Take it easy policy

Pedestrians pose with a waxwork figure of US Presidentelect Donald Trump prepared to be placed on a street in Seoul S Korea Most Asian markets turned lower with nervous investors awaiting the Trump effect PicAFPThe markets were directionless for the first four days and then a sharp correction on Friday saw markets end the week on a depressed note The BSE SENSEX lost 20356 points or 075 per cent to close the week at 2703450 points NIFTY lost 51 points or 061 per cent to close at 834935 points Broader markets saw the BSE100 BSE200 and BSE500 lose 043 per cent 036 per cent and 031 per cent respectively BSEMIDCAP was down 044 per cent but BSESMALLCAP was up 088 per centUnion Finance Minister and BJP leader Arun Jaitley during a press conference in Amritsar PicPTIThe top sectoral gainer was BSEFMCG up 187 per cent followed by BSECONDUR at 088 per cent The top sectoral loser was BSEOILampGAS down 1335 followed by BSEHEACARE 130 per cent and BSEIT 120 per cent In individual stocks the top gainer was Hind Unilever up 4 per cent followed by DLF 363 per cent and ITC 238 per cent The losers were led by Reliance down 591 per cent followed by Axis Bank 475 per cent and Coal India 351 per centBuy American Hire AmericansThe 45th President of the USA Donald Trump was sworn in on Friday January 20 He has launched a punch line of lsquoBuy American Hire Americansrsquo While there is nothing new in the line itself ramifications could be far reaching Countries like China could get affected in terms of trade India may get affected in terms of its offshoring of IT professionals On the other hand one needs to see what happens going forward on statements made by the President This election was fought at a very low standard and there was acrimony during the campaignThe Dow Jones lost 5848 points or 029 per cent for the week to close at 1982725 points The Dow was weak before the Presidentrsquos swearing in began on Friday and was down just short of a 100 points It finally closed on Friday with a gain of 95 points The Indian Rupee lost 3 paisa or 004 per cent to close at Rs 6818Close look at fundsThe CPSEETF received an excellent response in primary markets The issue is oversubscribed As this is a fund offering having no bidding details of subscription category wise would be known only a couple of days later From estimates it appears that retail portion saw bids of around Rs 2500 crore Pension funds have also bid aggressively The issue has preference or retail investors with the entire 4200 crore available for subscription followed by pension funds and only then QIBs and HNIs The possibility of the last two not getting allotment or only a very small portion is quite likelyUpper hand for bullsThe other issue from BSE which opens for subscription on Monday January 23 and closes on Wednesday January 25 is seeing a lot of interest The exchange is offering 108 lakh shares in a price band of R 805806 The issue would raise Rs 1243 crore in total from the offer for sale This would be the second listing of an exchange in India after MCX There is an active grey market currently in this share with a premium of almost about 16185 over the issue price The company on Friday allotted 4628 lakh shares at R 806 to 25 anchor investors comprising 38 entities The highest allocation was made to Smallcap World Fund which was allotted 868500 shares or 1877 per cent of the anchor allocation The list has a large number of marquee investors and domestic mutual funds too January series expires on Wednesday January 25 as Thursday is a Republic Day holidayThe current value of NIFTY of 834935 points is higher by 24575 points or 303 per cent compared to the December close The gain is substantial It gives the bulls an upper hand One never knows what the market has in store With a mere three days to go the series should go in favour of bulls but with a lesser leadExpectations from the budgetThe budget is expected to be announced on Wednesday February 1 The expectation is some reduction in direct taxes for individuals and corporates Corporate as per the roadmap announced by the Financial Minister A Jaitely some time ago The idea of personal tax would be to sooth feelings of the common man after the November 8 event The Govt has ample money in the kitty and some of that could be used productively to induce growth through higher spending in the infrastructure space I also believe some measures on affordable housing should also be announced so that a meaningful thrust could be given there Markets seem to be going nowhere The prebudget rally seems to be done and we would be trading in a listless manner Stay on the sidelines right now and use any sharp dips or rallies to enterArun Kejriwal is founder of the Mumbaibased advisory firm Kejriwal Research amp Investment Services Pvt Ltd Disclaimer No financial information whatsoever published anywhere in this newspaper should be construed as an offer to buy or sell securities or as advice to do so in any way whatsoever All matter published here is for educational and information purposes only