Interrupted Show

The brief honeymoon that speculators and marketmen had with stocks such as Balaji Telefilms and Mukta Arts, which had not gone into the compulsory rolling mode, was brought to an abrupt and rude end when the regulator effectively put them in the same bracket from Tuesday. The stocks will now be settled on a trade-to-trade basis. Marketmen were able to fulfill their speculative appetite by trading in Balaji Telefilms since the stock was still in the account period settlement, whereby it was possible to carryforward a trade for five days till the end of the settlement.

The huge surge in traded volumes in the past few weeks on this counter, with the stock being one of the most active and highest traded on quite a few occasions, was ample testimony to how players had jumped on to the bandwagon. Unfortunately, they would now have to look elsewhere to satisfy the speculative urge. Both Balaji and Mukta hit the lower band of the circuit limits as a fallout of this decision, with investors rushing to dump the stock fearing that liquidity would dry up in the counters.

Infosys saves the day

On a day when most media and tech stocks were battered, thanks to the unnerving of sentiment with Balaji being put into the rolling mode, Infosys performance came as a welcome relief to the market. The Big Bull brokerage is estimated to have bought around 1.25 lakh shares on Tuesday which helped the counter gain more than Rs 100, a substantial gain in the market these days. The earnings guidance, which the management has provided at the beginning of the financial year is proving to be bang on target, and this is being well perceived by analysts and funds alike. The general impression is that the management knows what they are upto and have a clear sense and understanding of the business.

No chip of the old block

Unlike its parent, the IDBI Bank stock is being favoured by investors and funds alike. Fortunately, the stock does not suffer from the overhang and negatives of the parent, such as huge NPAs and a bloated equity. The bank is a much leaner and sleeker company and is being favoured as a decent investment stock. The stock has attracted centre stage of late, with credible rumours doing the rounds that the Big Bull's investment banking arm has been mandated to place about 20 per cent of the equity at a tentative rate of Rs 40. With the investment bank having successfully carried out overseas placements in the recent past, the poor market conditions notwithstanding, the possibility of this happening in the near term is a distinct possibility, which explains the current buzz around the stock.