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Sanjay Sarana & Parul Monga
The few bright sparks!: Mc Dowells, Godfrey Philips, Punjab Anand Lamps and Archies Greetings were among the few bright spots on a nervous trading day dominated by political uncertainty. These scrips, on the back of fund buying, held steady in a very weak market. A few US-based funds were active buyers in the Godfrey Philips counter. The scrip also witnessed a lot of retail buying after the reports of a likely alliance between the Indian promoter and Philip Morris appeared in the media. The deal, if it goes through, would give the US firm majority control in the Indian venture. The scrip, after opening at the upper-end of the circuit at Rs 806.75, dropped marginally to Rs 775 to close the day at Rs 797.5, up Rs 50.5 or 6.7 per cent over the previous close of Rs 747. Market sources believe the deal is likely to be signed soon at a substantial premium to the current market price. Apart from foreign funds, a leading Delhi-based broker, too, is believed to have been an active player in the counter.
McDowells finally come out of hybernation after the stock witnessed renewed buying by a few FIIs in the past few sessions. On Monday, the nervous market gave an opportunity to fund managers to pick quantities. Buying in the past few sessions had seen the scrip rise smartly from Rs 50 to the current level of Rs 62.95. The scrip froze at the upper-end of the filter at Rs 62.95 on Monday with close to 50,000 shares changing hands. Punjab Anand, the 74.5 per cent subsidiary of Philips, attracted huge investment buying on Monday. Market sources feel the scrip is being cornered by a few institutional funds who see Punjab Anand as a value investment.
Massacre on Dalal Street! Panic selling triggered by fears of a political crisis after the AIADMK said it would forge a new alliance, saw almost all stocks hitting the lower-end of the circuit, marked by a virtual stampede on the bourses. "An important element of the day was the absence of FIIs as today was the first Monday after Easter and all FII offices wereclosed. Tomorrow, when the FIIs are back in action and if they take a bearish view of the market, then the market is in for another round of battering unless some positive development happens on the political front," said a BSE broker. Out of 149 specified shares, 136 shares including all the 30-Sensex scrips showed sharp to moderate falls.
Institutional activity: UTI was a buyer on Monday and was rumoured to have bought BSES and Infosys. UTI bought around 25,000 shares of Infosys and around 25,000 shares of Visual Software. UTI was rumoured to have sold Wartsilla Diesel. Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund was rumoured to have purchased 25,000 shares of Hero Honda.
Power earnings from BSES: Rumours in the market that power distributors would be allowed to have a 16 per cent rate of return compared with the earlier 13 per cent (bank rate plus 5 per cent) saw the market taking a positive look at these stocks. "Stocks of these companies will flare up in consonance with the improved bottomline due tothis gazette," said a BSE broker. He added that a lot of FIIs had entered into this stock five months ago and it was now the turn of others to enter. "If the news is true, than the bottomline of BSES should flare by another Rs 50-60 crore," he said.
A new high for Rolta: Rolta will declare its quarterly results on April 6 and the market expects the stock to show a substantial jump in earnings for the last quarter. "Huge orders of CAD/CAM were executed successfully by the company in this quarter and this should see good profits. The company has a good order book position and profits in the current year should be high," a broker noted.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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