Weekly news update

Submitted by Ankush Gupta

Big FIIs cash out after making listing gains

– Most recent listings have plunged below their IPO prices partly due to sale by these funds and also because of unsustainable valuations at which they are sold compared to their earnings and revenues

– Many investors have started to lock up their gains as they believe that the current optimism may not last or that the IPOs would not rise beyond a point since they are steeply priced

DOT, Defence ministry may spar again

– The telecom ministry has sought that all airwaves controlled by the defence ministry will fall under the jurisdiction of the proposed spectrum regulator.

– The department of telecom has prepared the draft bill on the National Radio Regulatory Authority of India which will handle all the issues related to allocation, pricing, monitoring and withdrawal of all airwaves. The frequencies on which all communication signals travel.

Industrial growth back on track

– Industrial growth appears to have picked up again after worrying signs of slowdown in the last couple of months

– PMI is a survey based compilation of manufacturing sentiment and is considered a good leading indicators of factory output

– An index level above 50 indicates expansion and higher the index above that threshold greater the increase in growth

Close foreign loan windows for LLPs

– The finance ministry and Reserve Bank of India have opposed changes in the external commercial borrowings policy to allow overseas borrowings by LLps

– The finance ministry is of the view that while FDI can be allowed in this form of business entities but not overseas debt

– The current policy allows companies to raise ECBs but sole proprietorship firms and partnerships are prohibited from accessing such debt

FINMIN to let SEBI act against insider trading

– Insider trading regulations will get greater legal sanctity and permanence with the finance ministry looking at amendments to include detailed regulations in the SEBI act

– Insider trading refers to purchase or sale of shares by someone who possesses inside or prior information about a company’s performance and prospects which is not yet available to the ordinary investors and which if available might affect its share price.

FCCB holders move SEBI against Shree Ashtavinayak

– Two global hedge funds owned by JP-Morgan, US-based QVT and high bridge capital have approached capital market regulator SEBI and the ministry of corporate affairs against Shree Ashtavinayak for preventing them from converting their foreign currency convertible bonds or FCCBs, into shares.

– These two funds had invested $19 million in FCCBs of Shree Ashtavinayak in 2007

Thanks