Friday’s devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan had a ripple effect on investor sentiment across the world, as a subsequent nuclear catastrophe loomed large over one of the world’s most advanced economies.
The domestic markets, too, encountered a choppy week in the face of rising concerns over the detrimental effect the damage in Japan would have on an already doubtful global economic revival.
The benchmark S&P CNX 500 index portfolio value registered a decline of 0.8 per cent over the past week. Shishir Bajpai was the sole active participant during the week under review, as he carried out a total of 18 transactions, with an equal number of purchase and sale deals. However, Bajpai was a net seller of stocks worth Rs 1.39 lakh. Ajay Parmar’s portfolio underperformed the benchmark index and lodged a loss of 1.3 per cent. Conversely, Vinay Khattar’s investments, although at a loss of 0.6 per cent, outperformed the benchmark marginally. Shishir Bajpai’s portfolio showed a negligible decline of 0.1 per cent.
Ajay Parmar has been inactive in the markets since mid-January this year. Taking position as an investor in an ambiguous market, Parmar remained inactive. His holdings are spread out, majorly, over sectors like chemicals, fertilisers, sugar, IT and pharmaceuticals. A majority of his investments reflect negative returns. Of the 15 stocks Parmar holds, only four are currently trading above his cost price. His investments in sugar stocks like Bajaj Hindusthan, Shree Renuka Sugars and Balrampur Chini Mills account for a cumulative negative return of 31.7 per cent. Pharma stocks such as Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Natco Pharma and Aurobindo Pharma reflect an average loss of 12.2 per cent. Parmar holds no frontline stocks at the moment. However, he has managed to offset part of the erosion of his portfolio value, currently off 8.4 per cent, through his holdings in eClerx Services, Insecticides India, Jubilant Foodworks and Greaves Cotton. His investments totalled Rs 6.32 lakh, while his cash component stood at Rs 2.84 lakh.
| AJAY PARMAR, Head Research Institutional Equities, Emkay | |||
| Top Holdings | Cost price (Rs) | Current price (Rs) | Value (Rs lakh) |
| Torrent Pharma | 599.00 | 515.60 | 0.77 |
| Natco Pharma | 291.03 | 250.10 | 0.69 |
| eClerx Services | 546.00 | 619.40 | 0.62 |
| Infinite Comp | 181.60 | 156.55 | 0.47 |
| Jubilant Foodworks | 535.40 | 563.70 | 0.45 |
| Total investments | 6.32 | ||
| Cash | 2.84 | ||
| Net worth | 9.17 | ||
Vinay Khattar was also on the sidelines during the week under review. His investments in heavyweights like Tata Steel, State Bank of India and ITC showed a mixed trend. While Tata Steel reflects a loss of 3.5 per cent on his investment, his holdings in FMCG major ITC showed a nominal gain of 2.5 per cent. Banking major SBI reflected a notional gain of 1.4 per cent. Another banking stock, IndusInd Bank, was trading at a premium of 11.1 per cent. Most of Khattar’s investments showed positive returns, with consumer durables stock TTK Prestige leading the gains up 18.1 per cent. Khattar’s portfolio, which has appreciated by 7.2 per cent, consists of investments worth Rs 7.77 lakh. His liquidity position is fairly comfortable, with Rs 2.94 lakh held as cash.
| VINAY KHATTAR, Research Head – Edelweiss Wealth Management | |||
| Top Holdings | Cost price (Rs) | Current price (Rs) | Value (Rs lakh) |
| IndusInd Bank | 220.68 | 245.15 | 1.10 |
| Havells India | 305.36 | 358.50 | 1.02 |
| Tilaknagar Ind | 58.23 | 55.45 | 0.80 |
| Dish TV | 60.51 | 62.10 | 0.78 |
| Jet Airways | 407.20 | 470.95 | 0.71 |
| Total investments | 7.77 | ||
| Cash | 2.94 | ||
| Net worth | 10.71 | ||
Shishir Bajpai tempered his purchases with his sales transactions. On the sell side, Bajpai exited oil and gas exploration major Reliance Industries at a profit of 4.1 per cent. He also liquidated his holdings in banking heavyweight HDFC Bank by letting off 55 shares at a profit of 5 per cent. Another major movement on the sell side was Bajpai’s exit from Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, where he accrued a loss of 6.1 per cent. On the buy side, the fund manager pocketed a few heavyweights like ITC and ICICI Bank, along with auto major Bajaj Auto. Bajpai introduced stocks like LIC Housing Finance, Pipavav Shipyard and Panataloon Retail in his portfolio, and he topped up his holding in ITC. At present, Bajpai has his investments spread over stocks like SBI and Orchid Chemicals, apart from the newer additions to his portfolio, which has advanced 29.3 per cent. He retains Rs 3.62 lakh as deployable funds, and his invested corpus stands at Rs 9.31 lakh.
| SHISHIR BAJPAI, Senior Vice President, IIFL Private Wealth | |||
| Top Holdings | Cost price (Rs) | Current price (Rs) | Value (Rs lakh) |
| ICICI Bank | 1014.91 | 1011.85 | 1.26 |
| Pantaloon Retail | 310.34 | 245.70 | 1.23 |
| LIC Housing Fin | 197.15 | 198.90 | 1.19 |
| SBI | 2747.58 | 2617.50 | 1.18 |
| ITC | 171.39 | 168.05 | 1.18 |
| Total investments | 9.31 | ||
| Cash | 3.62 | ||
| Net worth | 12.93 | ||