The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, October 26, 2003

Large-caps: From a bang to a whimper
JUST a week ago, the stock market was on a roll. But it has since slowed. Is this a mere correction? Will the Sensex soar again after a brief pause? Or has the end of the road been reached? The last could well be ... More

Price targets: Moving all the time
WHAT do analysts of research outfits do when price targets fixed by them earlier are about to be breached? If you thought they would be prepared to advocate a sell, you would be wrong. In a bull run, they only revise ... More

The risks pile up for investors
Opting for floating rate mortgages when interest rates have bottomed out, and pouring money into stocks when valuations are expensive can enhance risks substantially for the investor. Adverse interest rate movements can severely compromise financial security. More

The riddle of cheaper telecom and dearer petrol
The telecom market has turned into a buyer's one with service providers elbowing one another for the consumer's ears while the petroleum market remains firmly in the hands of the sellers. More

Bull markets: When companies charge investors
BULLISH phases in the stock market have always elicited interest from investors, even if it comes rather late in the day for many of them. Just as interesting is the kind of effect that such a market condition has on ... More

MUTUAL FUNDS

DSP ML Top 100 Equity: Hold
INVESTORS in DSP ML Top 100 Equity fund can retain their units. The fund's performance since launch in February 2003 has been steady, though below that of many of its peers. But the lower relative performance may be ... More

HDFC Tax Plan 2000: Buy in a phased manner
INVESTMENTS in the HDFC Tax Plan can be considered despite the sharp run-up in equity prices over the past six months. The fund has turned in an impressive performance by focussing largely on mid-cap stocks. This ... More

UTI Mastergrowth: Hold
ITS substantial allocation to PSU stocks has lifted the performance of the UTI Mastergrowth , with the fund delivering a 80 per cent return over the past one year. However, the contribution from the PSU holdings has ... More

UTI Services: Hold
INVESTORS can retain their holdings in the UTI Services Sector Fund. The fund's track record over the past four years has been impressive. It has consistently outperformed the broad market as well as most peer funds. ... More

Equity funds: Inflows pick-up in September
IN September 2003, equity funds had inflows of about Rs 2,363 crore, the highest monthly inflow in over two years. But even as new investors came in, existing investors have used the uptrend to pull out funds with ... More

Base stock selection on consistent returns
IN the last three months, the equity market has remained bullish and there is continued interest from the FIIs and other players to invest in the Indian equity market. When the market is doing well, it is natural that ... More

STOCKS

Sun Pharma: Hold
SHAREHOLDERS of Sun Pharma can continue to hold on to the stock, in the light of its performance for the quarter-ended September 2002. Those contemplating exposures in the stock need not consider doing so now . The ... More

Bharat Forge: Buy
INVESTORS can consider exposures to the Bharat Forge stock at Rs 487. The stock, which trades at 17 times its trailing 12 months earnings per share, could scale up to higher levels as the growth prospects on the ... More

TVS Srichakra: Book profits
AFTER posting a steady growth, the company's performance has slowed down in the recent quarters. In the wake of recent developments such as slowdown in TVS Motor's sales and firm trend in price of key raw materials ... More

TajGVK Hotels: Hold/Buy on declines
SHAREHOLDERS can hold on to the TajGVK stock as it holds room for appreciation. The stock has appreciated by about 50 per cent since the earlier buy recommendation, when the stock traded at Rs 55 (Business Line, ... More

Jindal Strips and Jindal Stainless: Stay with stainless
Jindal Strips: Sell
Jindal Stainless: Hold More

Godrej Consumer Products: Book profits
THE financials of Godrej Consumer Products for the half-year and quarter ended September 2003 reiterate that the company is vulnerable to the challenging business environment for FMCGs, despite a good showing from some ... More

Indian Overseas Bank: Under valued
FRESH investments in the stock of Indian Overseas Bank can be considered. The stock offers a dividend yield of close to 5.3 per cent and is trading just marginally above its book value. It is also trading at a price to earnings multiple of three. ... More

Sundaram Clayton: Long-term buy
LONG-term investors can contemplate equity exposure in the company, as it is appears well positioned to capitalise on the improvement in the automobile sector. It has already come up with a sharp improvement in earnings in the recent quarters. ... More

Cash in partially on the uptrend
PRICES of stocks, across a swathe of industries, have risen sharply this year. A sizeable number of them have notched up gains in excess of 100 per cent. Business Line has buy/hold recommendations outstanding on a number of stocks. We ... More

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Positive long-term trend in Reliance
ITC (Rs 857.9): The stock failed to make headway on the upside. It, however, managed to hold on above the bearish trigger level of Rs 840 that was mentioned last week. It managed to stage a sharp recovery on Friday. The near-term ... More

Crucial support levels not breached
Preferred view: The much awaited downward correction set-in last week. The index dropped by about 9 per cent to the intra-day low of 1434.7 on Friday. The short-term outlook appears positive with a recovery to the 1540-1550 range ... More

Query corner
I am holding the Marico Industries (bought at Rs 221) and Essel Packaging (at Rs 240). Please advise whether to hold or exit. — Suresh Kumar Yadav Marico Industries (Rs 194.3): The stock has been confined to a narrow ... More

Focus of the week
Bharat Earth Movers (Rs 197.5): The stock has moved past the earlier mentioned (edition dated September 21) target zone of Rs 175-180. The stock appears to be in the early stages of a major bull run. A move to the near-term price target of ... More

CARS

Skoda Superb: The name says it all
IN THE world of automobiles, every manufacturer is a willing participant in the naming game. Choosing a name for a new car is an exercise that at times even precedes the start of conceptualisation. Most names border on ... More

TWO/THREE WHEELERS

Question `n' auto
I am 47 years old and have a Bajaj Chetak geared scooter. Nowadays, I find it difficult to kick-start the scooter and experience pain in my left hand while changing gears. Hence, I am planning to buy either a Honda Activa scooter or the TVS ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

Child plans: Shock-proofing their life
EVERY parent dreams to see his or her children grow into a successful person. To make your dreams come true and meet parental responsibilities, you have to think ahead and provide for future expenses as your child ... More

INSURANCE CORNER
LIC's New Bima Kiran
AFTER having a truly competitive product offering in the pure term assurance space, LIC's New Bima Kiran is a modified version of the plain vanilla term plan. Unlike pure term plans, this policy incorporates survival ... More

STOCK MARKETS

Up `n' down the street
iGate Global Solutions (Rs 177): The stock fell by 14.7 per cent after the company registered a net loss of Rs 1.2 crore for the quarter ending September 2003. Bag Films (Rs 10): The media stock fell 15.9 per cent during the week ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Tata Steel, Tata Motors remain in focus
THE market was volatile last week — while the first four days saw steep erosion in values, the last day (Friday) recovered a part of the losses. Volatility coupled with festive mood seemed to have taken away the investors' interest from the ... More

Using futures & options
How to become an option writer? What is the investment required to become option writer. Is it different from that of futures requirements? — Vijaya Kumar You can write options by instructing your broker to take a short position on ... More

Options guide

Futures guide

GOVT BONDS

The OMO mystery
THE Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will conduct open market operations (OMO) on October 23 and 27. What is OMO? It refers to the buying and selling of government bonds by the RBI. The central bank uses OMO as a monetary ... More

FIXED DEPOSITS

Can Fin Homes: Take shelter for a year
THE fixed deposit programme of Can Fin Homes is open for investment. The interest rates on the cumulative scheme is on a par with the industry major HDFC, but higher (by 50-75 basis points) than banks. Being a housing ... More

INTERVIEW

`Portfolio restructuring is paying off' — Interview with Mr P.G.R Prasad and Mr N. Sethuram, SBI Mutual Fund
`There are a couple of issues about this rally. It is driven mainly by FII money, so the volatility is pronounced. Secondly, no fresh capacity is being built in the economy. We are trying to cash in on the rally by paying out dividends on all our equ ity funds.' More

INCOME TAX

Leave travel: Out of India, out of pocket
IF A SALARIED employee takes a package tour to a foreign destination and if such person is in receipt of leave travel concession, can he claim exemption under Section 10(5) in respect of the travel expenditure on the ... More

RIGHTS ISSUES

IDBI Bank: Subscribe
INVESTMENTS in the rights offer of IDBI Bank can be considered. The offer price of Rs 22 is attractive, considering the company's fundamentals. In addition, the offer is being made at a considerable discount to the ... More

CARTOON