Markets affected by lack of support
Mumbai: The stock markets experienced lack of follow-up support resulting in lower business volumes. The 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange closed at 4,541.48, nearly 37 points down. The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also lost 5.50 points to close at 1,352.25. There was also lack of buying by foreign institutional investors. Dealers said they were net sellers.

The weak trend was led by Pentafour Software, which witnessed further offloading and lost Rs 55 to close at Rs 635.75. Aftek Infosys and Infotech Enterprises gained with Aftek touching the 52-week high of Rs 601.75, before closing at Rs 596.

On the Nasdaq, Infosys Technologies’ ADR soared to a new high of $201, reflecting a 9.09 per cent gain over the previous close. This translates into a market cap of $13.294 billion.
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ISE to offer badla, Internet trading
New Delhi: The Inter-connected Stock Exchanges will start badla and Internet trading soon. These activities will be part of the exchange’s expansion plans.

The Mumbai-based stock exchange also plans to sell public issues of companies through its trading terminals and provide a corporate database on the members’ trading terminals to help investors in their decisions. ISE chairman M.R. Mayya said the exchange will offer dealership in various parts of the country. He said the dealership will cost Rs 5 lakh, and a dealer will have access to trade on 15 regional stock exchanges, which are members of the exchange. In addition, they will also have access to the BSE and NSE for trading purposes.

Meanwhile, the exchange has plans to set up a subsidiary, ISE Securities and Services. The new company will take membership of the two national stock exchanges -- Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange -- to enable ISE dealers to gain trading rights on these exchanges.
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Sebi says brokers can head bourses
New Delhi: The Securities and Exchange Board of India has rejected the M.R.Mayya Committee’s draft report recommendation that a broker-director should not head a stock exchange as president or chairman. The panel has recommended that only a public representative on the board of a stock exchange could be appointed the chairman.

The committee is now understood to be changing its draft report. The panel was set up two years ago to work out model rules and by-laws for stock exchanges to ensure that there is no interference by brokers in the day-to-day functioning. It had submitted its draft report about two months ago. Sebi has also set up a committee to frame a code of conduct for broker-directors and exchange officials.
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LICMF plans to make tax scheme open-ended
Mumbai: The investment manager of LIC Mutual Fund, Jeevan Bima Sahayog Asset Management Company, has applied to the Securities and Exchange Board of India to convert its Dhan Tax Saver 1997 scheme into an open-ended scheme. The company has changed the name of the scheme to LICMF Tax Plan, and will merge three other equity linked savings schemes – Dhan 88 (1), Dhan Tax Saver ’96 and Dhan Tax Saver ’97 – into it.
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Magnum fund turns open-ended
Mumbai: SBI Funds Management says it has converted its Magnum TaxGain scheme into an open-ended scheme with no exit load for investments held for a period exceeding two years. The scheme has declared a dividend of 25 per cent. The company has also changed the names of two of its open-ended schemes – Magnum Multiplier Scheme and Magnum Open Fund -- as Magnum Equity Find and Magnum Balance Fund respectively.
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Canbank MF plans 2 schemes
Mumbai: Canbank Investment Management Services is introducing two new schemes, Canliquid and Cangilt. While Canliquid is likely to be the first gilt fund adhering to Securities and Exchange Board of India’s guidelines after the RBI altered the money market mutual funds guidelines, the Cangilt scheme will have two investment options, an income plan and a growth plan.
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Tata Finance plans private placement
Mumbai: Tata Finance, the financial services arm of the Tata group, is raising equity from institutional investors instead of an earlier plan of selling a stake to strategic investors. The company plans to raise Rs 80 crore by selling up to 20 per cent of its equity capital to foreign institutional investors and mutual funds through a private placement at Rs 85 to Rs 100 per share. The company had earlier indicated that it was in talks with American International Group and GE Capital for a strategic alliance.
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UTI to allow redemption in any centre
Mumbai: The Unit Trust of India is introducing a facility whereby investors can redeem their investments in any branch of UTI. B.G. Daga, head of marketing, UTI, said this will be part of UTI’s efforts to improve investor services. Currently, the redemption of units is centralised in Mumbai, and it takes at least eight to 10 days for an investor to get redemption cheques. UTI is in the process of upgrading its software to introduce this facility.
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