Top 5 picks | Mid-term picks
Pre-Market: Gap-down opening likely as global weakness persists
Screen looks ugly
****************************************Heard on the Street
Advisory fees not enough to hard sell NTPC offer
What explains the less-than-enthusiastic response to the NTPC issue? If some fund managers are to be believed, the paltry fee paid to lead managers is not quite pushing them to go the extra mile that makes the difference between a successful and not-so successful issue. This is not about a particular set of lead managers, but could well turn out to be the case with the upcoming issues, managed by other investment banks as well. "In the past, power companies with ambitious plans merely on paper have been able to raise astounding sums from the market, and are still quoting at exorbitant valuations. There is no reason why a company with a solid track record like NTPC could not have been hard-sold to investors at better valuations," says a fund manager. The government may save a few crores of rupees on advisory fees, but could end up losing much by way of indifferent response from global investors, brokers say. Then again, why do investment banks agree to work for a pittance in the first place, argue some others. So much for a free market. Bulls off St, busy hosting investor conference As FIIs continue to play hide and seek, domestic institutions, which otherwise provide some succour in choppy times, are also proving to be indifferent participants. In February so far, local institutions have net-bought shares worth Rs 483.60 crore. The buzz is that the spate of investor conferences in and outside Mumbai are keeping these institutions out of action. Nomura held its investor conference in Mumbai last week. Macquarie is holding an investor conference in Mumbai and JP Morgan is hosting its event in Goa. The BoA-Merrill Lynch conference is to kick off on February 15 in Delhi. Amongst the larger domestic broking firm, India Infoline is also holding its conference in Mumbai. Equity sales and dealing teams at other broking houses are awaiting the return of their domestic clients. Durable cos seen ‘safe bet’ ahead of Budget Shares of consumer durable companies like Whirlpool, TTK Prestige and Bajaj Electricals are being viewed as ‘safe haven’ by a certain section of the trading community ahead of the Budget. The rationale being that this is one of the few sectors that is unlikely to be impacted by any withdrawal of stimuli, and neither is in the running for any exemptions. Savvy players accumulating these shares believe these companies have a smaller but more steady clientele. Of course, good cash flows, a strong demand which is reflected in the month-on-month numbers are a definite positive, say analysts. Whirlpool shares ended the day flat at Rs 135.75, TTK Prestige at Rs 433.30 (down 1%) and Bajaj Electricals at Rs 179.20 (down 2%) on BSE on Thursday in an otherwise weak market. | |
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Daily News Roundup - Feb 5 2010
Friday fright on the street
Onmobile Global
Hindustan Dorr-Oliver
Biggest drop for bullion metals in three months
Src: ET, DP blog and etc