ICICI Direct has been our example throughout this article and they are without doubt one of the best. They normally give you three accounts 1. savings, 2. trading 3. DMAT. With these three accounts you are ready to go. Through their extensive demo sections available online at icicidirect, you can begin to trade fairly easily.

Apart from ICICI online trading service which can be visited at icicidirect.com, there are many other well known share trading facilitators in India. Some of those have been listed below. A serious evaluation of their services, charges, and efficiency is beyond our scope and intention.

Sharekhan - Headquartered in Mumbai, they have branches across the country and these branches provide full fledged services to its members. Portal address is sahrekhan.com. “SSKI, a veteran equities solutions company with over eight decades of experience in the Indian stock markets” they state on their website. They also proclaim that “they help you make informed decisions and simplifies stock investments”. “In fact Sharekhan runs India’s largest chain of share shops with over hundred outlets across 213 cities!” according to them.

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After being in the red for three consecutive sessions, in the wake of the controversy over the SEBI’s proposal on P-Notes, the BSE-Benchmark Sensex ended positive on Monday.

The Sensex gained 54 points and closed at 17613.99. By Friday, when the index closed at 17559.98, it had lost almost 1,500 points from 19,174.45.

The FIIs were net sellers on Monday, but there was some amount of buying from the local f Fresh fundsunds. However, smaller FIIs seem to be getting out of the market, thus affecting the liquidity, said a dealer with the Emkay Institutional Dealing Desk.

FII net sellers

FIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,290 crore, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.

As per the SEBI, FIIs have been net sellers to the tune of Rs 3,215.50 crore, these are the trades conducted on and up to October 19.

Market men believe that the SEBI norm is going to hit hedge funds, and in short-term it will have serious liquidity impacts.

“The FIIs have calmed down a bit after today’s meeting, although all their concerns might not have been addressed yet. But it seems as though most of the FIIs are willing to register themselves,” said Mr Sanjay Someshwar, sub-broker, Ventura Securities.

Fresh funds

“There are fresh FII applications for registration, which could bring in fresh funds to the market. This is seen as a positive element by the market participants,” said a technical analyst with a broking firm.

“Till Tuesday, rollovers were below average because of the impending SEBI meeting, but we will have to see the rollover positions happening from Tuesday onwards as they will be indicative of the future trends in the market,” said Mr Aalap Shah, Derivative Analyst, Dolat Capital Market Pvt Ltd.

Among the sectoral indices, BSE-BankEX was up 2.17 per cent, consumer durables and capital goods were also up 0.52 per cent and 0.90 per cent, respectively.

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The stock market went on a roller-coaster ride once again, keeping investors on the tenterhooks. After the wobbly Wednesday, the market witnessed choppy trade on Thursday, swinging between positive and negative zones. Heavy selling towards the latter part of the trading session pulled the benchmark Sensex down by 717 points.

Shrugging off concerns arising from the Securities & Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) proposal to clamp down on FII inflows through participatory notes (PNs), the market surged to an all-time high in early afternoon trade. The Sensex rose by 483 points, hitting an all-time peak and wiping out Wednesday’s losses completely.

But bears roared back into action soon and stocks started tumbling. The widely tracked index even plunged 944 points at one stage. The Sensex finally closed at 17.998.39, down 717 points or 3.83 per cent. The Sensex swung 1,428 points in highly volatile trade today. The market was agog with rumours that the National Stock Exchange (NSE) had raised some futures and options margins, prompting many traders to press the sell button. However, the NSE did not announce any such hike in margins. Dealers said the the market will take a few days to stabilise following the Sebi move to curtail FII inflows through the PN route.

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India has emerged as the second most-attractive location after China, ahead of the US and Russia, for global foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2007. According to Unctad’s world investment report, released here on Tuesday, India’s ranking in inward FDI performance index has also improved to 113 in 2006 from 121 in 2005. China is the most preferred investment location, followed by India, the US, the Russian Federation and Brazil, the report said.

The share of India and China in total global FDI outflows has also risen. While both accounted for 10% of total FDI outflows in 2005 in the Asian region, it increased to 25% in 2007. While China’s outflows increased 32% to $16 billion in 2006, Indian outflows witnessed a four-time rise since 2004.

On the increased flow of FDI into India, the report pointed out that while foreign retailers such as Wal-Mart had started to enter the Indian market, a number of US companies such as General Motors and IBM are rapidly expanding their presence in the country. So are several large Japanese MNCs such as Toyota and Nissan. Global FDI inflows soared in 2006 to reach $1,306 billion, showing a growth of 38%.

Commenting on the rising outflow of FDI from the two countries, the report said both China and India are throwing up competition for countries like Hong Kong (China), the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Taiwan as the main sources of FDI in developing Asia.

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After a free fall of over 1,700 points, the stock market barometer Sensex staged a smart recovery after resumption of trade and was hovering just 211 points lower from the previous close at midsession on Wednesday.

The index recovered about 1,533 of the 1,754 points it tanked in the morning and was trading at 18,841.29 at 1330 hrs.

The losses were cut thanks to comforting statement from Finance Minister P Chidambaram that the government was not against Participatory Notes (PNs) - moves to curb whose issuance triggered the fall in the first place.

Market regulator SEBI Tuesday brought out a discussion paper inviting comments from the public by October 20 on its proposal to curb issuance of Offshore Derivative Instruments such as PNs by Foreign Institutional Investors.

The fall within minutes of opening of trading prompted the Bombay Stock Exchange to suspend trading for an hour.

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At long last…

After spending the last 29 hours on various planes and stuck inside airports, I finally
made it to Mumbai, India last night.

Let me tell you… it’s hot here. And I’m not talking about the weather. The
Bombay Stock Exchange hit a new all-time high last Thursday and has broken
through the 19,000 level. That’s almost double where it was this time last year.

Great news, you say. Well, yes and no. Although the country and stock market
is flourishing right now, the rapid growth is scaring many investors. And that’s why
I’m here. I’m leading an investment research trip, taking in the country’s hotspots, examining its rapidly emerging market, meeting with several companies, and separating the wheat from the chaff when it comes to India’s lucrative investment potential.

Here’s the scoop…

Dynamic and energetic - but in need of upgrades

India is a dynamic country. The place is teeming with life and energy. Foreign funds are pumping money into India at a record pace and stocks keep rising. There is almost certainly an economic miracle happening here.

But the country is also exploding at the seams. The roads are a mess. The power grid is a mess. Everything is a mess.

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