Uco IPO for early Sept
New Delhi: Uco Bank is planning to launch its Rs 200 crore initial public offer in the first week of September and will take a decision on charging premium on its offering within a fortnight.

The bank has a paid up capital of Rs 599 crore with the government holding the entire stake. Post IPO, the government's share will decrease to around 75 per cent.

The bank had received finance ministry's approval last year to write off accumulated losses of over Rs 1,600 crore.
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Tata Motors gains, L&T slumps
The Instanex Skindia DR Index (ISDI), which tracks 14 actively traded Indian depository receipts, finally looked up after falling for two days. It stood at 630.19 on Thursday, up 0.10 per cent as against its Wednesday close.

Global depository receipts (GDR) of Tata Motors rose 4.27 per cent to $5.13 and were heavily traded till mid-trading session in the London markets, registering volumes of 585,872 GDRs.

However, Larsen & Toubro, which was down 2.72 per cent to $11.83, was traded in small quantities, and registered volumes of only 11,000 GDRs.

Indian securities listed on the US exchanges were mostly lower on Wednesday and the Infy ADR slumped $2.16 to $50.44.

In contrast, peers Wit, the Wipro ADR, rose 55 cents to $23.50 and Say, the Satyam Computer ADR, climbed 10 cents to $10.60. RDY, the Dr Reddy’s Labs ADR, edged up 35 cents to $22.35 and VSL, the VSNL ADR, gained 3 cents to $4.95. But, HDB, the HDFC Bank ADR shed 35 cents to $22.35.
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US stocks fall in early trading
New York: US stocks fell in early morning trade on Thursday on Wall Street. The market's lack of enthusiasm signaled investors’ concern regarding high prices in the uncertain economic recovery.

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 7.84, or 0.1 per cent, at 9,053.90.
The Nasdaq composite index fell 0.97, or 0.1 per cent, to 1,651.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 0.69, or 0.1 per cent, to 966.39.

Retail stocks were higher after a string of companies reported July sales exceeded Wall Street's expectations, due to warm weather and significant discounting.

Wal-Mart reported strong sales and raised its second-quarter earnings estimate, rose $1.16 to $56.90. Kohl's advanced $1.61 to $62.25, while Gap rose 48 cents to $18.19. Both companies also posted better-than-anticipated July sales.
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Maruti zooms up on back of ABN Amro statement
Stocks of Maruti Udyog hit an intra-day high of Rs 195.95, before closing 1.85 per cent higher at Rs 195.30. More than 11.78 lakh shares of Maruti were traded on the BSE.

Market rumours say ABN-Amro has revised the earnings expectations of MUL in FY 2004 by 19 per cent upwards to Rs 17.20 per share. It has also revised upwards the target price of the MUL stock to Rs 244. Maruti reported a surge in car sales for July 2003.

For the month, car sales leaped 69.9 per cent to 41,795 units from 24,604 units in the same month of the previous year.
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Bank, auto stocks gain
Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex rose on Thursday due to a spurt in automobile, metal and bank stocks. The Sensex ended 65.17 points higher at 3,806.83, off the intra-day low of 3,733.63.

Also the BSE spurted after positive statements emerged from the Finance Minister Jaswant Singh who said macro-economic developments in the first quarter were encouraging and good monsoon rainfall would lead to robust growth.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the S&P CNX Nifty index added 25.90 points to settle at 1,196.95.

Tata Motors surged 4.49 per cent to Rs 243 on fund-based buying interest following reports that it had sold 24,995 vehicles in July 2003, a 38 per cent rise over the year-ago period. Bajaj Auto edged up 2.76 per cent to Rs 660.10. Hindustan Lever added 3.02 per cent to Rs 165.20. State Bank of India gained 2.70 per cent to Rs 418.35, Corporation Bank added 4.82 per cent to Rs 186, Punjab National Bank gained 4.22 per cent to Rs 159.20, Oriental Bank of Commerce vaulted 3.79 per cent to Rs 160.25, while Bank of Baroda climbed 3.63 per cent to Rs 125.45.

Reliance Industries added 1.35 per cent to Rs 355.70, and cigarette major ITC surged by 1.22 per cent to Rs 738.65. Tata Steel vaulted 3.57 per cent to Rs 224.75, off from a new 52-week high of Rs 225.70 during intra-day trades. Hindustan Petroleum added 5.41 per cent to Rs 347.05 on hopes that the process of disinvestment would progress soon. Bhel rose 3.15 per cent to Rs 274.85.

Grasim gained 3.10 per cent to Rs 571.05, Larsen & Toubro rose 2.31 per cent to Rs 279.10, BSES surged 2.14 per cent to Rs 289.40, and MTNL gained 2.03 per cent to Rs 122.95.

However, Nestle India shed 2.59 per cent to Rs 575.20, off the intra-day high of Rs 584 after Wednesday’s gains.

Satyam Computer tumbled 0.25 per cent to Rs 201.35. But Infosys Technologies rose 0.24 per cent to Rs 3,495.80, rebounding from lower levels in mid-trading session.

Hexaware rose from a low of Rs 142 to a high of Rs 164, but ended at Rs 160.90, up 13.31 per cent over Wednesday’s close.

Hindustan Lever appreciated by 3 per cent to Rs 165.20 on trading volumes of 25.8 lakh shares, up from the previous day's volumes of 10.9 lakh shares.

The stock price of iGate Global Solutions rose by 4.5 per cent to Rs 171.45. The company announced the formation of an Indian-based joint venture with Software AG, Germany.

The stock has been on the up trend ever since Mr Phaneesh Murthy (formerly worldwide head of sales and marketing, Infosys Technologies) joined them as CEO last week.

Bajaj Auto surged by 2.8 per cent to Rs 660.10. Last week, the company announced that its motorcycle sales had gone up by about 27 per cent for the month of July.

The stock price of Tata Motors also appreciated by 3.7 per cent to Rs 241.05, on trading volumes of 12.4 lakh shares. Other gainers include Hindustan Motors, Ashok Leyland and Bajaj Tempo.

Public sector banking stocks including Union Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and Punjab National Bank also registered gains Thursday.
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SEBI not to put levy margin on institutional investors
Mumbai: SEBI has put down the suggestion of its Primary Market Committee to impose a margin on qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) for subscription to the public issue through the book-building process.

The chairman of SEBI, Mr G.N. Bajpai said margins would not be imposed on the QIBs when they apply for IPOs. However, in order to curb an excessive overbidding by QIBs, they cannot withdraw their bids he said.
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SEBI probe reveals CSE members' role in violations
Kolkata: A SEBI probe has revealed the involvement of a section of Calcutta Stock Exchange members who worked in tandem, with the intention of rigging prices. This follows SEBI’s inspection of the books of Mr Prakash Baid, CSE member, who is allegedly involved in off the floor deals and violation of norms in the process, including the bye-laws of the exchange and other regulatory provisions.

The broker is found to have initiated such deals in Himachal Futuristic along with two other CSE members, Mr Sanjay Khemani and Mr Ashok Poddar. In one case concerning purchase of 2,000 shares of the company, delivery was made eight days after the transaction.

There are other instances of similar dealings in the counter, the amounts ranging from Rs 2.66 crore to Rs 10.23 crore.
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