FDI: Disinvestment obligation may go

With a view to removing an irritant for foreign investors, the government is likely to do away with rules that put an obligation, mainly on overseas oil firms, to disinvest part of their equity to Indian investors.

The Petroleum Ministry has agreed to the proposal of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and it would be taken to the Cabinet along with the general review of the FDI policy in September.

"The obligation to disinvest has not served any great public purpose. In most of the cases, it ended up being a bureaucratic hassle for the foreign firms operating in India," a senior official said.

Read more in Financial Express

Crashes let big FIIs grab shares worth Rs676cr

Jitters in overseas markets sent the domestic bourses crashing twice in the past eight days, but foreign investors were busy grabbing stocks here seeing attractive buying opportunities after the 1,000-point plunge.

Some big names of the FII clan, including Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, purchased stocks worth over Rs 676 crore between July 27 and August 1, when the market recorded its two biggest crashes of this fiscal.

Interestingly, most purchases were recorded on these two days only, even as the overall market sentiment was bearish following the 542 and 615-point fall in the benchmark Sensex.

An analysis of the bulk and block deals recorded on the stocks exchanges shows that foreign funds purchased shares worth Rs 676.32 crore in the period when the Sensex tanked over 1,000 points in two routs between July 27 and August 1.

Besides, the funds are believed to have purchased additional stocks in smaller quantities, but their exact estimates could not be known. Bulk deal refers to trading in a company's shares for over 0.5% of the total shares of the firm listed on the exchange.

FII inflow in July highest since ’93

NEW DELHI: The net FII inflow in the cash market in July was the highest ever on a monthly basis since FIIs started investing in 1993. Year-to-date, FIIs have purchased securities worth $ 11.8 billion through the cash and derivatives segments.

While FII inflows into the cash market were positive for a seventh month running, domestic institutions were net sellers after three months of buying. In July, India outperformed emerging markets and Asia, according to Morgan Stanley estimates.

In July, India’s performance ranking among emerging markets rose to 8th position. On a 12-month trailing basis, India continues to outperform emerging markets and Asia, even as it marginally underperforms emerging Asian markets in 2007.

Utilities was the best performing sector in July, for a second month running, whereas healthcare was the worst sector. Energy remains the best performing sector on a year-to-date basis, and healthcare slipped to the bottom in July on the same parameter.

Read more in The Economic Times

FIIs net buyers of Rs 713cr in cash mkt today

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers of Rs 712.70 crore (provisional) today, according to data released by BSE.

While FIIs made gross purchases of Rs 2,439.25 crore, gross sales totalled Rs 1,726.55 crore.

FIIs were net buyers of Rs 164.50 crore on Wednesday, March 21, according to data released by Sebi today. While FIIs made gross purchases of Rs 1,395.40 crore, gross sales totalled Rs 1,230.90 crore.