The National Stock Exchange’s new settlement opened firm. Though foreign funds were selling, there was enough retail and speculative support to keep the market up. The number of shares hitting the upper band of the circuit breaker has increased from 82 shares on 10 August to 187 shares on 17 August.

The current surge in the index seems to be more broadbased. The B1 and B2 groups have also seen ‘advances’ outnumbering the ‘declines’. The S&P CNX  500 index of 500 companies, has been performing better than the 30-share BSE and the 50-share NSE Index. This means that the beneficiaries of the across-the-board increase in the index are not just those holding ‘A’ group shares, but also those holding cash shares - read retail investors.

The market capitalisation of the BSE has gone up by over Rs.40,000 crore in the last three days. The index is around 100 points away from its all time high of 4810 touched on 15 July 1999. The outstanding positions on the exchange were Rs.2,776 crore as on 17 August 1999. Out of this, 27 per cent is contributed to by just six stocks – Ranbaxy, Reliance, Zee Telefilms, MTNL, ITC and Digital Equipment.

The NSE witnessed its highest ever number of trades in a day on Wednesday. There were 4,36,593 trades and the volumes touched Rs.2,703 crore.
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Z group in BSE increases
Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange shifted 25 more companies to the Z group. These are those failing to comply with certain provisions of the listing agreement.
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Exchanges should be vigilant – Sebi
Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India has written letters to all the stock exchanges, asking them to note critical areas, where special attention is required.

Sebi wants to be more vigilant as the net outstandings in the markets are now twice those a year ago.  In June 1998, the payment crisis hit the market. The volatility  is also much higher in the market now. The recent move by Sebi is towards preventing such crises in future.
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OTCEI’s proposal may be accepted by Sebi
Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India may allow unlisted shares to be traded on the Over the Counter Exchange of India.

This follows a proposal made to Sebi by the OTCEI. It is expected that trading in unlisted companies will be restricted to a few institutional traders who have a better research backing.
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ICICI’s ADR,GDR issue details today
Mumbai: ICICI Ltd. will finalise details of its American depository receipt and global depository receipt issues on 19 August, according to Lalitha D Gupte, chief operating officer.

ICICI had last week received permission from the Foreign Investments Promotion Board to raise $500 million. The financial institution annnounced the launch of its home loan services on 18 August 1999.
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UTI's overseas subsidiary renamed
Guernsey: UTI (Guernsey) Ltd., located on Guernsey island, has been renamed as UTI International Ltd. It is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Unit Trust of India, set up to market UTI's off-shore fund issues. The company also has an office in London.

UTI International has played a crucial role in launching three offshore funds, viz., India IT Fund, Indian Debt Fund and India Public Sector Fund.
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