Insurance Big Daddy turns seller in index stocks THE Big Daddy of insurance has been a seller in the index stocks in the past one week, keeping up to its reputation of being a seller in a rising market and a buyer in a falling market. Brokers said they have received selling orders from the Big Daddy in large numbers of late, mainly in oil & gas, banks and auto shares. In the past week or so, the institution has been a seller in SBI. But the buzz is, it has been a buyer in select mid-cap bank stocks. FIs make a beeline for LIC Housing, stock up 7% SHARES of LIC Housing Finance rose 7% to a 52-week high of Rs 1,073.40 supported by heavy volumes in a subdued trading session on Thursday. According to dealers, domestic mutual funds and select FIIs were heavy buyers after the company posted better-than-expected quarterly numbers. They said fund managers have been buying housing finance companies of late, mostly for trading gains. Some analysts are cautious about the outlook of housing finance companies, as firming interest rates are expected to raise their borrowing costs, thereby affecting margins. Oil cos tank as govt fails to free up diesel prices SHARES of state-owned oil marketers HPCL and BPCL crashed 6% on Thursday after the government said it will not deregulate diesel prices. The sudden about-turn in fuel policy has caught most Dalal Street stalwarts on the wrong foot. All these players had bought huge chunks of these stocks over the past couple of weeks, convinced that the sector was due for re-rating. The top guns who are long on HPCL, BPCL and IOC include the Rar(e)ing Bull, Old Fox, the high-profile second-in-command at a listed broking firm and a suave broker who shares his surname with the Old Fox. The problem now is that most of the top names are bullish on these stocks. So if they turn bearish, who are they going to sell their holdings to? Godrej Properties bucks downtrend in realty stocks AT A time when most property stocks are being cold-shouldered by fund managers as well as market operators, Godrej Properties hit a record high of Rs 691.40 on Thursday. Dealers tracking the counter say there is good interest in the stock, but at the same time, they point out that low liquidity is having a multiplier effect on the share price. A suave BSE broker, who shares his surname with the Old Fox, is said to be one of the big buyers of the stock. (Contributed by Harish Rao & Santosh Nair) |
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For those of us still fumbling to find the € symbol on our keyboards, today was a bad news day. Computer and mobile keyboards in India (and possibly around the globe) will soon be adding another new button – the rupee key.