Nifty set to get more bank heavy

Currently, the weight of financial stocks is 30%, which will inch up further with the addition of YES Bank

Come April, the country's benchmark Nifty Index could become more volatile on account of high concentration of high-beta financial stocks. Following the latest reshuffle, which will be applicable from the April derivatives series, the 50-share index will have as many as 11 financial stocks. Incidentally, the banking sector, CNX Bank Index, also has 12 banking stocks. Currently, the weight of financial stocks is 30 per cent, which will inch up further with the addition of YES Bank.

Samie Modak

Govt might net Rs 1 lakh crore from stake sale

While the Budget has set a disinvestment target of Rs 69,500 crore, the actual number through government stake sale could be significantly more. That's because of the sale of the government's holding in the Specified Undertaking of UTI (SUUTI). According to the current market value, the combined value of the government's stake in ITC (11.22 per cent), L&T (8.17 per cent) and Axis Bank (11.63 per cent) held by SUUTI stands at Rs 62,738 crore. "For all these or even some of these to go through, the government needs the market to be buoyant for at least a couple of years. Expect more incentives for foreign institutional investors," says a market player.

Joydeep Ghosh

Less volume, high volatility

Trading volumes on the Budget day were around 20 per cent less as compared with the last year's interim Budget and in line with the monthly average. Absence of lot of foreign investors, banks and mutual funds led to the lower volumes. Market players said this also caused lot of volatility, with the benchmark Sensex switching between gains and losses at least a dozen times.

Samie Modak