Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and the case of mistaken identity

Traders, who prefer to piggyback investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala rather than identify their own stock winners to earn a quick buck, were in a rude shock on Wednesday. Shares of Chennai-based Surana Solar surged as much as 19% during the early trading hours on Wednesday after a disclosure showed ‘Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’ bought 2.56 lakh shares of the company at an average price of Rs 53.74 per share in a bulk deal.

However, in a couple of hours of trading, the stock plunged after the market realised that the billionaire investor had not invested in the company and an operator had used his name to spark interest in the stock. The stock crashed 31% from the day’s high. On the BSE, about 17.6 lakh Surana shares were traded against the daily average of 54,000 shares in the last two weeks. Many investors who bought the stock at higher levels were forced to square off at a sharp loss.