The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, July 27, 2003

PSBs: Performing assets, now
TIMES have never been better for public sector banks (PSBs). For years, even their business model was in doubt. All that has changed now. They are minting profits and the return on their assets has improved too . ... More

NPA management: The key to enhanced yields
THE Oriental Bank of Commerce and Bank of India cases highlight the ability of NPA management to boost profitability. In 2002-03, Oriental Bank of Commerce recovered Rs 492 crore of advances previously classified as ... More

Low-cost deposits: The arbiter of fortunes
ALMOST all PSBs, irrespective of their size or place of operations, seem set to record reasonable profit growth in 2003-04. However, that does not mean that all of them will continue to remain in the pink in the ... More

Bank stocks are risky
ORDINARILY bank stocks are considered least risky. These are, however, not ordinary times. There are factors at work that make investing in larger bank stocks a risky proposition. The catalysts, which will unlock ... More

INSIGHT

Car finance options — Drive off with a smart deal
OVER the last five years, the dream of owning a car has been coming true more and more easily for the country's burgeoning middle-class. Among the factors most responsible for this rapid motorisation is the ... More

More wheels in each segment
BETWEEN 1998-99 and 2002-03, new passenger vehicle registrations grew an average of 15 per cent plus, due largely to the flood of new products in the small car segment. The car market is set for further expansion on the ... More

Sensex free-float: A stock taking
The shift to free-float methodology for calculating Sensex values leads to decline in weight of stocks such as HLL. These could consequently suffer a temporary decline in value. More

Software sector — Beyond near-term concerns
EARLY this week, senior officials of IBM, speaking to The New York Times, reiterated the need to speed efforts to move white-collar jobs overseas, to India and elsewhere. Such statements made in recent times ... More

Asset disposal — Sabotaging the sale
THE proposals to place restrictions on the sale of assets by companies, especially through the subsidiary route, is bound to be a setback to corporate restructuring plans. The Centre is to make changes to the legal ... More

MUTUAL FUNDS

HDFC Growth: Sell
INVESTORS can contemplate cutting their holdings in the HDFC Growth Fund. The performance of the fund has shown a marked improvement over the last three months. During this period, the NAV has risen about 35 per cent. ... More

Tata Pure Equity: Hold
FRESH investments need not be considered in Tata Pure Equity. While its performance in the last 12 months has been impressive, the longer-term record has not been encouraging when compared to its peers. There is the ... More

Sundaram Select Focus: Hold
INVESTORS in Sundaram Select Focus can stay invested despite the sharp run-up in the NAV in the last three months. The fund has been aggressively managed with a frequent churning of the sector-specific and stock ... More

STOCKS

Bharti Tele-Ventures: Hold
Spurt in mobile connections and usage are encouraging. But any unfavourable reulatory moves, declining revenue per user and tariff wars may affect growth, says Krishnan Thiagarajan. More

TajGVK Hotels: Buy
LONG-TERM investors can invest in the stock of TajGVK Hotels and Resorts, as it would offer a good exposure to the uptick in the hotel industry. The company, a joint venture between the Tatas and the GVK group, is ... More

Titan Industries: Buy
FRESH exposures can be considered in Titan Industries at the current market price of Rs 63. The booming jewellery business and a strong growth in the watch business, despite tough competition, indicate better ... More

Satyam Computers: Book profits
SHAREHOLDERS can use the recent rally in the Satyam Computer stock price to book profits. Despite an improved performance in the April-June quarter, the outlook continues to be clouded. The company has revised its ... More

Ranbaxy Laboratories: Hold
SHAREHOLDERS of Ranbaxy Laboratories can remain invested in the stock, in the light of the good performance in the quarter ending June. Fresh exposures to the stock, which has run up sharply over the past couple of ... More

ACC: Good value at play
INVESTORS with a penchant for high risk can consider exposures in the ACC stock as the prospect of an open offer by Gujarat Ambuja, or a hostile bid by an MNC, cannot still be ruled out. The fundamentals look set to get consistently better. ... More

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Sustained uptrend in Nifty
After the downward correction that lasted three days, the index managed to stage a sharp recovery in the last two trading days of the week. As a result, the near-term trend has now turned positive. The index appears on course to break the key ... More

Query Corner
I purchased Hinduja TMT at Rs 250, Indswift at Rs 78 and Jindal strips at Rs 258. I want to know the short-term outlook for the above stocks. — N.G. Rao Hinduja TMT (Rs 224.8): The overall outlook for the stock appears ... More

Positive trend in Bongaigaon
ITC (Rs 735.6): After a drop below the bearish trigger price of Rs 730, the stock staged a sharp recovery on Thursday. It is now stuck in a trading range. The momentum required to sustain a steady move in either direction is lacking at ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

Pure plan terms — Just protection for family
AJAY, a well-settled professional in his early thirties and blessed with two young children and a lovely wife, leads a happy life. One day, a morose thought strikes him: "What will happen to my family if I were to ... More

INSURANCE CORNER
ICICI Pru's ForeverLife
THE importance of a having sufficient funds at one's disposal to meet an exigency after retirement cannot be emphasised enough. It is to address this need that insurance companies have launched pension plans. This week ... More

STOCK MARKETS

Metal bigwigs sizzle
FERROUS and non-ferrous metal majors such as Tata Steel, Hindalco, National Aluminium and SAIL have been on a steady uptrend. The impressive earnings numbers of Tata Steel may also help extend this trend. Stocks of small-sized steel industry ... More

What is a free-float index?
THE BSE Sensex will become a free-float index from September 1. What is a free-float index? To understand this, let us look at a market-weighted index. Assume a one-stock index. Suppose the price of this stock was Rs ... More

Avon Organics up on monsoon hopes
Avon Organics (Rs 59): The company, which is involved in the manufacture of ingredients used in of pesticides, saw its stock price receive a boost in the anticipation of good monsoons. The stock put on in excess of 30 per cent over the ... More

DEBT MARKET

Short-term bonds likely to perform better
THE yield curve shifted marginally downwards week-on-week. The 10-year bond yield closed at an all-time low of 5.67 per cent. Going forward, bonds are likely to remain bid, with those at the short-end likely to outperform the ones at the ... More

DERIVATIVES MARKETS

Trading interest shifts to August contracts
Open interest of stocks such as Tata Steel, Mastek, Shipping Corporation stood at more than 90 per cent of the market wide position limits. The July contracts have four trading day before expiry. More

DO THE DERIVATIVES
Theta, Greek The III
USING options as an occasional investor or a hedger or as a speculator, you could understand the changes in option premium better if you know the Greeks. Greeks help in explaining why the option premium changes the way they do. Recap: ... More

Options guide

FIXED DEPOSITS

Ashok Leyland Finance: On track
THE fixed deposit programme of Ashok Leyland Finance is one of the better fixed-income options available in the market. Not only are the interest rates attractive, they are also higher than the general market rates at ... More

INCOME TAX

Tax rates and turnover for trading gains
I AM engaged in the buying and selling of shares on the same day. You have earlier clarified through this column that such buying and selling is to be treated as a speculative business. Will such profit from a ... More

CARTOON