The efforts were more concentrated with bulk of the buying going into index heavyweights like Satyam, Infosys, Zee etc. This did not have any rub off effect on the second tier tech stocks, but definitely helped in improving overall sentiment. But the niggling question still remains: Is this another of the false bottoms with the real one yet to come?

Buyers galore
Funds are still queuing up at the Satyam Computer counter, never mind the fact that the stock prices refuse to budge despite all the aggressive purchases made last week. But that certainly is not discouraging players from having a fresh go at the stock. On Monday, close to 2 million shares are reported to have been picked up at the counter. After the Sebi ban on naked short sales two weeks back, it is the first time that trading volumes at the counter have crossed the 1 crore mark on a single exchange. And in a market bereft of volumes apart from a suddenly vigilant regulator, the volumes clearly testify to institutional activity.

The Jane Fund was tipped as one of the possible as well as prominent buyer at the counter. Over the last ten trading sessions, active players at the counter include the Cap-It-All and Golden Socks Funds.

Renewed zeal
At the Zee Telefilms counter too, fund managers seem to be getting ready for a second innings. The first round of big purchases this year was triggered off when the scrip slipped below the Rs 100 mark. Even those fund managers who had sworn to keep off the scrip, could not resist the temptation of buying a stock so cheap. The scrip may have failed to sustain above the Rs 150 mark, but most fund managers seem to be hopeful that Rs 100-110 is a good support level for the stock. Close to a million shares were reported to have been picked up on Monday though the identity of the players is yet to be confirmed.

Trivia
One of Uncle Sam's favourites, Tata Power held steady in a falling market today. Last week, Sam was busy dumping stocks left, right and centre including big names like HLL and Infosys. So it seems less likely that Sam would have been responsible for the purchases, although the buoyant undertone at the counter clearly testified to institutional activity.

Co-Tech securities is reported to have dumped close top 50,000 shares of HDFC which in turn was picked up by some player who seems to be waiting for the hiking of FII ceiling in the company to 49 per cent. The underrated HLL and ITC continued to attract institutional buying interest even as the market is likely to remain directionless in the immediate short term. After watching millions of dollars go up in smoke at ICE counters, the trick is now to identify stocks with the least `burn rate of capital'.