German fund finds Dhampur sweet

STREET SIGNS

For a change, the doomsday prophets were right. Their predictions of an imminent correction bore fruit on Monday as the Sensex tanked 148 points. Along with the 43-point loss on Friday, Sensex losses in the past two sessions amount to 191 points.

This after a near 500 point rally in less than two weeks, should give bears some breathing space. And more encouragement is coming from unlikely quarters. Such as US Fed for example, who apparently are contemplating an increase in US rates.

Sweet and sugary
For the German fund, the 'India growth story' tastes sweeter by the day, which probably explains their decision to buy the Dhampur Sugar Mills stock. The fund is said to have bought 2.75 lakh shares at Rs 157 levels.

Interest in sugar stocks have been picking up of late, especially since Pakistan recently decided to lift a nearly four-year-old ban on the import of Indian sugar.

However, Indian companies including Dhampur Sugar have expressed doubts that about the availability of Indian sugar for export purposes in the near future, considering the tight domestic supply situation.

Analysts are also saying that India, the world's biggest sugar consumer, won't produce enough sugar to meet demand for a third straight year, thus forcing users to depend on imports from Brazil. Has the German fund bought the horse before the cart?

In another sugary deal, Clive Lloyd Fund bought a bag of shares of Sakthi Sugars from one emerging market - dedicated fund at Rs 100 levels. HS Busy was not sitting idle either, buying Dwarikesh Sugar at Rs 199.

Herd mentality
If that is not proof enough of market's herd mentality, here is another. After Mr AB Amre decided to buy Bank of Punjab last week (at Rs 38), Prudent fund's foreign arm has also decided to get into the counter. The latter is said to have bought more than 8 lakh shares at Rs 39 levels.

This entire hullabaloo is said to be because of the bank's merger with Centurion Bank with a swap ratio of nine shares of Centurion Bank for every four shares of Bank of Punjab. Now the interest is not just limited to the Bank of Punjab counter.

There were enough heavy hitters at the Centurion Bank counter too. Tumble Ton fund for example was involved in a big deal (where it was the buyer) with German fund, with the shares exchanging hands at Rs 17.

In other action...
HS Busy was a buyer at SSI Ltd, pocketing 1.2 lakh shares at Rs 60 levels, while Slow Robinson fund bought a big chunk of Alok Industries stock at Rs 69 levels. In desi fund action Home Maker fund was buyer at VIP Industries counter, bagging 2.8 lakh shares at Rs 111.