The adage `big is beautiful' definitely holds true for corporate India. Our study of 107 companies which have announced their results for 1997-98 shows that large companies have managed to weather the economic recession better than small companies.

Rating agencies' thumbs down for plantation firms: Does money grow on trees? For some plantation companies it does. For most investors it could just be dead wood at the end of it all. The credit-rating agencies have already assigned a high-risk-below-investment grade for most plantation companies.

ICICI sets sights on demat service: International consultant Price Waterhouse is working on creating a synergy between ICICI and its banking subsidiary, ICICI Bank, for capturing the huge demat market and providing a one-stop-shop facility to clients. ICICI is a depository participant with the NSDL and can therefore offer depository services to clients of ICICI Bank.

Assocham unhappy with quarterlydisclosures: Assocham has opposed Sebi's suggestion to make it mandatory for listed companies to disclose results on a quarterly basis against the current practice of announcing them bi-annually. The chamber feels that frequent disclosures would be difficult for many medium-sized companies as they will be required to prepare a full set of accounts including the balance sheet and cash-flow statements.

Dagger-Forst Tools board meet: The board of directors of Dagger-Forst Tools Ltd will meet on June 16 to consider the accounts and recommend a dividend for the year ended March 31, 1998.

Nifty ends little changed: Equities moved in a narrow range and closed with marginal gains on the NSE on Friday on marginal support from investors and squaring up positions on the last day of the current settlement on the BSE. The NSE-50 Index closed at 1,126, gaining a minor 0.40 point over the previous close. The Mid-cap Index closed at 1,640.35, up 6.00 points. The total turnover stood at Rs 1,782.58crore.

DSE Index loses 5 points: The announcement of a 52 per cent rise in ITC's net profit failed to enthuse the market on Friday with equities losing ground on the Delhi Stock Exchange on Friday following last-minute selling by speculators and foreign investors. The DSE Sensitive Index dropped by 5.42 points to close at 854.63 points.

CSE shares end down: Equities suffered a setback on the Calcutta Stock Exchange on Friday as sentiment remained subdued due to lower than anticipated dividend announced by ITC's board. As against the previous year's 40 per cent, the company announced a 45 per cent dividend though the net profit figure was higher. The 40-share CSE Index finished at 2,216.81 points after moving between 2,219.72 and 2,203.03 points.

MSE Index ends unchanged: In the absence of active interest in index-based scrips, the MSE Index remained static at 4,226.44 points on Friday. Software company scrips were in the limelight once again. DSQ Software, Satyam Computer, SoftwareSolution, Silverline and Penta Communication advanced further on heavy buying support. Scrips like ITC and Reliance declined on selling pressure coupled with profit-taking.

OTCEI Index ends slightly down: Equity prices dipped marginally on the OTCEI on Friday on selling pressure from investors. The OTCEI Index opened at 114.61 points and touched a high of 114.66 points before closing at 114.57, losing 0.04 point over the previous close. The total turnover stood at Rs 120.40 lakh with the debenture segment contributing Rs 119.42 lakh.

Demat segment turnover at Rs 2.5 cr: A total of 1.85 lakh shares valued at Rs 2.57 crore were traded in the demat segments of the NSE and BSE on Friday. On the NSE, 28,150 shares valued at Rs 72.15 lakh changed hands in SBI, 46,050 shares valued at Rs 48.10 lakh in ICICI, 60,200 shares valued at Rs 50.01 lakh in IDBI and 7,359 shares valued at Rs 13.32 lakh in Reliance. On the BSE, ICICI saw 7,100 shares valued at Rs 7.38 lakh change hands.

Debt marketturnover at Rs 203 cr: The wholesale debt market of the NSE witnessed trading worth Rs 203.59 crore. The 11.50 per cent government loan maturing in 2004 was traded for Rs 40 crore at a weighted yield of 11.79 per cent. The 13.65 per cent government loan maturing in 1999 was traded for Rs 30 crore at a weighted yield of 10.18 per cent.

Skindia Index loses 1.02%: The Skindia GDR Index dropped by 1.02 per cent from 882.69 to 873.68 on May 21. The Skindia GDR Index p/e ratio was 20.05 on May 21 compared with 20.14 on May 20. The top gainers were Indian Rayon, SAIL and ITC which quoted at $5.50 ($5.20), $4.85 ($4.75) and $24.25 ($24.00), respectively. Losers included Indian Aluminium, EI Hotels and Indo Gulf.

Call rates end at 5.75%: The overnight call money market ruled easy on Friday. The call rates opened at 6 per cent, little changed from their previous close of 6-6.10 per cent. Though Friday is the reporting day, the short-term loan rates hovered around the repo rate for most part of theday. The rates closed at 5.25-5.75 per cent.

Rupee weakens vs dollar: The rupee weakened against the dollar on Friday to an all-time low of 40.65/67. It opened at 40.54/56, unchanged from its previous close, and fell to 40.68 by mid-session. Month-end demand coupled with expectations of harsh measures for importers in the budget saw the rupee fall to a low of 40.68. It later recovered to trade at 40.61/63.

Silver, gold prices improve: Both the precious metals looked up on Friday on fresh buying. Silver ready of .999 fineness and tenderable silver firmed up by Rs 25 each to end a Rs 7,725 and Rs 7,730. Standard and 22-carat gold hardened by Rs 15 each to close at Rs 4,165 and Rs 3,855.

Metals end unchanged: Metal prices were steady on the non-ferrous metals market on Friday due to poor arrivals and sluggish demand, traders said. Copper scrap heavy ended unchanged at Rs 114.50, brass scrap at Rs 88.25 and aluminium scrap at Rs 63.