Tech analysts barred from trading

Technical analysts are a discontented lot these days. The first was the issue with what they perceived as an unfair module for registration test, skewed towards "fundamental" analysts. Now, they are being banned by their own organisations from trading because of a clause in the research analyst regulations that bars them from taking position in a stock 30 days before and five days after a report has been published. "This means analysts can never trade because decisions on which stock to track are mostly made on that day, and not 30 days in advance. So, we have asked them not to trade at all," said the head of a domestic brokerage.

BlackRock rebalances portfolio

Mauritius-based BlackRock India Equities Fund rebalanced its portfolio aggressively on Friday, after a number of stocks were added to the MSCI Index. Bulk deal data show the foreign brokerage bought stocks worth almost $1 billion or Rs 6, 000 crore, almost 80 per cent of bulk deals on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), in Container Corporation of India, Eicher Motors, Lupin, Shree Cement and others. Cash volumes in the NSE hit an all-time high on Friday at Rs 43,620 crore.

Bye-bye Mumbai?

Mumbai's future as India's financial capital might not be as secure as it once was. Beside the international finance centre set to come up in Gujarat, it is no longer the first choice when it comes to financial services organisations. India set up regulations for hedge funds only a few years ago but a fair number of the new ones that have come up are not located in the financial capital. They are located in Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru instead, where real estate and other costs are lower.Beside, the ability to trade from anywhere and better flight connectivity mean they do not necessarily have to base themselves in expensive Mumbai. Sign of things to come?