Stockmarket rumour verification: Esha Media says its media tool reduces company response time to Sebi's questions

Stockmarket rumour verification: Esha Media says its media tool reduces company response time to Sebi's questions

Sebi rules state responses have to come in 24 hours if a company's share shows unusual movements

stock market traders trading on rumours

MUMBAI: This one is for communications folks or agencies and compliance executives in the top 250 companies (by market capitalisation)  listed on the stock exchanges.

There are times when sudden sharp movements in share price  of listed companies can drive managements into a tizzy. An interested group can suddenly either ramp up or pull down a company’s share price by spreading  a rumour and the herd mentality can lead to a run on the stock.

It is at this time that  the stock exchange  authorities can wag a finger in the company’s face and question its management about the drastic changes in transaction volumes or the spikes in the share price. This questioning can definitely  get the management scurrying all over to get at the source of  the stories and the gossip around the stock. And as per stock exchange laws they have to respond within 24 hours (more of that a little later.)

It is at this stage where its broadcast media intelligence tool called Clipbyte can come handy, say the BSE-listed  media monitoring agency Esha Media Research. The tool allows companies to facilitate rumour verification and respond to the exchange with concrete details and thus safeguard their brand and comprehending investor sentiment.

It may be recalled that since  1 June last year when rumour verification rules were made applicable, there  have been  around 170 instances or more as per stock exchange disclosures when these norms were triggered. These norms, which  were so far applicable to the top 100 companies, have been extended to the next 150 companies who will have to keep a close watch on material price movement of their stocks from 1 December 2024 onwards.  The first circular from Sebi was issued in January 2024 and the next in May 2024

While companies need to have a robust in-house framework on leakages of unpublished price sensitive information, Clipbyte’s  monitoring services helps keep a  company’s compliance team prepared and equipped with data and insights to navigate the dynamic media landscape with complete nuggets of the coverage on the subject, says an Esha Media press release.. 

“Our system detects and evaluates the impact of rumors, helping you track and  differentiate between market noise, significant events and its impact on price by providing real-time data, alerts, and insights, keeping you informed of any significant changes as they happen,” said  Esha Media Research founder Raman Iyer.

Esha's stock market vigilance service also offers conversation impact analysis. Companies can  track the influence of market conversations on stock prices.Its research time helps  analyse social media and  broadcast news outlets to help you understand the potential impact on price. 

Additionally, real-time market updates received minute by minute from market open to close allow the platform to provide real-time data, alerts, and insights, keeping companies informed of any significant changes as they happen.

In this fast paced corporate world, media monitoring services offer a competitive edge and prevent public relations disasters by keeping managements informed and responding quickly before issue emerge and escalate beyond repair, Iyer said. 

As per Sebi  norms, a company has to confirm, deny or clarify the rumour within 24 hours once any material price movement occurs based on gossip that appears in mainstream  media.  

With that kind of a deadline, any tool that can bring down response time should be in the consideration set, believes Iyer.

True, Raman, but hopefully the corporate managements are listening and believing too.