PSBs to remain under pressure

The new year might not bring any respite to shares of public sector banks (PSBs) going by futures and options data. Huge short positions that were created in the past two months in these stocks got rolled over in the derivatives expiry last week. While the Sensex and the Nifty have rebounded from lows made last month, most PSBs are still down seven-10 per cent from their November-end prices. Experts believe the Reserve Bank of India might ask banks for more disclosures with regard to non-performing assets, which could further erode the value of these banks. This is the chief reason for the bearish outlook on these stocks.

Ashley Coutinho

Income tax department seeks PAN details of brokers
In December, the income tax department wrote to all exchanges, including commodity exchanges, seeking permanent account number details of all brokers and sub-brokers registered with them.

This action from the I-T department comes in the wake of the Financial Intelligence Unit observing certain discrepancies in the data available with them. This move also forms a part of a larger initiative to bring all the financial intermediaries under the tax net and avoid leakages due to data mismatch.

Jayashree P Upadhyay

Investors not happy with L&T's capital allocation
Larsen & Toubro (L&T), the bellwether of India's engineering and construction sector, has seen its stock prices decline 25 per cent, so far, this financial year. While macroeconomic indicators have not yet shown positive signs of economic revival, the chief executive of a large fund house said the street was not happy with the company's capital allocation strategy, a key reason for the sub-optimal returns ratios. Though L&T is plannings to pare its stake in non-core assets, the fund manager says earnings are likely to remain depressed in the foreseeable future, and an uptick in its stock price could still be some time away.

Hamsini Kartik