Street signs: Retail success rate to be high in Infosys buyback

Retail investors could see high success rate in the Rs 13,000-crore buyback of Infosys, starting on Thursday. While the ‘entitlement ratio’ for retail shareholders is 28 per cent, the ‘acceptance ratio’ could be as high as 50 per cent, say brokers. In other words, a retail shareholder holding 100 shares of Infosys can tender 28 shares under the buyback programme. However, if the shareholder tenders say 100 shares, it is likely that about 50 could be accepted. This is because typically most retail shareholders don’t tender shares in buybacks. This trend was seen in recent buybacks of Wipro and HCL Technologies. Infosys buyback price is Rs 1,150, nearly 12 per cent higher than Friday’s close.

Samie Modak

More steam in the rally

On Friday, the benchmark Nifty gained for a seventh consecutive trading session, its longest winning streak in two and a half years. The Nifty has gained nearly three per cent since November 15. The rally has been accompanied by a drop in the India VIX index, from 14.3 to 13.5. Derivatives experts say a lower reading on the VIX index means the rally has more legs. The decline in the volatility gauge indicates traders don’t see any immediate risk to the market, says an analyst.

Pavan Burugula

Fund managers buying Future Retail

After a few dull months, Future Retail has risen sharply since mid-November. The immediate trigger is the company’s mega plans called Retail 3.0, which was announced with its 30-year vision earlier this week. The plan, among others, envisages opening of 10,000 Easyday members-only stores by 2022. Market players say a couple of leading fund managers have been quietly accumulating the stock for the past few trading sessions. The stock has risen from Rs 467 to Rs 653, around 40 per cent since mid-November. On Friday, the stock surged 10 per cent.

Joydeep Ghosh