Primary market gloom continues: The primary market continued to be in a gloomy condition in August with only one company resorting to a public issue. Last month also witnessed a debt issue - that of ICICI. According to Prime Database, it is the fourteenth month in succession that the primary market has witnessed an extremely low level of activity in public issues. Since July 1997, there have been only 38 public issues. While August 1998 had one public issue, the earlier monthly figures were equally dismal. July (1), June (5), May 3, April 2, March 2, February 0, January 4, December 1997 (6), November 4, October 4, September 1, August 3 and July2.

BSE suspension order: BSE has suspended dealings in the securities of the following companies from September 7 until further notice for their inability to comply with Clause-16 of listing requirements of the exchange: AK Capital Services, AP Tanneries, AVI Industries, AVS World Trade, Alacrity Electronics, Amarjyothi Spinning Mills, Aminex Chemicals, Anan Drug & Chemicals, Anuvin Industries, Avi Export (India), Bomidala Aquamarine, IFB Agro Industries, International Conveyors, Jai Mata Industries, Kanoi Paper & Industries, Laser Dot, Steel Strips and Vimta Labs.

Sebi suspends two merchant bankers: Sebi has suspended the certificate of registration of two merchant bankers, Magma Leasing (category-I) and Numero Uno Finance (category-II), till the remaining period due to their failure to pay annual registration fees for the year 1996-97.

CSE ends lower on heavy selling: Equities at the Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE) ended lower on continuous heavy selling pressure from domestic andforeign investor institutions and brokers. The market has been going through a dull phase with most brokers staying out from the trading arena due to the collapse of the Russian economy as well as massive downslide of the Tokyo Nikki index. The CSE-40 share index closed at 1614.75 points.

DSE stocks plunge on global turmoil: A major sell-off by global investors pulled down share prices on the Delhi Stock Exchange on Tuesday as markets reacted adversly to the overnight falls at Wall Street and other major markets. The Delhi Stock Exchange sensitive index finished 13.64 points or nearly 2 per cent lower. Stock brokers said the fall at Wall Street mainly hit the market sentiments.

MSE down 39 points: Values of scrips further declined on fresh selling coupled with profit-taking in Madras Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Only a few counters finished with handsome gains. The MSE share price index dropped by 38.92 to close at 3303.30 as against the previous day's close of 3342.22 points.

Malaysianstocks plunge 13.3 per cent on news of fixed exchange-rate regime: Malaysian share prices plummeted 13.3 per cent on Tuesday following an announcement by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad that the government would adopt fixed exchange rates. The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) weighted composite index finished at 262.70 points, down 40.21 points from the previous close. Turnover rose to 324.00 million shares worth 415.99 million ringgit (106. 66 million dollars) from Friday's close of 167.88 million shares worth 205.86 million ringgit.

HK stocks fall 2.9 per cent in volatile trade: Hong Kong stocks ended 2.9 per cent lower on Tuesday after recouping a part of their earlier losses following a sharp overnight fall on Wall Street. The key Hang Seng index lost 212.57 points to close at 7,062.47, after having plunged 4.0 per cent in opening trade to below the psychological 7,000-point level. The Hang Seng's loss on Monday and Tuesday added up to 10 per cent and wiped out more than half the gains itput on during two weeks of government intervention in the market starting August 14.

South Korean stocks end day marginally lower: South Korean share prices closed on Tuesday a fractional 0.2 percent lower as a more stable yen and domestic factors alleviated the effects of Wall Street's overnight plunge.

Thai shares down 1.6 per cent: Thai shares fell 1.6 per cent in quiet trade on Tuesday but managed to recover some of their early losses as buyers remained sidelined amid growing regional uncertainty, analysts said. Analysts said the market was weighed down by a range of external factors, including Russia's economic and political miseries as well as volatility on the Hong Kong bourse.

Shanghai B shares rise 1.9 per cent: Shanghai's B shares, nominally reserved for foreign investors, rose 1.9 per cent on Tuesday as the market consolidated in the absence of substantial leads. The Shanghai Stock Exchange's B share index rose 0.52 points to close at 27.75 points while the A share indexfinished 13.77 points, or 1.1 per cent, higher at 1,23 7.84 points.

Jakarta shares close 4.8 per cent lower: Indonesian shares closed 4.8 per cent lower on Tuesday on regional market weakness following the fall on Wall Street, and amid a lack of liquidity. The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed down 16.582 points at 325.854.

Singapore share prices down 3.9 per cent: Singapore share prices closed 3.9 per cent lower on Tuesday as key banking stocks were hammered following neighbouring Malaysia's announcement of foreign exchange controls. The Straits Times Index fell 33.10 points to 823.33.

Foreign funds pull out $108 m in August: The investment outflow by the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued for the fourth week in succession. During the week ended August 28, net FII investment outflow stood at $ 19.1 million or Rs 81.1 crore. According to the latest FII figures released by Sebi, during August the FIIs have pulled out investments aggregating $ 108.1 million(Rs 459.3 crore). Compared to this, during July there was net FII investment inflow aggregating $ 19.7 million (Rs 83.7 crore).