The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, March 27, 2005

Trends in mutual fund flows — Is shift to equities sustainable?
RECENT trends in mutual fund flows suggest that the Indian investor is regaining his appetite for equities. But is he willing to make them a part of his regular diet? The evidence on this is not conclusive. For ... More

Commodity stocks: Hedging a possible dollar fall
The continued fall in the dollar and a weaker US economy do not augur well for most industries. There is thus a strong need to hedge the dollar decline, and commodities fit the bill. More

NTPC: Better to stick to one's knitting
HOW about a newspaper publisher venturing backwards into the business of newsprint production just so that his main raw material source is protected? Or an automobile manufacturer foraying into steel production for the ... More

MUTUAL FUNDS

Reliance MF declares bonus and dividends

Reliance Mutual has declared a dividend of 50 per cent each for Reliance Vision Fund and Reliance Growth Fund and a dividend of 30 per cent of Reliance Banking Fund. The fund has declared a bonus in the ratio of 2 units for every 5 units for ... More

SPOTLIGHT
ABN Amro Equity Fund: Hold
INVESTORS in ABN Amro Equity Fund can continue to hold their exposures. Its performance in the first six months after launch has been impressive. It has raked in returns of 35 per cent, beating the market in the ... More

PruICICI Tax Plan: Invest in small lots
AN investment may be considered in PruICICI Tax Plan as part of a portfolio of tax-saving funds. The fund has through an aggressive strategy moved to the forefront of performers in this category. It has benefited from a ... More

Equity funds to supplement pension
I work in the railways as Office Superintendent with a gross pay of Rs 11,500 per month. I am entitled to pension after retirement and have around nine years of service left. I want to build a retirement corpus through mutual fund ... More

STOCKS

Coromandel Fertilisers: Buy
INVESTORS can add the Coromandel Fertilisers stock to their portfolio with a long-term investment perspective. At about Rs 200, the stock trades at a modest price-earnings multiple of about eight times its trailing 12-month earnings. A large ... More

Tata Tea: Hold
TATA TEA shareholders can retain their holdings of the stock. At the current price of Rs 500, the stock trades at about 12 times its likely consolidated per share earnings for FY-05. The company's margins could, ... More

SKF India: Book profits
THE financial performance of SKF India for the year ended December 2004 reflects the buoyant environment that has prevailed in the bearing industry during this period. Being a market leader, the company has ... More

Goodlass Nerolac: Book profits/Re-enter at lower levels
INVESTORS can consider booking profits in the Goodlass Nerolac stock and contemplate re-entry at lower levels. Business Line has `buy' recommendations on the stock at multiple price points; however, in the ... More

Alfa Laval: Hold
SHAREHOLDERS of Alfa Laval can retain their exposure in the stock though the company may be hard-pressed to repeat the robust earnings growth of the past couple of years. Higher prices of steel and other commodities ... More

TAXATION

From one land to another

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Bearish trend likely in the Nifty
Preferred view: Contrary to the anticipated short-term positive outlook, a bearish trend prevailed in the Nifty during the past week. The failure to move past the positive trigger level of 2127 and the drop below the negative ... More

A feeble recovery in Reliance
Reliance Ind (Rs 560.1): After a weak trend in the first two days of the week, the stock recovered ground in the last couple of trading sessions. The recent recovery appears to be just a correction to the earlier fall. The stock is ... More

Focus of the week
Great Eastern Shipping (Rs 153.5): After topping out at Rs 199.4 in November 2004, the stock has been in a corrective phase. This corrective phase does not appear complete. The near-term outlook is bearish and a drop to Rs 135-140 range ... More

Query corner

CARS

Wah! Innova
TOYOTA is one of the most envied automobile companies in the world. The ability to manufacture at low costs and yet offer extremely reliable vehicles with high quality has been instrumental in its becoming the ... More

A quality replacement for the Qualis
WHICHEVER way you look at it, the Innova is quite clearly a family van or multi-purpose vehicle. Unlike the Qualis, the Innova does not attempt tricking the onlooker into thinking that it has SUV credentials. So, it's ... More

What's this IMV project?
ON ITS way to becoming the world's second largest and the most profitable manufacturer of automobiles, Toyota has been on the quest to cut costs, even while maintaining the highest standards of quality for its vehicles. ... More

Engine analytics
THE Innova is being offered with two engine options — a 2.5-litre common-rail diesel engine and a two-litre, VVT-i petrol engine. The newly developed D-4D, common rail direct injection diesel (named 2KD-FTV) engine is specially tuned for ... More

ECONOMICS

Shangri-La economics
IF YOU are working for a professional firm, chances are your salary would have increased sizeably in the last 5-8 years. But has that improved your quality of life, or the standard of living as it is called in ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Nifty may stay volatile
THERE was no let up in the selling pressure in equities in the spot market; but that did not deter market participants from entering in to the derivative segment in the penultimate week of settlement of March contracts. The average daily ... More

Risk arrays in SPAN
THE objective of SPAN is to identify overall risk in a portfolio of futures and options contracts for each member. The system treats futures and options contracts uniformly, while at the same time recognising the unique exposures associated with ... More

Options guide

Futures guide

CORPORATE BONDS

IDBI Flexibonds: Not the preferred option
Tax Saving Bond: Avoid More

ICICI Bonds: For high net worth investors
Tax Savings Bond: Avoid More

FIXED DEPOSITS

FD options
THE recent Budget plans to do away with Section 80 L, which exempted interest on certain types of debt investment from tax. Once the proposal takes effect, investment in small-saving schemes and bank deposits would ... More

INCOME TAX

No compulsion to give old salary details to new employer
IF AN employee fails to submit the salary certificate from his previous employer or does not furnish the particulars of the salary drawn from the previous employer in form 12B, is it necessary that the present employer ... More

IPOS

3i Infotech: Invest at Rs 100
AN INVESTMENT can be made at the upper end of the price band of Rs 90-100 in the book-built public offer of 3i Infotech, formerly, ICICI Infotech. Investors seeking to diversify their IT portfolio will find 3i ... More

BOOKS

Diversify both your human and financial capital
YOU'RE working in the trenches, making money; but how current are you? To help stay in tune with strategies that continue to be explored, and tactics that change "almost as quickly as the markets," here is Bloomberg's ... More

CARTOON