LIC buys Big Bull's 14.6 lakh Reliance shares
Mumbai: The Special Court hearing cases related to the 1992 stock scam on Wednesday approved the sale of five blocks of benami shares held by deceased stockbroker Harshad Mehta for about Rs 100 crore in an auction that saw intense bidding, particularly for the shares of Reliance Industries. The most valuable chunk, 14.6 lakh RIL shares, that was on the block went to the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) at Rs 365 per share, but only after all-out efforts by three other bidders - Prima Gold Impex, Antique Stock Brokers and stockbroker Ashok Samani - to convince Special Judge D K Deshmukh to give them extra time to pay for the shares or accept staggered payment, failed.

Even though the three bidders raised their quotes to Rs 370 per share, the Court favoured LIC's immediate payment to the higher bid with modified terms. In a last-ditch attempt, they sought to club the three bids, each taking one-third of the lot at Rs 372.5 per share without changing the terms and conditions but fetching the auctioneer, the Custodian of Harshad Mehta's assets, Rs 1 crore more. The attempt prompted the Custodian's counsel, Gaurav Joshi, to remark that the three bidders appeared to be in cartel.
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Bank, technology scrips shine
Mumbai: Led by banking and tech stocks, the BSE Sensex surged past the 4200-mark to close 53.27 points higher at 4205.56 points. The broader NSE Nifty index ended 22.10 points higher at 1340.30. Gainers beat losers 1,020 to 792. Dealers said that the underlying sentiment in the market was bullish. Shares ended over one per cent higher on buying by funds, with tech, banking, cement and refinery stocks among the prominent gainers.

The BSE Sensex is again at a new 29-month high, having gained over 43 per cent from its six-month closing lows near the end of April. It lost over three per cent on Monday after the bomb blasts in Mumbai, but bounced back subsequently. Among other indices, the BSE-200 index and the Dollex-200 were quoted sharply up at 545.34 and 198.07 at close compared with previous close of 535.39 and 194.32 respectively.
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Oil stocks continue to be favourites
Mumbai: Oil sector stocks, led by ONGC, Bongaigaon, HPCL and BPCL, remained market favourites amidst sustained investment based buying on the bourses on Wednesday. Brokers said with most of the oil companies looking at expansion and integration, the market is re-rating oil stocks. According to the market grapevine, FIIs and domestic funds have been mopping up shares at these counters, in particular ONGC.

"FIIs have taken a big call on Indian stocks. And whatever may be the sentiment, one can see sector switching but money stays invested in the market. And from an Asia point of view all these stocks are undervalued which is what is driving FII interest," a broker was quoted as saying. The stock of the oil and gas explorer, ONGC, hit a 52-week high at Rs 614.95 on BSE and Rs 670 on the NSE. It, however, ended the day at Rs 609.55 on BSE and Rs 610.25 on the NSE. The stock has appreciated by more than 34 per cent from its levels of Rs 454.60 on July 31.
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Sebi tells bourses not to accept cash in securities deals
Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked stock exchanges to ensure that no cash transaction takes place while dealing in securities and has laid down clear-cut guidelines for the use of pro-account trading terminals.

In two different circulars issued on Wednesday, Sebi said: "It is reiterated that brokers and sub-brokers should not accept cash from clients, whether against obligations or as margin for purchase of securities, and/or give cash against sale of securities to the clients. All payments shall be received/made by the brokers from/to the clients strictly by account payee crossed cheques/demand drafts or by way of direct credit into the bank account through EFT, or any other mode allowed by RBI. The brokers shall accept cheques drawn only by the clients and also issue cheques in favour of the clients only, for their transactions. However, in exceptional circumstances, the broker or sub-broker may receive the amount in cash, to the extent not in violation of the income-tax requirement as may be in force from time to time."
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SBI touches 10-year high thanks to fund buying
Mumbai: Active fund buying is in. Led by the State Bank of India (SBI), which touched a 10-year high of Rs 457.45 when it rose 4.65 per cent on Bombay Stock Exchange, other state-run bank stocks were also in great demand and closed the day with hefty gains. SBI opened firm at Rs 440.90, touched a high of Rs 457.45 and settled at Rs 454.95 on BSE.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), SBI gained 4.19 per cent to end the day at Rs 455.25, compared to its previous close of Rs 436.95. The stock touched a low of Rs 438.70 on BSE, while on NSE it dropped to Rs 438.35. The counter clocked trading volume of 37,28,696 shares on BSE, while on NSE 74,04,149 SBI shares of the bank changed hands.
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M-Cap of B2 firms shows highest hike since January
Mumbai: Out of four groups in BSE, B2 group companies' market capitalisation (M-cap) has increased significantly since 1 January 2003. Several companies in the B1 and Z group also zoomed during the above-mentioned period, reports said. The total M-cap of 1009 B2 group companies increased by 75.92 per cent to Rs 16,040 crore on 26 August 2003 from the level of Rs 9,118 crore on 1 January 2003. On the other hand B1 (754) and Z (33) group companies M-cap increased by 73.51 per cent to Rs 1,30,137 crore and 45.17 per cent to Rs 4,423 crore respectively on 26 August.

Among the four group of BSE companies, the lowest increase of 34.01 per cent in M-cap was registered in the case of A group shares during the study period. Mer-cator Lines a B1 group company, has witnessed significant growth in its M-Cap. The M-cap of Mercator Lines increased by 561.54 per cent to Rs 82.23 crore on August 26, 2003 from the level of Rs 12.43 crore on January 1, 2003. This can be explained from its profit performance.
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