Dutch firm speeds ahead on Hero Honda

At the end of Tuesday’s trading session, there was an unmistakable feeling of disappointment among players as the local market failed to respond to the recovery on Nasdaq.

With confusion still reigning supreme, especially with regard to the phasing out of deferral products, most players seem content to sit back and watch.

Institutions are active, but both ways, which in turn is restricting the market in a trading zone.
Half the players are busy attending options training sessions which now seem to have become mandatory for survival.

That creepy feeling
With sellers still calling the shots at the Reliance Industries counter, Cap-It-All seems to have decided to make a strategic retreat for the time being. Even as the fund has been a regular buyer over the last one week, stock prices have been steadily losing ground, thanks to relentless selling by US-based pension fund CREEPS.

The fund is believed to have offloaded close to 1.4 million shares during this period. This apart, Cane Bank Off Shore alias the Indo Camera Fund has also been relentlessly dumping the stock as a part of its portfolio restructuring process.

On the other hand, Cap is steadily buying into HDFC and ICICI Bank, having mopped up 78,000 shares and 3,00,000 shares respectively on Tuesday.

While ICICI Bank ruled steady on Tuesday, the traditional Uncle Sam versus Cap-It-All duel continues at the HDFC counter, with Sam playing the role of the seller.

As for CREEPS, it is believed to have actively contributed to the downtrend at the NIIT counter and currently holds a bearish view on ITC.

Honda is the hero
The latest monthly sales number seems to have been the immediate trigger for the buying spree at the Hero Honda counter where close to 1.7 a million shares changed hands on both exchanges combined.

The huge volumes clearly indicate that a sizeable chunk of the deal could have been inter-institutional.
The Dutch brokerage was seen actively bidding for the stock. Coat Hari and Big Boy, two prominent private sector mutual funds, are reported to have provided the stock while the identity of the buyer is yet to be confirmed.

The three musketeers
About 8 lakh shares of Pentamedia Graphics are reported to have been picked up on Tuesday with the Savvy Fund Manager, Open Hammer and Tumbleton accounting for a piece of the action.

On Tuesday, close to 12 lakh shares are reported to have been picked up with Open Hammer reported to have accounted for a decent chunk.

Meanwhile Cap-It-All is believed to have come to the rescue of HLL on Tuesday, after the counter had come in for some rough treatment at the hands of the Cane Bank fund.

On Tuesday, Cane is reported to have sold close to half a million shares. Among other prominent deals on Tuesday, close to 2.5 lakh shares of Baja Auto are reported to have been picked up by Co-Tech Securities. Hong Kong-based Clive Lloyd (George) and Uncle Sam are reported to have been active at the ABB counter on Tuesday.

Santosh Nair santosh@myiris.com