Himachal Futuristic up on JV talks

Even as most technology stocks continued to wilt under selling pressure at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Wednesday, shares of Himachal Futuristics Communications moved up by Rs 101.10 (or 6.67 per cent) from its previous close of Rs 1,513.95. At noon, the scrip was trading at Rs 1615.05, with the counter clocking volumes of over 4.5 million shares during mid-day trades.

Market sources say the Himachal share is being driven up by news that the company is getting into a joint venture with US-based software company Globalsign Inc. The fact that the stock is in the no-delivery period is another reason for the rise in the scrip, sources say.

Himachal is forming two joint ventures with Globalsign - Indiasign Pvt Ltd and India Centre for Net Security Pvt Ltd. Both the ventures will have an investment of around Rs 150 million each. While Indiasign will offer key infrastructure solutions, the other company will focus on developing security solutions for online businesses and intranets.

Last week, the company announced that it planned to invest up to Rs 510 million in a joint venture with PBL Mauritius, a Kerry Packer Group company. The joint venture will foray into the media and entertainment business, focusing on areas like radio, television, films, magazines, music and interactive services.

While most analysts say that the share is witnessing speculative activity due to the no-delivery period, others say there is fund buying in the counter. Some dealers expect the share price to rise further in the no-delivery period. "It will be purely speculation and day-trader driven," says a BSE broker. He adds that the stock has perplexed the market time and again by moving up very strongly on dull days. On Tuesday, it was one of the very few gainers on the BSE.

The share has been making some gain in the past and is now safely over the 52-week low of Rs 224.75. The scrip touched a high of Rs 2,552.90 this year. On August 22, the scrip was at Rs 1,592, up sharply from the previous week's levels of Rs 1,182.65. It lost almost Rs 200 the following week. This week, the share seems to have recovered all of that.

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