Z-group under the lens

 The odd movements in these stocks has caught the eye of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) because some of them had been put in the Z category for showing abnormal price movements in the past.

 A Business Standard Research Bureau study shows that 120 of the 283 traded stocks in the Z category resumed trading in August 2003 after lying dormant, for months in some cases. In July, 40 stocks returned to the trading ring.

 In fact, the shares of only seven companies in this group have been trading daily since January 2003.

 Of the 283 Z-group stocks, as many as 67 scaled 52-week highs in August, while 52 recorded 52-week lows.

 Sebi sources said while the regulator was keeping close tabs on these scrips, the stock exchanges had also been asked to remain alert.

 The sources said various groups in the regulatory body were looking for evidence of abnormal price movements in these stocks and