Redemptions Touch Rs 65 Crore

The redemptions faced by the US-64 scheme seem to have subsided considerably yesterday indicating renewed confidence among the investors in the Unit Trust, touching Rs 65-70 crore yesterday, according to official sources.

UTI is reported to have sold government securities in the secondary market yesterday, according to money market players. According to marketmen, it is estimated that UTI has sold between Rs 25-Rs 125 crore of dated government securities, especially the 11.64 per cent 2000 gilts.

"There is no pressure of redemptions and any deals in government securities by UTI is only by way of normal activity, said Basudeb Sen, executive director of UTI. "Redemption requests have subsided compared to Tuesday and it was roughly around Rs 65-70 crore yesterday," said Sen.

Sources in UTI said that the scheme witnessed higher redemption as it was the first day when all the four zonal offices were open.

The total redemption faced by US-64 sums up to Rs 176 crore during the first three days of this week. Surprisingly, the sale of fresh units has also brought in Rs 8 crore during the same period.

The subsidiary general ledger (SGL) account transactions published by the Reserve Bank of India indicates that only Rs 15 crore of this particular security was transacted at a price of Rs 100.31, or an yield of around 11.42 per cent. In the secondary market this paper was traded at Rs 100.20 levels towards close, against Rs 100.36 yesterday.

UTI may also find it difficult to sell large quantums in the market at one go, since the prices would come down rapidly, leaving those who bought earlier with depreciated stock, said a dealer.

The UTI chairman P S Subramanyam has denied that he had any meeting with Mohan Guruswamy, advisor to finance minister yesterday as was being speculated.