Heard on the street: Punters jack up spot prices of new F&O members

Punters jack up spot prices of new F&O members

It was a busy day for punters, as they bid up prices of stocks that will be added to NSE’s futures & options list from Friday. Godrej Industries, Videocon Industries and Mundra Port were among the prominent gainers of the day, rising in the 7-9% range accompanied by heavy volumes. Inclusion on the F&O list means that punters get more time to play around with these stocks. Interestingly, Godrej Industries, Mundra Port and BGR Energy witnessed a higher-than-usual-delivery ratio on Thursday.

Short-covering fires up Tata Steel stock

A frenetic bout of short-covering fired up Tata Steel shares over 6% to Rs 584.90 on Wednesday. Many traders and a quite a few hedge funds are said to have gone ‘short’ on the stock, anticipating weak quarterly numbers. But with its performance turning out to be better than expected, these players had to cover up their positions. Among those caught on the wrong foot included a market operator who shares his first name with the Union agriculture minister.

‘Friendly circles’ buy Ruchi Soya shares

Huge blocks of shares changed hands at the Ruchi Soya counter on Wednesday. However, FIs were not involved on either sides of the transaction. Given that “friendly circles” are regularly active in
the stock, the market is not taking much notice of the bulk deals.

Insurers mop up shares of Manappuram General Fin

A couple of insurers are said to be accumulating shares of Manappuram General Finance. The buzz is that the Kochi-based NBFC’s proposed QIP will be priced at Rs 700 per share. Manappuram aims to a raise about Rs 300 crore through the equity issue, to be completed over the next 10 days.

Ranbaxy trades flat as market awaits earnings

Ranbaxy shares closed flat in a buoyant market on Wednesday, after having shot up over 7% the previous session. The company is set to announce its fourth quarter numbers next week. The talk doing the rounds is that a prominent domestic broking firm, known for its strong base of high net worth investors, has bought a sizeable chunk of the stock on behalf of its ‘bulge bracket’ clients. Are they betting on the quarterly numbers?

(Contributed by Santosh Nair & Shailesh Menon)