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LONDON (Alliance News) - JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust PLC on Friday said it outperformed its benchmark in the financial half year to end-March, seeing a total return of 2.2% on its net assets.
This compared to a 1.8% total return from its benchmark, the MSCI India Index.
Indian equities rose modestly in the half, the trust said, despite an "extremely volatile period for financial markets". A key catalyst was foreign investors selling emerging market equities ahead of the policy reset from the US Federal Reserve in December.
"After rebounding briefly following the rate increase by the Fed, markets sold off again in the first couple of months of the year before bouncing back sharply in March," the trust said.
Against this backdrop the macro-economic picture remained subdued in India, with headline gross domestic product growth in India reasonably strong, but other indicators mixed.
"Market conditions have been volatile during our current financial year so far and overall progress has been limited. Economic growth has been subdued by Indian standards. Corporate profits are tending to fall short of expectations. Nevertheless there are signs of firming demand for such basic products as electricity, cement and diesel fuel, which give hope that the long awaited cyclical upturn in activity may have begun," said Chairman Richard Burns.
"We remain optimistic about the long term prospects for the Indian stock market and particularly for the companies whose shares we hold in the portfolio," Burns added.
Shares in JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust were up 0.8% at 516.95 pence Friday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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