Growth is back! Government data shows GDP growth for the first quarter (Apr - Jun) of FY2018-19 at 8.2%, the highest in 2 years. The actual growth handily beat a Reuters survey of economists that had expected GDP growth at 7.6%. Manufacturing sector led the way with a growth of 13.5%. With China posting a 6.7% growth in the same quarter, this firmly establishes India as the fastest growing major economy. Strong growth, historically, has led to better corporate earnings and consequently a stronger stock market.

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The India Post Payments Bank is set for a launch giving a big boost to banking access in rural India. The Indian post department has around 1,30,000 service points in rural India while there are about 50,000 bank branches in rural India.

Just as it has done globally, Index funds are gaining popularity in India as well with Mirae Asset seeking to launch a Nifty 50 Index fund. Index funds track the constituent of an Index (Nifty 50, Next Nifty 50, BSE Sensex etc.) and have low expense ratios.

What worked best:

Equity markets continued the strong bull run as BSE Sensex and NIFTY rose by 1.03% and 1.07% respectively over the week. Small Cap Index surged by 1.95% whereas Mid Cap Index outperformed to close up 1.99% for the week.

Movers and shakers at fund house:

Principal Financial Group completed full ownership of their joint venture Principal Pnb Asset Management Company Private Limited. Punjab National Bank had previously owned a 21.38% stake in Principal PNB AMC.

Canara Robeco Mutual Fund announced resignation of Mr. Shital Kumar Jain as the director on Board of Directors of Canara Robeco Asset Management Company Limited.

UTI Mutual Fund announced resignation of Mr. P N Venkatachalam as the director on Board of Directors of UTI Asset Management Company Ltd. (UTI AMC) effective from Aug 16.

Quote of the week:

India’s sustained growth reflects its strong resilience to adverse global conditions, because of strong economic fundamentals. The encouraging growth rates in agriculture, manufacturing and construction show that the growth momentum continues to be broad based. - Bibek Debroy, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to Prime MinisterManvendra Singh Rathore is an Analyst at Kuvera.in: India’s first completely free Direct Mutual Fund investing platform.

First Published:Sept 1, 2018 8:24 AM IST