Infotechs lose favour on bourses
Mumbai: Infotech stocks seem to be losing their sheen on the bourses. The focus is now on the manufacturing sector. There has been large scale downloading of infotech stocks and foreign institutional investors have been net sellers. The shares they have got rid off on a substantial scale included Infosys Technologies, NIIT, Satyam Computers, Pentafour Software, Silverline Industries, Wipro and Digital Equipment. To go along with this large scale selling, both institutional and individual retail investors are hunting for bargains in cyclical, FMCG and economy-related stocks.

The selling pressure was high on Infosys Technologies and the stock registered a downtrend for the third consecutive day while its market cap, which saw phenomenal rise during the new year trading sessions, dropped by as much as Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 43,599 crore

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex lost a marginal 7.05 points to close at 5414.48. The loss would have been higher but for the buying interest in FMCG sector towards the end of the session. The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange too lost 4.30 points to close at 1613.30.
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BSE warns against 70 NBFCs
Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange has warned investors against 70 non-banking finance companies listed on the exchange and whose registration applications have been rejected by the Reserve Bank of India. All these companies belong to the B2 and Z groups on the exchange. The RBI had earlier asked all non-banking finance companies, which were in existence till 9 January 1997, to get registered within six months.
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Multi-commodity exchange planned
Mumbai: The core group set up by the government under the food and civil supplies ministry is working out a plan to establish a national multi-commodity exchange. The three-member group, consisting of N. Nagarajan, advisor to the Reserve Bank of India, Birendra Kumar of SBI Capital Markets and K.C. Mishra, chairman of Forward Markets Commission, is finalising the details of the exchange. The exchange will be a joint venture between the private sector and financial institutions while the government may not be a party in it, according to sources. The exchange will develop a mechanism for hedging price risks following liberalisation and will allow trading in all commodities that come under the futures trading system in India.
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Allahabad Bank IPO in March
Calcutta: Allahabad Bank will launch its Rs 82.3 crore initial public offering at par in March 2000. The bank’s chairman Harbhajan Singh said the bank has appointed SBI Caps, DSP Merrill Lynch, JM Morgan Stanley and Kotak Mahindra as lead managers to the issue.

The post-issue public holding in the bank will stand at 25 per cent.
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Kotak Mahindra rights issue
Mumbai: Kotak Mahindra will have a rights issue of one share for every four shares held. The issue price will be at a premium of Rs 90 over the face value of Rs 10 per share. The company’s board of directors has approved the issue. The issue will enable the company to raise its capital by around Rs 92 crore.

The non-banking finance company intends to make use of the funds to help it in its forays into emerging market opportunities such as insurance and venture capital industry.
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