Long Faces

The fall the bourses witnessed today was nothing short of a carnage. The losses taking place are on long-term holdings since little outstanding speculative positions exist on the bourses.

Infosys bashed up

Infosys Technologies got a drubbing today with the Skrodders Fund dumping 1.5 lakh shares. The counter was already experiencing a supply overhang with the Fidly Fund selling right through the week.

Big Daddy's purchases were insufficient to stem the fall since the quantum bought was minuscule as compared to supply. Positive news on the fundamental front in Infosys is failing to stem the rot as far as the prices are concerned. At the moment, sellers are just interested in getting out of the stock irrespective of what the future holds.

Lone survivor

At a time when all other stocks were literally bleeding, the Hindustan Lever counter managed to hold its own. The Simple Simon Brokerage is reported to have bought around one million shares today though the identity of the buyer could not be ascertained.

The Rs 184-level was considered a crucial support mark for the company and although the stock pierced that level last week, it never decisively closed below Rs 184. If one goes by what chartists have to say, the stock is not yet out of the woods.

HDFC Bank melts

The Savvy Fund Manager is reported to have sold around two lakh HDFC Bank shares in the last couple of sessions which is largely responsible for the erosion in the stock price. The stock, which had managed to resist the effects of the meltdown in the market, is now slowly beginning to give way.

Although nothing seems to be wrong with the stock per se, funds are slowly beginning to re-rate both the technology and banking stocks. The decline witnessed in the share prices of HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank can be attributed to this strategy. The view that the premium these stocks command vis-a-vis other stocks is not fully justified at the current juncture.