented a gloomy scenario, falling a whopping 92% to Rs.12,915.90 crore. Liquid funds category saw some interest but Money market funds, Overnight debt funds, and Ultra Short Duration funds failed to elicit much enthusiasm in the market.
Conclusion:
With the capricious equity markets displaying plenty of drops, it was expected that the mutual fund market would also be affected. The market sentiment in a dip is always to sell rather than to hold on to one’s investments; but it is advisable not to do so. In fact, we would even say that a dip is actually the right time to buy into funds or stocks that have been performing well historically. Similarly, gold prices falling and then recovering ground, just proves that gold remains a good way to diversify the portfolio.If you like this post, don't forget to subscribe to FIKAA Newsletter, follow our FIKAA page and download our app.