Last minute buying interest at some of the market favourite counters did add some colour to the otherwise lacklustre trading session. The Sensex is facing some hiccups on the threshold of the crucial 4000 mark, which only the American investors can help overcome. There is a fair bit of buying interest in some of the old economy counters. And considering that many funds are sitting on cash, the rally could spread on to other counters as well. But, once again, these are one of the many `ifs' and `buts' which help players to maintain their optmistic outlook.Crack in the wall
The ACC scrip managed to shake off the hangover of Monday's sell and finished among the prominent gainers of the day. On Monday, the HS Busy Asset Management is reported to have dumped close to 6.5 lakh shares, causing prices to wobble. However, the Indo Camera Fund alias Cane-Bank Offshore along with the Prudent Fund is reported to have picked up a little over 2 lakh shares on the same day. The firm prices today indicate that the buyers could have added some more shares to their kitty.
Similarly, Infosys Technologies too made a spirited come back, thanks to some sustained buying interest. Close to 60,000 shares are reported to have been dumped between the Cross Bee and the Dutch brokerages on Monday.
However, close to 50,000 shares are reported to have been picked up by the CSFB brokerage on Tuesday.
Reverse swing
It seems to be a season of comebacks as far as software stocks are concerned. First NIIT, then Satyam and the latest one to join the list is SSI. After coming in for some heavy punishment from some of the local institutional players, the SSI scrip now seems to be making a determined comeback.
The Tumble Ton fund is reported to have been an aggressive buyer at the counter over the past couple of trading sessions. On Monday, close to 1.5 lakh shares are reported to have been picked up between Tumble and Big Daddy, the former accounting for a lion's share. On Tuesday, too, close to a lakh of shares is reported to have been picked up with Tumble tipped as the prominent buyer.
And if you thought that Tumble Ton is extremely choosy about valuations, it is the more aggressive US faction of the AMC who is making the purchases.
Satyam deals
The Satyam Computer scrip managed to remain steady in the absence of any major institutional buying interest on Tuesday. On Monday, Say-Yes-If-Be had picked up around 8 lakh shares on behalf of one of its clients, Golden Socks picked up close to 3 lakh shares while Merry Lynch is reported to have picked up around 40,0000 shares. The Dutch brokerage's sale of about 3 lakh shares on the same day failed to dampen sentiment.
Coming to Golden Socks, it is still reported to be shopping at the MTNL counter.
Once too often?
While a good section of the market is expecting the Sensex to consolidate around 4200 levels, the Global brokerage is convinced that the Sensex has to go back to around 3500 levels. Even if it does manage to cross the 4000 mark in the short term. In the firm's own words, Infosys, Wipro and SSI are looking extremely weak and can decline to prices of Rs 5,000-5,500, Rs 1,500-1,700 and Rs 1,400-1,600 respectively. The same holds true for its pet stocks NIIT, Digital and HFCL though no price targets have been mentioned. As for Reliance, the house expects the scrip to fall to around Rs 250-270 levels.
Santosh Nair (e-mail: santoshnair@myiris.com)
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