Renewed trading activity at the markets has seen lesser known stocks moving into the limelight. Key amongst this is B2 group scrip Vasta Music, which has witnessed its price move from Rs 410 levels on January 20 to its 52-week high of Rs 605 last week on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Trading volumes at the counter have also risen sharply from an average 6,000 shares on January 20 to 33,380 shares last week.
Vatsa Musics 52-week low share price is Rs 204 while its high is Rs 605. It was last traded on the NSE on February 25 at Rs 545 witnessing a trading of 5,600 shares.
Broking circles have expressed surprise over the rise in the scrip price at the NSE. This is because the track record of the group has not been so strong in the recent past, considering that another listed group company, Vatsa Corporation, is quoted at a pathetically low 0.70 paise at the BSE. Vatsa Music is in the business of selling music rights.
The BSE has already taken stringent action to curb any chances of price manipulation at the Vatsa Music counter. The exchange has placed the scrip in the hidden circuit filter category, which consists of 19 other scrips. The last traded price of Vatsa Music was Rs 372 on November 12, 1997.
The hidden circuit filter limit is not part of regular 10 per cent daily band or the 25 per cent weekly settlement band imposed by the exchange.
Hidden circuit filter is a price band programmed within the BSE surveillance software which tracks unusual price movements
This places a put restriction on a sharp price movement and possible manipulation, as the filter level is not known to market players.
According to top BSE officials, the factors taken into consideration before putting a stock in the hidden circuit filter are:
* fundamentals of the company,
*volumes and sudden price movement.
Though imposition of the hidden circuit filter limit has put a break on share price of Vatsa Music at the BSE, its absence at the NSE has resulted in the trading activity shifting completely to that exchange, a BSE broker said.
