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UTI/BAT behind ITC rally?

Virendra Verma

The talk of UTI selling its stake in ITC to BAT was back in the market. But this time, the rumours seem to have picked up momentum. On back of the expectation that UTI will sell its stake to the British multinational, the ITC scrip shot up 6.65 per cent on the BSE to end at Rs 737.70. Similarly, on the NSE, the scrip ended at Rs 732, up 6.70 per cent.

The market is expecting UTI to set its stake at a price range of Rs 975-1,050.

Trading volumes also witnessed a sharp rise during the day. A total of 16.71 lakh shares were traded on the BSE and 25.02 lakh shares on the NSE. The combined volume of over 40 lakh shares was almost 5-6 times higher than in the normal days. The shares w ere bought mainly by Kolkata-based operators, who are close to the company. In addition, large quantity of institutional buying was also seen in the counter.

Heightened activity in Cummins

The Cummins India counter has also been witnessing huge investor interest in the past few days. The open offer talk seems to be gaining ground in the counter. On Thursday, 11,03,885 shares were traded at the BSE. The stock closed 9.05 per cent higher at Rs 56.05. On the NSE, it ended 11.22 per cent higher at Rs 56.50 with 4,66,260 shares traded. Average trading volumes in the counter were around 50-55,000 shares in each of the exchanges in the past. It is believed that most of the shares were bought for some institutional investors.

Chips up for Sriven

There seems to be some corporate developments in software firm Sriven Mutlitech. According to market talks, there could either be a good order or some acquisition move. Anticipating this development, the scrip has gone up almost 100 per cent in the last one week. It closed Thursday at Rs 4.80, up 12.94 per cent on the BSE with 1,25,094 shares traded.