ICICI sells 8 lakh shares of KG Khosla: ICICI has sold eight lakh shares of KG Khosla Compressors Ltd at Rs 20.90 per share to the new promoters of the company. According to a release, the shares represented 7.81 per cent of the paid-up equity capital of the company.

UTI to modify pure debt fund: UTI plans to modify the recently launched 100 per cent pure debt fund to provide investors with an easy exit facility by allowing partial repurchases in a systematic manner with the condition that the minimum account balance will be Rs 10,000, executive director SK Basu said in Calcutta on Tuesday.

Steel scrips back infavour: Steel sector stocks seem to be back in favour with the market, if the prices of select scrips are any indication. Over the last few trading sessions, scrips like Jindal Strip and Bhushan Steel have been rising consistently, with the two stocks hitting circuit filters on Tuesday. Jindal Strip hit the circuit at Rs 74.25. Bhushan Steel was locked at Rs 28.50 with no sellers in the stock. Tisco gained Rs 2 to end at Rs 55 o Tuesday.

Plantation companies: The Investors' Grievances Forum on Tuesday claimed that promoters of over 3,500 plantation companies have siphoned off or diverted monies exceeding Rs 25,000 crore. "Over 10 lakh investors have invested in these collective investment schemes," said IGF president Kirit Somaiya, seeking a CBI probe into the misdeeds of these companies.

Nifty up slightly: Share prices moved up marginally on the last day of the current settlement cycle on the NSE on Tuesday following increased speculative buying. The NSE-50 Index closed at 1,121.75, up1.95 points over the last close. The Mid-cap Index rallied by 27.90 points to close at 1,620.55. The total turnover on the exchange stood at Rs 1,573.42 crore.

CSE shares end higher: Led by ACC, equities improved on the Calcutta Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Brokers said the market expects ACC to report good results for the 1997-98 which has in turn led to buying in the shares of the company. The 40-share CSE Index touched a high of 2,216.13 points and a low of 2,200.27 points before closing at 2,214.63 points.

MSE Index loses 10 points: Equities moved in a narrow groove on the Madras Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Stocks of software, cement and chemicals companies recorded gains on sustained buying by investors. The revival in buying interest saw key stocks like ACC recover. The MSE Share Price Index settled at 4,231.70 points, losing 9.67 points over the previous close.

Share prices firm up on BgSE: Share prices firmed up at the Bangalore Stock Exchange on Tuesday. According tomarketmen, SBI saw some selling pressure towards the end of the session. The turnover on the bourse stood at Rs 19.30 crore. Software scrips continued their upward march with BFL Software closing at Rs 367 (Rs 340) and Satyam Computers at Rs 492 (Rs 470.35). BPL fell to Rs 281 from Rs 292 while ITC was better at Rs 808.20 (Rs 804.95).

OTCEI Index ends down: In lacklustre activity, equity prices declined moderately on increased selling pressure on the OTCEI on Tuesday. The OTCEI Composite Index opened at 115.41 and closed at the day's low of 114.67, down 0.74 points from the previous close.

Demat segment turnover at Rs 6.56 cr: A total of 4.53 lakh shares valued at Rs 6.56 crore were traded in the demat segments of the BSE and NSE on Tuesday. At the NSE, about 114,850 shares valued at Rs 293.71 lakh changed hands in SBI, 239,700 shares valued at Rs 253.61 lakh changed hands in ICICI and 15,582 shares valued at Rs 27.78 lakh were traded in Reliance. Tisco recorded trading in 13,700 sharesvalued at Rs 20.93 lakh.

NSE debt market turnover at Rs 514 cr: The wholesale debt market of the NSE witnessed trades worth Rs 514.57 crore. The 12 per cent government loan maturing in 2008 was traded at a weighted yield of 12 per cent for Rs 110 crore. The 12.69 per cent government loan maturing in 2002 was traded for Rs 55 crore at a weighted yield of 11.25 per cent. The 11 per cent government loan maturing in 2002 was traded for Rs 50 crore at a weighted yield of 11.22 per cent.

Skindia Index up 3.36%: The Skindia GDR Index moved up by 3.36 per cent from 828.92 to 856.79 on May 18. The Skindia GDR Index p/e ratio was 19.58 on May 18 compared with 19.13 on May 15. The top gainers were Videocon International, ICICI and Indian Aluminium which quoted at $3.15 ($2.90), $15.25 ($14.05) and $3.25 ($3.00) respectively. Losers included Ranbaxy Labs.

Call rates ease to 6.5%: The overnight call money rates opened at 8.99-9 per cent on Tuesday, compared with the previous close of 8.25-8.50per cent. The rates eased later and closed at 6.50 per cent. The market witnessed a fairly easy trend owing to ample liquidity in the system to meet borrowers' requirements, dealers said. The rates dipped to the central bank's repo floor levels towards the close.

Rupee strengthens vs dollar: The rupee gained against the dollar in the spot market on Tuesday. It opened almost unchanged from its previous close of 40.53. Poor corporate demand from corporates saw it strengthen soon thereafter to 39.50 levels. The greenback's high for the day was 40.54 while its low was 40.49. Lacklustre demand saw the rupee close at the dollar's low.

Silver declines sharply: Silver prices fell sharply to touch the year's low on Tuesday due to a decline in global prices. Silver .999 and raw declined by Rs 255 and Rs 265 to Rs 7,670 and Rs 7,560 per kg respectively due to very weak overseas advices. Standard and 22-carat gold declined by Rs 10 each to Rs 4,130 and Rs 3,820 per 10 gm respectively.

Aclarification: The issue dated May 18 inadvertently carried tables based on May 13 prices on the Investrak page. The error is regretted.