Tobacco on tenterhooks after Harsh Vardhan's appointment as health Minister

Investors in tobacco companies are a worried lot following Harsh Vardhan’s appointment as Union health minister. Shares of ITC and Godfrey Phillips fell on Friday following the portfolio announcement of Cabinet ministers. Vardhan has been at the forefront of the battle against tobacco and drug abuse and in the enactment of several laws, including the Delhi Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places. “Usually investors in tobacco stocks are worried about imposition of higher taxes. Now, they also have to worry about steps the health ministry might take to cut down the consumption of cigarettes,” said an analyst.

Sundar Sethuraman

Tough lesson for S Chand investors
 

The education-focused publishing firm S Chand, which had got marquee investors to anchor its rs 325-crore public issue, has seen its shares drop 82 per cent from the issue price of Rs 670. As of March 2019, major investors in the firm included HDFC Mutual Fund (MF) with over 7 per cent stake, Birla Sun Life MF with 3 per cent and Sundaram MF with 1.4 per cent. Indus India Fund and BNP Arbitrage Fund, having over 1 per cent stake each, were among the foreign portfolio investors. Some of the above investors had also participated in S Chand's anchor book. On Wednesday, HDFC MF sold Rs 2 crore worth of the company's shares as the scrip fell 13.7 per cent to close at Rs 116. The impact on holdings of each of the investors couldn't be ascertained.

Jash Kriplani

Nifty may head to 12,300 points 

Nifty rollovers were in line with the three-month average in May expiry. The long-short ratio of index futures is now at 60 per cent after dipping to 50 per cent last month, indicating bullish sentiment. The Nifty may head to 12,200/12300 levels if it breaches the 12,040-mark, with the support for the index at 11,700-11,800, say technical analysts. The rollover for the Nifty Bank was 83 per cent, above its three-month average. The Nifty Bank outperformed the benchmark index and has added decent positions series on series. Experts believe that support level for the Nifty Bank is at 31,000/31,200 levels and the risk-reward ratio for investors in the index is not favourable at this point. 

Ashley Coutinho