Sensex down in spite of early market gains
Mumbai: An initial surge in the markets on 17 January could not be sustained, as funds, both foreign and domestic, did not participate actively in the trading. Cyclical and economy stocks suffered reverses. Stocks of Hindustan Lever, Reliance, ITC, Glaxo and NIIT were the worst hit. Glaxo touched the lower circuit breaker in spite of the Glaxo annoucement in London of a plan for the merger of SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals with it. However, SmithKline Beecham Pharma had a good show.

In a weak market, the only stocks that saw intense activity were Global Tele-systems, which is expected to announce good Q3 results, SSI, in view of its business alignment with Nasdaq, and Goldstone Technologies, which has posted good growth in half-yearly earnings. Wipro, Digital Equipment, Satyam Computers and Atco Technologies also registered some gains.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex netted a loss of 67.20 points to close at 5,404, after clocking an intra-day high of 5,664. The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also lost 11.15 points to close at 1611.60.
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Bangalore Softsell plans IPO
Bangalore: Bangalore Softsell, a software company engaged in developing new generation computing tools, is coming out with an initial public offering to raise Rs 15 crore. The company will offer Rs 5 shares at a premium of around Rs 30 to Rs 35 per share. About 26 lakh shares will be available to the public and some 20 lakh shares to financial institutions, mutual finds and business associates.

The company will make use of the funds to finance a software development centre and to set up joint ventures in the US, UK and Europe. The company also wants to apply for a patent in the US for its Lemit, a new generation migration tool for Cobol-85 sources to Visual Basic.
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Morepen plans Nasdaq listing
New Delhi: Morepen Laboratories of Delhi is planning a listing on the Nasdaq. According to K.B.Suri, chairman of Morepen Laboratories, the company is not planning an American depository receipts issue since it does not want to mobilise funds but merely increase its investor base and improve the quality of investors. The company has appointed former US senator Larry Pressler as head of its US operations and an advisor to the board.
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