Cheers to bonus and new listings

Q4 looms large. Even the usual busy bees cooling their heels prefer caution ahead of the result season. But the heavyweight investors who had been waiting with bated breath to cash in on new listings did so emphatically.

Bio-technology scrip Biocon was the darling of the bourses last week, moving up to Rs 484.35 on Wednesday, a 54 per cent premium to its public issue price of Rs 315. More of the same was to follow the next day with the price zooming to Rs 581.20, hitting the upper band in the process.

Rumour mongers were busy pointing fingers at the Prized One Brokerage for the surge at the counter.

The other debutante Power Trading Corp also made a promising start, backed up strongly by the Gemini Fund and the Bye Bye group. The stock attracted a whopping 179 per cent premium on its IPO price of Rs 16 on the opening day.

ICICI Bank, too, made its presence felt with its public issue getting oversubscribed by five times.

Bonus announcements by IT companies cheered sentiments on an otherwise dull market with both Infosys and Wipro mulling the possibility, while MphasiS BFL went ahead with a 1:1 bonus.

Difference of opinion

Bank stocks were in the forefront last week with the apex court upholding the constitutional validity of the Securtisation Act which empowers financial institutions to attach and sell assets of defaulting borrowers.

Most PSU bank counters reaped the rewards on renewed buying interest. The euphoria over the Act was one of the biggest triggers for the surge in shares of PSU Banks over the last one year. But those in the know advise not to go overboard on these counters, mindful of the fact that Gora interest in some of the PSU counters has already gone up substantially.

Interestingly, there seems to be a difference of opinion on the future of banking stocks. While Pearl Brokerage is said to be pushing the case of banks to their clients, Prized One Brokerage is said to be waving the 'sell' flag.

Waiting for the big one

Rumour mill has it that the relative non-activity of funds last week is due to one fact - the impending entry of ONGC in the S&P CNX Nifty.

Ironically, the stock is set to replace the one that led to the barring of the 'insider' last week - Digital GlobalSoft.

Nifty-based funds were thought to be the ones thirsting for the oil bigwig with institutions also pitching in. The inclusion of the stock in the Nifty, obviously means that desi funds just have to add the stock in their portfolios.

The scrip which has a weightage of 5.8 per cent in the Sensex also got included in the MSCI Standard Index Series a while ago.

Retail rules

Pantaloon Retail saw its price go through the roof and hit an all-time high of Rs 333.90 last week. A block deal of 3 lakh shares between two prominent Gora funds were said to be the reason behind the surge.

The stock has appreciated by more than 50 per cent in the last two weeks with another Gora, 'Jeweller' Fund, picking up a 2.2 per cent stake at the counter last month.

Tail piece

Heard that the Lord of the Ring, who happens to be the single largest shareholder in a Tamil Nadu-based bank, is said to be mulling over the choice of a Merc, no less, as a gift for his wife.

(If you have anything better to suggest please send it across to streetsigns@business-standard.com.)