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Shares of mid- and small-cap shares were hammered on Tuesday, even as the Nifty 50 index closed flat after hitting a fresh record high. Given the spectacular run-up in these stocks over the past few months, some profit booking was only to be expected as valuations were looking stretched.
But there was also talk in dealing circles that a well-known European financial services firm was dumping a basket of mid- and small-cap stocks, adding to the selling fury. WhatsApp forwards doing the rounds said a Hong Kong-based employee of the firm managing a proprietary fund investing in Indian stocks was fired over charges of front running/kickbacks. As a result, many of the stocks bought in that fund were being liquidated at whatever price available.
Moneycontrol could not verify this information independently, and given the sensitive nature of the allegation, has chosen not to name the firm and the employee concerned. However, a questionnaire has been sent to the financial services firm and the story will be updated once we hear from them.
This particular financial services firm’s name has been figuring prominently in the stock exchange’s bulk deal disclosures, since May this year, mostly on the buying side. While the fund has invested in some of reputed mid- and small-cap names, there are plenty of dubious names as well on that list.
Also, traders tracking some of these stocks said that there have been instances where the fund’s name figured in the bulk deals as the buyer, but the shareholding data disclosed by the company for that quarter did not mention the fund. Purchases by a foreign institutional investor (FII) usually improves the perception about a stock, more so if it happens to be a mid- or small-cap company. Traders said the fund may have at times created a positive buzz around a stock by buying it in large quantities so as to attract attention, and then paring its positions by selling it in small blocks.
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