Equity mutual fund inflows slowed in April as investors turned cautious. AMFI data shows net equity inflows dropped 5% month on month to ₹38,440 crore, compared with ₹40,450 crore in March. Systematic investment plan contributions stayed resilient at ₹31,115 crore, only slightly below March’s record ₹32,087 crore.
Equity fund assets under management grew by ₹3.76 lakh crore, taking the total to ₹35.74 lakh crore. Flexi cap funds attracted strong inflows of ₹10,147 crore, higher than last month. Small cap funds rose 10% to ₹6,886 crore, while mid cap funds gained 8% to ₹6,551 crore. Focused funds fell sharply by 51% to ₹1,195 crore. Value and contra funds dropped 31% to ₹1,478 crore, and sectoral or thematic funds declined 28% to ₹1,949 crore.
Market trends favoured smaller companies. The Nifty Smallcap 100 surged 18.4% and the Nifty Midcap 100 gained 13.6%, both outpacing the Nifty 50 and Sensex. Foreign investors pulled out ₹60,847 crore, while domestic institutions added ₹51,064 crore.
Debt funds staged a strong comeback with net inflows of ₹2.47 lakh crore, reversing March’s heavy outflows. Gold exchange traded funds saw inflows of ₹3,040 crore, while multi asset funds attracted ₹5,113 crore, showing rising preference for diversified allocation.