19 August 2010

Market and Stock Views






Higher MSCI weightage buzz lifts Tata Motors

Shares of Tata Motors have been among the best performers in the large-cap space, of late, aided by strong first-quarter results. The stock on Wednesday closed at a record high of Rs 1,047.60, up 4.19% over the previous trading session, supported by good trading volumes. The buzz is there will be an increase in the weightage of the stock on the MSCI World Index, which is widely tracked by global fund managers for their investment decisions. Currently, the stock has a weightage of 1.84%, which is expected to be increased to 2.15% by the end of this month. Some of the astute names on Dalal Street and institutional investors have also accumulated the stock in the past few trading sessions.

Bank shares shine as investors load up

Bank shares have been the rage over the past few sessions, as several domestic fund houses, savvy traders and even the treasuries of some banks have been loading up on them. The mutual fund arm of a bank, usually known for its conservative stance, is said to have mopped up nearly three lakh shares of State Bank of India a couple of days ago. The treasury of a bank headquartered in the state referred to as the ‘granary of India’, too, is said to have bought a sizeable chunk of SBI shares earlier this week. Some of the investors with a more conservative view are said to be loading up on Bank Nifty futures. On Wednesday, Bank Nifty hit a 52-week high of 10,931.65, before closing at 10,894.05. Bank Nifty August futures closed at 10915, and were among top-10 most actively-traded derivatives contracts on the NSE.

‘Big Daddy’ bets big on RIL while Street plays safe

Reliance Industries (RIL) has been among the top ‘trading sells’ of several traders, of late, with some even betting on a fall in the stock below Rs 900. But the ‘Big Daddy’ of the domestic insurance industry has taken a contrarian view on the stock. Market sources said that the insurer was a sizeable buyer of the stock on Wednesday. But brokers said that the move is not of any major significance, as the insurer is known for picking up underperforming shares. The stock, which enjoys the highest weightage on the benchmark indices, dropped 0.6% to Rs 964.75 on Wednesday in a firm market. The stock has fallen about 6% so far in August while the Sensex has gained 1% during the period. There have been concerns among investors about the company flooding the market with another round of treasury share sales as part of its attempt to raise money.

Contributed by Harish Rao, Santosh Nair & Nishanth Vasudevan
 
 

 

 Src: ET, DP blog , Brameshtech blog