New Delhi: Equity mutual funds attracted Rs 28,054 crore in December, marking a decline of over 6 per cent from the preceding month, primarily due to profit booking by investors.

The easing of equity inflows coincided with a marginal contraction in the mutual fund industry's overall asset base with the Assets Under Management (AUM) slipping to Rs 80.23 lakh crore in December from Rs 80.80 lakh crore in November, reflecting the impact of heavy withdrawals from debt schemes, according to data released by industry body Amfi on Friday. "The moderation in industry's AUM was primarily driven by debt fund outflows for liquidity management and limited market-related value changes," Venkat N Chalasani, CEO of Amfi, said.

Overall, the mutual fund industry reported net outflows of Rs 66,591 crore during the month, largely on account of steep redemptions from debt schemes, even as equity and gold funds continued to draw investor interest. While equity inflows softened sequentially from Rs 29,911 crore in November, though it remained higher than Rs 24,690 crore in October, the data showed.