Heavy selling brings Sensex down 94 points
Mumbai: Heavy selling in pivotal stocks brought down major indices of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) as well as the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday. The 30-share benchmark of the BSE lost more than 94 points or 1.8 per cent to close at 5131.72 and the S&P CNX Nifty of the NSE closed 1.76 per cent down at 1645.80. Pivotal stocks like Reliance, which lost 3 per cent, and SBI that gave up 2 per cent value contributed to the Sensex's fall.

An observer said tea and FMCG stocks such as Tata Tea that rose 6 per cent and Hindustan Lever that went up 3 per cent saved the indices from a complete rout. "If not for HLL and ITC, the Sensex might have been a disaster today. Investors have sold in all major frontline as well as mid-cap stocks."
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Vedanta debuts on LSE
Mumbai: Vedanta Resources Plc, the holding company of the Aggarwal Group's Sterlite Industries India, made its debut on the London Stock Exchange on Friday, with the shares quoting at a marginal discount from the offer price of 390 pence per share of face value of 10 pence.

While the shares opened at a marginal premium of 399 pence, the scrip price touched a low of 376 pence and a high of 400 pence. It was trading at 376 pence at 8 p.m. IST, with the volume being 49.83 million shares. Vedanta Resources owns 55.2 per cent in the Anil Aggarwal-controlled Sterlite and 80 per cent in Madras Aluminium Co through its wholly owned subsidiary Twinstar Holdings. Sterlite also owns 51 per cent of Bharat Aluminium Co (Balco) and 65 per cent of Hindustan Zinc.
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Benchmark MF to offer income scheme for NRIs
Kolkata: Benchmark Mutual Fund has lined up a close-ended income scheme targeted at non-resident Indians. The scheme will offer redemption facility during an interval offer period. The scheme, with a maturity period of one year, will seek to generate returns for its unit-holders entirely through investments in fixed income securities. Under normal market conditions, up to 100 per cent of its assets may be invested in debt (including securitised debt up to 50 per cent of the net assets) or money market instruments.

The proposed Benchmark NRI Income Fund, which will come with growth and dividend options, will have a portfolio of securities normally maturing in line with the time profile of the scheme, the offer document sent to the Securities and Exchange Board of India for clearance has mentioned.
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VXL Instruments up on report of $3-million deal
Kolkata: The VXL Instruments stock shot up on Friday following reports that the company has bagged a $3-million (Rs 13.70 crore) supply contract from France Telecom. Compared to an average daily volume of 21,500 shares in November, the counter traded 1.31 lakh shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

In terms of price, the stock gained 11.4 per cent to close at Rs 34.20, after creating a 52-week high at Rs 36.80. Analysts said a section of market players were quick in identifying the significance of the deal. During 2002-03, total sales of the company stood at Rs 29.3 crore. At yesterday's closing price, the stock traded at 4.1 times of its annualised second quarter earnings per share of Rs 8.39.
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