DSP Merrill AMC refocuses to widen reach
Mumbai: According to Mr. Alok Vajpeyi, chief operating officer, DSP Merrill Lynch Asset Management (India) Ltd, the company is gearing up to expand and improve its distribution channels in an effort to reach and provide its services to a larger investor base.

It is broad basing its distribution network by recruiting people to promote and look after its investor services and needs in cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi and Calcutta. The company also plans to use technology -- the Internet, e-commerce facilities and wireless telephone applications -- to enhance its service and reach to its investors.

While the company plans to opt for third party distribution, as it does not intend to directly distribute to the investors at this point of time, it is hoping that with the enabling of the technology services, investors should be able to get back to the company to deal directly with them to resolve their problems or queries.

The company is said to have plans to launch some new funds later this year are also on the cards.
Back to News Review index page  

Market may rebound on "feel good" factor
Mumbai: With the last week showing signs of the downtrend bottoming out, equity analysts predict further gains in the week ahead with share prices having ended the settlement on a firmer footing. Thursday's caution gave way to Friday's optimism, as equities moved into positive territory on the back of short-covering and heavy value-based foreign fund buying.

Leading market participants are convinced that the week ahead will see the Sensex hit the magic figure of 5000. They are of the opinion that the "feel good" factor has come back into the market. Apart from value-buying by foreign funds, the "dormant" domestic funds have started picking up stocks. This, coupled with the fact that the market's buoyancy, particularly in technology shares, has coincided with the re-entry of certain bull operators last week, who increasingly play a major role in the market movements.

One section of the market feels that there is plenty of liquidity is around, the fundamentals are positive and the Nasdaq composite index has stabilized, leading to the positive sentiment in the market.

According to Mr. Gul Tekchandani, chief investment officer with a leading FII, considering the relook at price multiples of stocks, buying of late has become value-conscious and the recent battering has ensured that people will be more discreet in their buying.

The counters that have moved into rolling settlement with effect from last week should also see their prices moving northwards, marketmen said. This is because, investors would have lodged their physical certificates for dematerialisation, which would take atleast two to three weeks. Therefore, any buying in the absence liquidity could send the stock prices upwards, marketmen said.

The badla session at the BSE on Saturday saw the rates hover around 8 per cent. A senior BSE member said that the sentiment was better as the badla rates were slightly better than the previous week.

A large section of marketmen feel that SEBI could remove rolling settlement to infuse liquidity. Market grapevine also has it that this could be done to bail out some of the financial institutions, which are stuck with the second and third-rung ICE counters.

Yet, there is no denying that a section of retail investors and funds has been prompted back into the market. A section of marketmen believe that the relaxation in price bands has provided an exit and entry option to the retail investor, thereby increasing the comfort level.

Since there is a `cautious optimism' among operators, any large-scale upward movement is not possible.
 Back to News Review index page  

Listing by foreign firms on Indian stock exchanges shelved
New Delhi: In a move that is likely to dampen the market functionaries, the government has shelved plans to permit foreign companies to list on Indian stock exchanges. The decision was taken by the standing committee of the High Level Group on Capital Markets headed by Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan last week.

Since the current thinking is that listing would be allowed only if foreign companies agreed not to repatriate the proceeds of any public offerings made within the country, the government felt that it would not provide any incentive to foreign companies and hence the move should be deferred.

The proposal which has been under consideration for some time had run into rough weather earlier with the Reserve Bank of India voicing its concerns regarding potential pressures on the balance of payments if the companies were allowed to repatriate funds from India.

The issue of permitting foreign companies to list in India came up first in the context of a state-owned Sri Lankan company. It was suggested that the company be allowed to offload its stakes in the Indian markets as part of its plans to privatise.

At present, since the government does not permit full convertibility of the rupee on the capital account, the decision required the joint concurrence of RBI and finance ministry.
Back to News Review index page