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Mumbai , March 8

EQUITY funds have had an upsurge in their performance in February while debt funds maintained their stability, according to Crisil FundServices' monthly risk adjusted return rankings.

The equity markets made a recovery post the corrections in January..

Most of the benchmark indices portrayed healthy gains as investors looked to make value picks at lower levels, a Crisil press release said. The markets continued with their momentum on the last day of the month, post the Budget pronouncements.

"This trend clearly indicates that market participants were anticipating a favourable Budget and that most Budget pronouncements are being looked at favourably from a long term perspective," the release quoted Mr Krishnan Sitaraman, Head, Financial Sector, Crisil.

The general equity category registered a complete turnaround over its weak performance last month and ended February well into positive territory, the release said. The Crisil Fund-ex generated a monthly return of 4.96 per cent. Franklin India Prima Fund was on top of the heap in this category for February.

The debt markets were largely stable with the 10-year benchmark yield moving slightly from 6.70 per cent at the beginning of the month to 6.55 per cent by month end. The income category of mutual funds was not volatile and returns moved up marginally on account of a fall in bond yield during the month.

The Crisil Fund-dx generated annualised monthly returns of 8.47 per cent in February 2005, the release said. The top performer in this category was HSBC Income Fund.

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