The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, December 15, 2002

Final public offer for Madura Coats
MUMBAI: DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that J & P Coats Ltd, Scotland (JPC) with Coats Plc, as Person Acting in Concert (Coats) had made an open offer (Letter of offer dated September 17) to acquire up to ... More

MUTUAL FUNDS

IL&FS Bond Fund Short-term Plan: Invest
THE IL&FS Bond Fund Short-term Plan returned 7.5 per cent since this February. The risk-adjusted returns compare well with the JP Morgan Short-term Government Bond Index, as well as other retail short-term fixed-income investments. Those with a ... More

More bonus plans in income schemes
IN THE last three months, it has become the fashion to offer investors in income schemes bonus options. This trend, for long confined to equity and sector-specific schemes, has now caught up in income funds. Providing investors more leeway in tax ... More

GIC Fortune '94: Sell
GIC Fortune 94 has capitalised on the rally in mid-cap and PSU stocks to turn in a value appreciation of around 40 per cent since December 2001. This places it among the top performing equity funds over the past year. However, the long-term track ... More

UTI Services Sector Fund: Hold/Sell on uptrend
FRESH investments in the UTI Services Sector Fund can be avoided for now. The major stocks that are part of the portfolio are now on a sharp uptrend. The momentum in these stocks suggests that the uptrend may continue. Investors can utilise any ... More

HDFC Growth: Hold/Avoid fresh exposures
UNITHOLDERS in HDFC Growth Fund can stay invested for the present. The performance of the fund has improved in the last 12 months with positive returns of 14.4 per cent as against a negative 1.8 per cent for the BSE Sensitive Index. But ... More

Mergers: Regulations need attention
JUST when one thought that the merger and acquisition activity in the mutual fund industry was on the wane, the rumoured sale of Alliance has put it back in focus. Unfortunately, regulation does not seem to be keeping pace. The regulations do ... More

STOCK MARKETS

Concentration in fewer stocks
TRADING is getting increasingly concentrated in a small number of stocks. The top 100 stocks accounted for around 96 per cent of the turnover in 2001-02. And within this universe, the focus narrows further on a smaller number of stocks. Sample ... More

Despite a stronger structure... It's still a shallow, risky market
TRADING in the equity market these days is concentrated in just about 100 stocks. The low levels of delivery-based trades imply enhanced day trading. There has also been a massive shift in trading to IT/media/telecom stocks despite the ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Moderate gains in tech stocks
EQUITIES inched up last week following investors' optimism about the space the Central Government will have in order to take economic decisions. The optimism stems from expectations about the results of the ongoing election in Gujarat. The BSE ... More

Using futures/options: Mechnism of physical settlement
As regards the mechanism of physical settlement, three different models appear to be prevalent globally: * At one extreme is the system of completely separate and independent settlement processes for derivatives and cash equities. This might ... More

What is hedging?
Recent newspaper reports suggest that SEBI may encourage mutual funds to hedge their market risk. What is hedging? It refers to a portfolio management technique that helps reduce risk. Suppose a mutual fund has invested in stocks, and the fund ... More

COMMENTARY

Book profit in Infosys
NIFTY (Rs 1,086.2): As anticipated last week, the index ruled firm with the move past 1075 imparting positive sentiment. While the recent price pattern indicates that the recent rally is yet to be complete, the negative divergence between ... More

Positive outlook for ICICI Bank
EXCEPT for a weak trend on Monday, the benchmark indices managed to close on a positive note on the remaining four days of the week. Much of the buoyancy was underpinned by the firm trend in Infosys Technologies. Interestingly, while the key ... More

Nasdaq: Further drop likely
THE market sentiment at the American bourses was distinctly bearish during the week gone by. Flow of unimpressive economic data sparked concerns about economic recovery and improvement in corporate profitability which in turn affected the market ... More

Select bank scrips ride hight
Vijaya Bank (Rs 14): The stock price of the Vijaya Bank went up this week by 10.1 per cent. The bank is currently eyeing acquisition of a bank from the Nothern region. According to the banking circles Punjab & Sind Bank, Bank of Punjab and ... More

RECOMMENDATION

Nalco: Uncertainty ahead
Recommendation: In the backdrop of substantial uncertainty over the plans for disinvestment through the strategic sale route, investors can utilise the present up trend to pare down their exposures to the stock. However, if the strategic ... More

Drive on, for now
M&M: Hold
Telco: Hold More

HDFC: Avoid fresh exposures
HOUSING Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) finds itself caught in speculation about another large merger in the financial sector, with its associate company, HDFC Bank. The respective managements have denied the possibility, but the rumours ... More

Thomas Cook: Buy
TRAVEL major Thomas Cook has posted impressive results for the year ending October 31, 2002, in spite of a challenging business environment with the posting of adverse travel advisories, post 9/11, and the riots in Gujarat. With inbound ... More

June-September performance — Nifty cos send recovery signals
THE economy continued its slow but steady growth. That is what the earnings performance of the Nifty companies for the June-September 2002 quarter suggests. The signs of improvement had started showing up for the quarter ended June 2002 itself, ... More

Marico Industries: Buy
INVESTORS with an investment horizon of three years and more can consider taking exposure in the Marico Industries stock. The company boasts of strong brands and an extensive distribution reach; recent changes in the import tariff on edible oils ... More

Bharat Petroleum: Sell
SHAREHOLDERS in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) can consider exiting the stock at current prices or on minor rises from the current level. With the government indicating in clear terms in Parliament last week that BPCL would be privatised ... More

NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES

NSDL launches STEADY facility
National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) has launched the Securities Trading Information Easy Access Delivery (STEADY) facility for electronic settlement. This facility enables brokers to deliver or submit contract notes to custodians or fund ... More

ICICIdirect.com's investor education drive
ICICIdirect.com has launched a customer education drive that will cover major cities and towns over the next two months. The online trading service will advise retail investors on every aspect of the market such as how to read a balance-sheet, ... More

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