 Mumbai: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have increased their holding in key Tata group firms. FIIs have picked up stakes in a range of 1 to 4 per cent in various Tata companies such as Tata Motors, Tata Iron and Steel, Tata Power, Tata Tea and Indian Hotels. The FIIs have increased their stake in Tata Motors to 19.61 per cent from the earlier 15.19 per cent. In Tata Steel, the FIIs' holdings have increased to 6.31 per cent from 4.08 per cent while in Tata Power the increase is around 1 per cent from 5.62 per cent to 6.17 per cent. In Tata Tea the FIIs have increased their holding from 6.49 per cent to 7.46 per cent while in Indian Hotels the institutions have hiked their holding to 6.43 per cent from the earlier 5.18 per cent. During the past few days, all major Tata stocks have scaled up to new highs and some of them have touched their 52-week high. The Tata Steel scrip has breached its all-time high of Rs 338 and closed at a new high of Rs 341.50 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) earlier last week. On Wednesday the scrip closed at Rs 323. Analysts tracking the company say operators had built up huge positions in the stock in expectation of good second-quarter results. "Market rumours suggest that the company has paid an advanced tax of Rs 180 crore for the second quarter. If it is true, the company's annualised earnings per share at the end of the first quarter will be Rs 40 which indicates that it is still a good buy at the ruling rates," says an analysts with a leading mutual fund. He adds that a handful of FIIs as well as operators have cornered shares of key Tata group firms over the past fortnight. "It means the rise or fall at the counters will be sharp." The Tata Tea scrip touched a 52-week high of Rs 296 earlier last week and on Wednesday the scrip closed at Rs 297. The appreciation in the scrip was despite the gloom looming large in the tea industry. "But Tata Tea is gradually trying to come out of the commodity cycle by focusing on branding. The company is also in the process of reviewing its plantation strategy," the analysts add. Tata Power Company, which had been making smart gains, touched 211 on the BSE. The Indian Hotels Company stock moved up sharply by more than 8 per cent. The scrip touched a 52-week high of 319 on the BSE. Tata Motors' scrip touched a 52-week high of 380 on the BSE.
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