Bank stocks no longer hot with Jordan Flaming

The last minute rally at tech counters on Friday did relegate Castrol India to the sidelines. But, there was no denying the institutional demand for the scrip, judging by the firm trend at the counter throughout the day. With Cap-It-All easing his finger on the sell trigger, other fund managers are reported to have started accumulating shares of the lubricant major. Cap’s strategy at the counter still holds the key to other players’ fortunes as it is unlikely that the fund would have completely washed its hands off the scrip. The latest buyers at the counter include Coat Hari, Cane Bank Off Shore and the Savvy Fund Manager.

Deal street
Apart from Infosys Technologies, no other scrip seems to be a compelling buy for Cap-It-All who is not really active on the buy side. At the same time, he is reported to be a regular seller at the SBI counter over the past few trading sessions. Bank scrips are not exactly hot with Jordan Flaming AMC and the Savvy Fund Manager either. Jordan is reported to be dumping HDFC Bank, while Savvy Fund Manager is booking profits at the ICICI Bank counter. But, it is not such a bleak scene for financial institutions as a whole. HDFC is being chased by the Hi-Fi (High Fidelity) fund, US-based Merreel Fund, Jordan Flaming AMC and Stitcher Fund.

Current showing
Small Daddy’s sale of nearly 4 million shares of Satyam Computer has not depressed sentiment for the stock, so it seems. Around 1.5 million shares are reported to have been picked up on Friday, with Uncle Jam accounting for about one third the quantity. Among other key deals of the day, Numero Uno brokerage is reported to have picked up nearly a lakh shares of Cipla.

Coat Hari seems to have found an ally in the form of Sue Rich, who shares his view on HCL Tech. Sue is reported to have picked up around a lakh shares at the counter in the last couple of trading sessions. Great Masters Orchestra (GMO) is reported to be an aggressive seller at the Grasim Industries counter, while Singapoori Sarkar seems to be fleeing the Nestle counter.

Back in business?
With value buying having made a semi comeback, the strongest proponents of the theory — the Bade Miyan Chotte Miyan seem to be back in action. One of their prime target happens to be the Visual Soft counter, which not long back used to be Big Boy MF’s turf. While the duo has been at work on the scrip over the past few days without creating a fuss, they have stepped on the gas in the last two sessions.

Amongst Thursday’s prominent deals, Numero Uno brokerage is reported to have picked up close to 4 lakh shares of Zee, while Union Swiss Bank brokerage again picked up around 5 lakh shares of Ranbaxy.

—Santosh Nair
Santoshnair@myiris.com