NAVs soar led by positive market rally

Equity Mutual funds closed with positive returns as the consistent inflow of foreign money uplifted market sentiment on the first day of the week. All Equity and Balanced categories were seen in green recording very few decline. Among Equity funds, Thematic - Infrastructure category delivered best performance with no decline.

In the sector space, sensitives like banking, realty, capital goods joined the positive market rally while sectors like Pharma & Healthcare, FMCG, Technology were seen under pressure. Amid RBI's credit policy review, funds belonging to Banking & Finance segment gained with no decline registered.

The session ended with the Sensex gaining 78.04 points to end at 18,542.31 while Nifty 32.35 points to close at 5,610.

On the debt front, the RBI’s rate cut had no drastic impact on the performance of the debt funds. The debt market rallied quite sharply just before the announcement on high expectations. As the market saw no major correction, all funds belonging to Long and Short term categories soared recording no decline.

Check out all mutual fund gainers & losers

Here is the day's performance and the gainers and losers across categories.

Equity funds: Top gainers

*  Escorts Infrastructure Fund (G) up 4.03%
*  Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Exchange Traded Scheme up 3.27%
*  HDFC Infrastructure Fund (G) up 3.13%

Equity funds: Top losers

*  Religare AGILE Fund (G) down 1.54%
*  Birla Sun Life India Opportunities Fund - Plan B (G) down 1.17%
*  Tata Ethical Fund (G) down 0.59%

Tax saving funds: Top gainers

*  Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund (G) up 1.35%
*  Escorts Tax Plan (G) up 1.32%
*  JM Tax Gain Fund (G) up 1.30%

Tax saving funds: Top losers

*  Religare AGILE Tax Fund (G) down 1.52%
*  Tata Tax Advantage Fund - 1 (G) down 0.37%
*  ING Tax Saving Fund (G) down 0.14%

Sector funds: Top gainers

*  Sundaram Media & Entertainment Opportunities - Retail (G) up 4.95%
*  UTI Banking Sector Fund (G) up 3.84%
*  Sahara Banking and Financial Services Fund (G) up 3.72%

Sector funds: Top losers

*  Franklin Infotech Fund (G) down 3.05%
*  ICICI Prudential FMCG Fund (G) down 2.92%
*  Birla Sun Life New Millennium (G) down 2.41%

Balanced funds: Top gainers

*  Baroda Pioneer Balance Fund (G) up 1.45%
*  Escorts Balanced Fund (G) up 1.39%
*  HDFC Prudence Fund (G) up 1.12%

Balanced funds: Top losers

*  Edelweiss Absolute Return Fund (G) down 0.08%
*  Canara Robeco Balance (G) down 0.06%

Debt funds: Top gainers

*  ICICI Prudential Income Opportunities Fund - Institutional Plan (G) up 0.34%
*  L&T Gilt - Investment Plan (G) up 0.16%

Debt funds: Top losers

*  Tata Gilt Mid Term Fund (G) down 0.02%