Stability in stock markets and falling bond yields have had a favourable impact on balanced funds.

Equity markets have firmed up significantly over the past few weeks. This is largely due to commendable (quarterly) results from software and pharma majors. Fears of a US slowdown affecting Indian IT (infotech) have been underplayed and domestic software majors are confident of tiding over US economic woes. Pharma and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) stocks long-ignored in favour of IT, are also witnessing significant buying interest. This is an indication that the rally (???) this time around is well-rounded so to speak.

Open-ended, Balanced Schemes	NAV(Rs)	Last week	Last month	Last year	Inception
BSE - 30	-	0.6%	8.0%	-31.6%	-
S&P CNX Nifty	-	1.6%	8.4%	-21.7%	-
S&P CNX 500	-	2.6%	8.3%	-48.4%	-
K Balance	10.3	0.3%	6.6%	-16.9%	4.2%
K P Balanced (Gr)	9.1	1.1%	6.3%	-18.6%	-14.2%
Tata Young Citizens	11.0	1.4%	5.9%	-14.6%	17.3%
Cantriple	20.2	-0.8%	5.9%	-25.4%	5.6%
Zurich(I) Prudence (Gr)	20.9	2.8%	5.4%	-8.2%	16.7%
Sundaram Balanced Fund (Gr)	10.2	2.1%	5.2%	0.0%	0.9%
DSP ML Balanced (Gr)	11.1	-0.4%	5.1%	-24.6%	6.5%
Pru ICICI Balanced (Gr)	9.7	0.5%	5.0%	-34.3%	-0.1%
Sun F&C Balanced (Gr)	8.2	0.5%	5.0%	-27.8%	-22.0%
Tata Balanced	14.8	1.0%	4.9%	-22.5%	13.9%

Debt markets seem to be taking a cue from equity markets. Bond and gilt yields are on the decline. In other words, prices of bonds and government securities are on the rise, perking up debt portfolios considerably. Encouraging performance of both equity and debt markets must be seen against the backdrop of a devastating earthquake that hit the country last month.

Going forward, a lot will depend on the Union Budget 2001-02. In other words, if markets react adversely to the budget, the rally could be just another flash-in-the-pan, like other rallies before. However, for the long-term investor, such short-term blips must be of little consequence.

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