BSE card value drops
Mumbai--The membership of the prestigious Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is going abegging for less than Rs 1 crore, its lowest in the past decade. The highest price that a BSE ticket fetched in early 1996 was said to be around Rs 4.10 crore.
Last week, the BSE ticket is understood to have changed hands at a price of around Rs 90-95 lakh. And if market sources are to be believed, this value is likely to go down further during the months ahead as there are more than 75 tickets up for sale.
The BSE currently has a total of 708 members, over 130 inactive members, including around 29 deceased members whose membership rights have been disposed of or membership rights vested in the exchange. From among the existing active members, many would want to now move out of their current broking activities, if they get a "right" price for their ticket.
There are various reasons for this significant drop in the value of the BSE card. Among others, the recent stiff mandatory turnover tax imposed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has adversely affected the overall optimism over profits from the stock broking activities in the market in current times. Two, the ban on badla, too has taken the wind out of the sails from the once powerful coterie of the badla brokers who find themselves lost in the new derivatives arena. Said a broker, "With badla no more on the bourses, number of existing brokers find it uncomfortable to operate in the relatively new atmosphere."
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Sensex loses 48 pts on heavy selling
Mumbai-- The Nasdaq decline last night by 2 per cent and the revised Nasscom software sector growth estimations affected market sentiments and the BSE benchmark Sensex was down 47.84 points at 3,453.77, against the previous close of 3,501.61.
New economy stocks were sold heavily by local funds and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and operators started battering these stocks around mid-session.
Major losers were HFCL, Crest Communication, BFL, Odyssey Technology, RS Soft, TV 18, DSQ Software, Mastek, Wipro, Digital, NIIT & SSL.
The BSE IT index was also down by 50.17 points at 1,672.38 against previous close of 1,722.55.
Except for K10 scrips, volumes were low across the board. Telco declined ahead of its declaration of 2001 results on Thursday and the stock was down by 2.66 per cent to close at Rs 71.55.
The other reason for the downturn in sentiments was the rupee again breaching the level of 47 and the industrial growth lowering this month compared to last month.
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Dividend declared by Birla Sun Life AMC
Mumbai--Birla Sun Life AMC has declared quarterly dividends under Birla Income Plus and Birla Gilt Plus. Under the former, it has declared a quarterly dividend of 2.72 per cent (Rs 0.272 per unit) tax free in the hands of the investor for the quarter ending June 15, 2001.
The record date has been fixed as June 15, 2001. All investors on record as on June 15, 2001 would be eligible for the dividend.
Under the latter it also declared a dividend of 2.27 per cent (Rs 0.227 per unit), 3.63 per cent (Rs 0.363 per unit) and 4.54 per cent (Rs 0.454 per unit) under its liquid, investment and long term plans for the quarter ended June 15, 2001.
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US stocks down on reports of Honeywell deal trouble
New York--US stocks tumbled on Thursday as disappointing economic data coupled with news indicating General Electric's planned acquisition of Honeywell was in jeopardy eroded Wall Street's hopes for a business turnaround in 2001.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average in midday trading on Wall Street fell 136.53 to 10,735.09. Broader stock indicators also slid. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index sank 12.93 to 1,228.67, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was off 44.32 at 2,077.34.
The Honeywell stock dropped $3.34 to $38.92 after GE indicated its plan to acquire the company for $41 billion might not be approved by European regulators. GE rose $1.61 to $49.46, but another Dow component, United Technologies, fell $3.04 to $77.22 on speculation that it was interested in buying Honeywell.
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