The month ofApril has thrown up many surprises, which have been reflected in theperformance of both equity as well as some categories of debt funds.

Equity funds' exceptional performance was obviously due to the stock marketrally that was led by small and mid-cap stocks. Realty, banks and consumergoods companies emerged as top gainers.

The National Stock Exchange's Nifty gained 15 per cent while the Bombay StockExchange's Sensex gained slightly higher at 17.46 per cent. This was Sensex'sbest monthly performance in the last 10 years. At the bottom of the equityspectrum was the BSE FMCG Index that returned 2.89 per cent.

Among the different categories of equity funds, banking was the top performer.The category on an average yielded 19.47 per cent returns. However, the returnswere much lower than the BSE Bankex, which logged a 26.59 per cent rise.

Diversified equity funds posted positive returns for the second consecutivemonth. They logged a 14.12 per cent gain in April, capturing 80 per cent ofSensex appreciation. Index funds gained 16.36 per cent while tax planning fundswent up by 13.37 per cent.

Top gainers here were closely bunched and it almost took a photo-finish to findthe winner. JM Basic led with a gain of 24.77 per cent, Principal Junior Capfollowed closely with a 24.51 per cent and Canara Robeco Emerging Equitiesfinished with a gain of 24.09 per cent.

While none of the diversified equity funds lost, among the lowest gainers wereIDFC India GDP Growth (5.59 per cent) and Religare AGILE (5.84 per cent). GoldETFs became the only category, whose returns fell during the month by 4.05 percent this was the second consecutive month of setback for this category.

On the debt fund side, there was some positive surprise for gilt funds andmedium-term debt funds in the second half of April. The windfall stemmed fromthe Reserve Bank of India's initiative to reduce key benchmark rates in itsAnnual Policy Review.

The 10-year GOI yield fell to 6.23 per cent on 29th April from 7 per cent on31st March. It also touched a low of 6.09 per cent on 27th April. Amongmedium-term debt funds, ICICI Prudential Income Plan, with 6.08 per centreturns, was the top gainer, while the worst performer, JM Income Fund,actually lost 0.41 per cent.