MUMBAI: High prices of gold in India, which went above the Rs 30,000 per 10 grams level last month to an all-time peak, prompted some smart investors to book profit in gold exchange traded funds (ETFs). During June, total outflow from gold ETFs was about Rs 230 crore, the highest ever in the category, with assets under management(AUM) in gold ETFs down by 2.2% on a monthly basis to Rs 10,100 crore as of June end, data released by Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), the industry trade body showed. "The outflows from this category could be primarily because of profit booking after the price of the underlying metal rose sharply in the past one year due to global risk aversion and domestic buying," a report by Crisil noted.
"Gold prices represented by the Crisil gold index have risen 34% in the one-year period ended June 29, 2012," it said. During June, the total AUM of the fund industry too fell by 1.5%, or Rs 10,500 crore to Rs 6.89 lakh crore, mainly because of outflows in money market funds which witnessed cyclical quarter-end outflows due to withdrawals by corporates, the Crisil report pointed out.
Edited By Cen Fox Post Team
