Street signs: FIIs book profit in ICICI Bank, Mphasis stock, and more

FIIs book profit in ICICI, Axis Bank

Marquee foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were seen selling shares of ICICI Bank and Axis Bank last week, taking advantage of the sharp rebound in these two counters. Deutsche Bank, State Street, UBS, WisdomTree and a large exchange-traded fund (ETF) were selling shares in the two private sector lenders, Bloomberg data shows. Shares of ICICI Bank and Axis Bank have rallied 26 per cent and 18 per cent respectively from their last month’s low.
 

-Samie Modak 
 

Morningstar looks to enter PMS space

Morningstar Investment Advisor has applied for a licence to launch its portfolio management services (PMS) in India. The entity is already a registered investment advisor. Given Morningstar's expertise in the area of mutual fund research, the PMS would largely cater to wealthy investors and family offices, say people in the know. In the recent past, many players in the fund management industry have been seen foraying to PMS and alternative investment funds (AIFs) space due to more opportunities. Moreover, Morningstar is planning to launch its own funds in the US, offered exclusively to advisors.
 

-Jash Kriplani
 

Arbitrage opportunity in Mphasis  

Retail-focused brokerages are advising their clients to buy shares of Mphasis to avail the arbitrage opportunity created by the information technology company’s share buyback programme. Shares of Mphasis are currently trading at Rs 1,155—14 per cent below their buyback price of Rs 1,350. These brokerages believe the acceptance ratio for retail investors – those holding shares worth up to Rs 200,000—could be around 60 per cent. Assuming investors buy at the current market rate and tender in the buyback, they could pocket absolute returns of 8 per cent over a period of three months, translating into an annualised return of 32 per cent, says a note by HDFC Securities.
 

-Samie Modak