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Heard on the Street
Hinduja Ventures gains as a punter seen active in stock
Shares of Hinduja Ventures have seen a surge in activity, of late, amid the rally in mid- and small-cap shares. The stock, which fell 0.4% to Rs 448.10 on Monday, had surged a little over 30% in the two previous trading sessions, supported by higher-than-average volumes. The buzz is that a Mumbai operator, based out of a western suburb and known for his bearish calls, has been active in the stock, of late. Grapevine is that this operator has been closely tracking the company’s business and new ventures. Brokers said new Trai guidelines recommending an eight-year tax holiday for setting up digital distribution to cable providers and zero customs duty for all digital head-end equipment and set-top boxes for three years are a positive for the company.
Short-selling in Nifty futures could be good for bulls
Nifty August futures closed at an 8-point discount to spot. This seems to indicate that a large section of the market is not convinced about the ongoing rally. Dealers say this could be partly because many institutional players and traders are hedging their long positions in the cash market by short-selling Nifty futures. This could spell good news for bulls, they say. Because if the market sustains the uptrend for a while, most players ‘short’ on the Nifty would be forced to cover up their positions. Already, quite a few bears squared up their short positions on Monday, when the Nifty rose beyond 5474, narrowing the discount between the Nifty futures and the index, which was in excess of 10 points at one stage during the day.
Short-covering lifts Unitech shares
Shares of property developer Unitech rose 6% to close at Rs 90.45 on Monday, after shareholders approved the company’s restructuring scheme. Under this scheme, the company has planned to merge two of its group companies with itself, and hive off its infrastructure business into a separate company. Grapevine is that many traders had short sold Unitech futures, betting that the restructuring plan would not be approved by shareholders. With the outcome turning out to be the opposite, traders were forced to cover their positions. On the BSE, over 93 lakh shares were traded, compared to the two-week average daily volume of 39 lakh shares.
I-banks woo investors into Jyothy Labs’ QIP issue
Merchant bankers are said to have sounded off potential investors for the QIP of Jyothy Laboratories. The book will be open for bidding in a day or two, say dealers tracking the stock. In June, the company board had approved a proposal to raise up to Rs 300 crore through a QIP. The market buzz is that the company will be raising around Rs 250 crore. At Wednesday’s closing price of Rs 279, the company will have to dilute nearly 12% of its equity to raise that amount.
(Contributed by Harish Rao & Santosh Nai
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Src: ET, Brameshblog, DP blog