Street Signs: Nifty finds favour at 19,500, L&T buyback, and more

Nifty’s sweet spot at 19,500 sparks surge in buying interest

Huge buying interest emerged when the benchmark National Stock Exchange Nifty50 briefly slipped below 19,500 on Thursday. Market players now believe this could be a key level to determine near-term trends. “One key level to watch is 19,500, which represents a significant demand zone. This level is likely to attract more buyers who see it as an opportunity to enter the market with an upside potential of 20,000. Below 19,500, it is likely to be a bearish sign for the targets of 19,000–18,800,” observes Arvinder Singh Nanda, senior vice-president at Master Capital Services. Experts say the market is undergoing fresh bouts of selling by overseas funds amid a spike in US bond yields, which will cap the upside. The downside protection, they add, will be determined by domestic liquidity support.

L&T buyback: A Rs 10K cr opportunity slips through retail investor fingers

The recently concluded Rs 10,000 crore buyback of engineering and construction behemoth Larsen & Toubro (L&T) proved to be a missed opportunity for retail investors — those holding shares worth less than Rs 2 lakh. According to data disclosed by the company, retail shareholders tendered only 3.22 million shares, despite the reservation of nearly 4.7 million shares in the 31.25 million share repurchase programme. As a result, the acceptance ratio for retail investors was 100 per cent — a rarity for a buyback. Interestingly, amid a sharp upmove in its shares, L&T had revised the buyback price upwards from Rs 3,000 earlier to Rs 3,200 a day ahead of the ex-date. Shares of L&T last closed at Rs 3,022. The revision in the buyback price close to the ex-date is allowed following a recent rule change. This may have stumped arbitrage-seekers, say market players.

Exchanges turn the screw on broker audits

In a bid to strengthen internal audits by stockbrokers, exchanges have beefed up the requirements. The revised norms — effective from March 31, 2024, on a half-yearly basis — put emphasis on experience and full-time audit personnel. Until now, an auditor firm with just one of the partners having five years of experience was eligible. Going ahead, the firm will be required to have five-year experience, preferably in the securities market, and maintain at least two partners at all times. Furthermore, for ‘qualified’ stockbrokers, an additional requirement of at least five partners at all times, of which two have to be full-time, has been introduced. The increased monitoring and surveillance measures for brokers come following several instances of misuse of client funds and securities.