Sensex inches up
BSE Sensex, which soared by 114 points on Friday, ended higher again on Monday by 42 points to close at 5571.37 points. The Nifty gained about 15 points to close at 1762.05, up from the previous close of 1742.50 points.
BSE Gainers
CMC, MphasiS BFL, GAIL, Tata Power, Neyveli Lignite, IOC, IPCL, HPCL, Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab National Bank, Radico Khaitan, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Maruti Udyog, Hero Honda, Lyka Labs, Kopran, Matrix Labs,
BSE Losers
Infosys, Satyam, Wipro, ONGC, Mahindra & Mahindra,
BSE Counters
ICICI Bank put on 5.27 per cent to close at Rs 299.65
State Bank of India gained Rs 15.15 to close at Rs 608.25
Federal Bank touched a new high at Rs 372.70
Tata Power appreciated by Rs 17.5 to close at Rs 387.05
BHEL appreciated by 5.24 per cent to close at Rs 593
Tata Motors appreciated by Rs 6.70 to close at Rs 473.05
Glenmark Pharma gained Rs 2.65 to close at Rs 144.35
KEC International gained Rs 6.3 to close at Rs 74.45
Gujarat NRE Coke appreciated by Rs 2.75 to close at Rs 61.95
ICICI Bank crossed the upper limit of the issue price band to close at Rs 299.65
Sun Pharmaceutical ended at Rs 642, up 1.71 per cent
Gujarat NRE rose nearly 5 per cent to close at Rs 61.95
Bongaigaon Refineries rose 6.29 per cent to close at Rs 70.10
MRPL rose more than 7 per cent to end the day at Rs 54.15
Federal Bank rose 6.31 per cent to close at Rs 368.05
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ONGC allotment: Depository freezes process
Mumbai: The Government's sale of ONGC shares today ran into an unseemly mess after its issue registrar MCS Ltd apparently goofed up in allotting shares to winning bidders. The National Securities Depository Ltd froze allotment of ONGC shares to successful bidders at about 11.30 a.m. when MCS Ltd informed it that there was a mistake in allotment of new shares.According to NSDL officials, certain high net worth individuals were given full credit of shares in their demat account when they were allotted less than what they had applied for.

The Disinvestment Minister, Mr Arun Shourie, described the glitch as a "human error". The price of ONGC shares fell on the exchanges after many investors sold from their allotments. It fell to a low of Rs 730 on the NSE but came back sharply after many investors had to square their sales later. It closed the day flat at Rs 844 per share.The capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India has assured investors that the problem will be sorted out by Tuesday and the entries reversed.
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BSE-100 indices to free-float
Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) will shift the BSE-100 Index to the `free-float methodology' with effect from April 5, according to a press release. This is in continuation of the BSE's policy to gradually shift all indices to the free-float methodology. According to a release from the BSE the shifting of the BSE-100 to the free-float methodology will greatly enhance the quality of the index and bring it at par with international standards.

The BSE-100 index (formerly known as BSE National Index) was launched on January 3, 1989 and was calculated taking prices of constituents from five major stock exchanges — Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai and Ahmedabad. An average of the prices quoted on two or more exchanges were considered for index compilation. Later in 1996, the BSE National Index was re-designated as BSE-100 Index and only prices quoted on BSE were taken into account for compilation of index, said the release.
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Interim dividend from Glenmark
Mumbai: Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd has declared an interim dividend at 10.50 per cent on preference shares of the company and 65 per cent on equity shares. The company made this announcement to the BSE, following Glenmark's board meeting.
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M&M to raise $100 m by way of FCCBs
Mumbai: Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M) has informed the BSE that its board has approved the raising of additional long-term resources up to $ 100 million. This will be through the issue of foreign currency convertible bonds and/or other appropriate securities in the international or domestic markets on terms to be decided in due course.

The company says that the funds would be raised to meet investment in research and development, absorption of new technology and the resource requirement for inorganic growth in respect of the company's businesses. The company has the right to retain additional 15 per cent subscription.M&M's board has also raised the limit for holding by foreign institutional investors from 24 per cent to 35 per cent of the company's paid up capital. An EGM to seek members' approval for these measures is set for April 29.
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Guj Ambuja converts FCCBs to equity shares
Mumbai: Gujarat Ambuja's foreign currency convertible bonds of $99.3 million, issued in January 2001, have been converted into equity shares/GDRs following the company exercising its call option. The bonds, bearing coupon rate of 1 per cent, were to be converted at Rs 222.34 per share.

According to the company, since the company's share price is performing exceedingly well, most of the bond holders have opted to convert bonds into shares rather than to redeem the bonds. The company's scrip closed at Rs 299.8 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday.With the conversion of the bonds, the equity capital has increased from Rs 156.12 crore to Rs 176.4 crore, and the company's net worth has also increased by about Rs 450 crore.
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Data Access IPO scheduled for end-May
New Delhi: The initial public offer (IPO) of Data Access India, which was to have opened on Monday, is now likely to be scheduled for end-May.This follows the clarifications sought by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Data Access' red herring prospectus, with complaints that the company had failed to divulge all details regarding its dues with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), its foreign equity holding and FERA violations by a board member.

According to company officials, although clarifications on all the issues that have been raised by SEBI have already been submitted, it has now decided to postpone the date until after its full financial results for the year 2003-04 are cleared by the Board. This is to ensure that there is no doubt regarding its financials.
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Reliance concludes $250-m term loan syndication
Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd has concluded a loan syndication of $250 million (Rs 1,125 crore). The transaction is the first major syndication since Moody's upgraded its ratings for the country to investment grade.The lead arrangers for the syndication were ANZ Investment Bank, BA Asia Ltd, Credit Lyonnais, DBS Bank Ltd, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd and Mizuho Financial Group, a news release said. The deal was sub-written by three banks - Arab Investment Company S. A. A., Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi Ltd and NORD/LB Nordeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale, Singapore Branch.
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