Small-, mid-caps steal the show

The continued selling in frontline stocks by foreign investors over the past one month, which also coincided with curbs on participatory notes (P-notes), delayed the Sensex and the Nifty from closing above the crucial milestone of 20,000 and 6,000 respectively.

But the real stars during the last one month "" the period during which the Sensex and the Nifty breached the milestone for the first time intra-day "" are small- and mid-cap stocks.

The BSE Mid-Cap Index gained nearly 15 per cent in the past one month, while the small-cap index advanced by nearly 20 per cent.

The Sensex moved up just 1.5 per cent since October 29, the first time it pierced the 20K-mark. Stock brokers are of the view that not all the Sensex constituents have participated in the recent rally, which saw the benchmark index touching highs on Tuesday.

Deven Choksey, the managing director of KR Choksey, said, "It is true that some of the frontline stocks have been hit by less FII participation lately and the recent rally too is mainly due to a rise in the select few stocks."

This year alone, FIIs made purchases of nearly $18 billion worth of equities, catapulting the Sensex to the 20K mark.

However, the Sensex moved down significantly in the month of November from its all-time high of 20,238 and touched a low of 18,100 on November 22 before it yet again picked up steam. FIIs net sold nearly $4 billion worth of equity in November.

Krishnamurthy Vijayan, CEO, JP Morgan India, said, "Most of the large-cap stocks in the recent times have gone up dramatically. FIIs are cherry-picking stocks in the mid and small segments and trying to discover fundamental stocks at lower levels."

According to market players, a major proportion of foreign investors selling in the past one month accounts to unwinding of P-note positions.

"After being registered as FIIs by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) recently, those holding positions in Indian equities through P-notes have chosen to sell them," informed a dealer with a foreign brokerage house.

Market sources said most of the sub-accounts of FIIs investing through P-notes chose to unwind their positions as they had not registered in the same name on which they were issued P-notes.

Choksey is of the view that most of the frontline stocks have not been able to move as fast as mid- and small-cap stocks as FII buying is still not as aggressive as it was in October.

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REAL STARS

The BSE Mid-Cap Index gained nearly 15 per cent in the past one month, while the small-cap index advanced by nearly 20 per cent

Market sources said most of the sub-accounts of FIIs investing through P-notes chose to unwind their positions as they had not registered in the same name on which they were issued P-notes