MFs are planning schemes that will give fund managers the leeway to adopt strategies in line with the market conditions. Fund houses want to ensure they are not restricted by the fund's investment mandate about having to invest in certain sectors even in case of change in sentiment. According to the offer document, if the fund manager expects the markets to head downwards, the scheme can hedge exposure to equity either fully or partially by initiating short futures positions.
Sources said non-banking financial companies of brokerage outfits had extended loans to clients by availing of bank credit. They could face serious trouble if auditors 'qualify' their books for extending loans on small- and mid-cap stocks as 'highly risky'. With just over a week to go before the end of the current financial year, most of the NBFCs are cleaning up their books before the audit to avoid being caught on the wrong foot.
A majority of brokerages expect the bellwether Sensex to hover at 19,000 by the end of this calendar year, according to a poll conducted by Business Standard among top local brokerage houses. The figure is significantly lower than last December when most brokerages had expected a 15 to 20 per cent return from 20,000 levels at the end of 2007. The Sensex has dropped over 25 per cent from its January peak of 20,800.
Corporate earnings in this quarter may take a hit on account of the equity exposure that companies may have taken following a bad quarter for the Indian markets, say market analysts.
FIIs were net buyers of Rs 513.04 crore (Rs 5.13 billion) in the cash segment, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold equities worth Rs 66.79 crore (Rs 667.9 million), the data from the Bombay Stock Exchange website indicated.Of the 48 trading sessions since the beginning of 2008, Friday's trading session was the only time when FIIs were net buyers in the cash market though the day witnessed Sensex posting its steepest weekly decline since May 15, 2006.
Budget proposal has put an end to the flourishing trade in STT, as STT is likely to be treated as any other deductible expenditure against business income.
If you watch television, you just cannot miss the colourful, new fund offering advertisements by mutual funds talking about India's growing economy and how investing in them is likely to fetch great returns
Atherstone Capital Markets has come up with India IPO Index, which is an index of companies listed on the stock exchanges.
While the Sensex fell by as much as 19 per cent from the recent peak, a host of fund houses were fully invested. A majority of the fund houses were sitting on cash amounting to 1 to 4 per cent of their portfolios against an average of 5 to 7 per cent, data from Value Research, a fund tracking company suggested.
One of the main factors that created a big hype for the R-Power initial public offer, said experts, was its grey market premium of over Rs 400 on January 18 -- the day the issue closed. R-Power collected a record $180 billion (Rs 710,000 crore or Rs 7,100 billion) as the issue was subscribed 72 times.
Half of the 10 IPOs to have hit the market since the beginning of this year have been from the real estate space. J Kumar Infra Projects, KNR Constructions, SVEC Constructions and the now withdrawn Emaar MGF are the worst hit, according to analysts.
Volatility in the secondary markets has forced some initial public offers to revise their price bands as markets continue to be plagued by liquidity problems.
According to stock brokers, the real pain in markets started with the over-zealousness on the part of stock exchanges in collecting margin money after the 700 points fall on January 18 and another 14,00 points fall on January 21. The trading terminals of nearly 90 per cent stock brokers were shut on Tuesday when the markets hit the lower circuit of 10 per cent within a few minutes of opening bell, as the National Stock Exchange doubled the margin money overnight.
Overall market open interest on NSE down 15 per cent to Rs 89,307 crore (Rs 893.07 billion). A majority of stock brokers have unwound their leveraged positions in the futures and options segment. The total leveraged position (in excess of Rs 1 lakh crore or Rs 1 trillion) contributed heavily to the stock market crash.
If good stocks were available at throwaway prices, penny stocks found no takers. For instance, Hari Gundecha faced a strange dilemma. He had made profits, buying into Harig Crankshafts when the stock was quoting at Rs 1.30 a share but he could not exit the stock on Tuesday. The stock had run up to Rs 7.61 a share and was quoting at Rs 4.48 a share on Tuesday.
A severe squeeze in liquidity in the domestic and the global markets over the last one week helped bears to make a killing on Monday, as they anticipated little buying support even at lower levels, said dealers.
The deal, sources say, is that the retail investor, subscribing on broker's behalf, would have to make an application for 225 shares, the entire cost of which -- considering the discount of Rs 20 a share that RPL has offered -- would come to Rs 96,750.
"With all kinds of stocks flying around, investing can't be a part-time job," says Bruce Greenwald, professor of finance at the Columbia Business School.
In anticipation of the IPOs of FCH and RPL, investors were seen off loading small and mid-cap stocks heavily.
On December 17, Sebi put out a note on the introduction of new products in the futures and options segment. That was followed by permission for short-selling by institutional investors on December 20, stating that the securities lending and borrowing mechanism would be put in place along with short-selling, which will begin from February.
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