Servicing investors is the key to growth of any mutual fund and the State Bank of India Mutual Fund seems to have realised just that. In a bid to understand its investors better the fund has decided to establish a data warehouse of the 18-20 lakh investors in its various schemes. The fund has decided to put in place systems to facilitate this and plans to rope in an external agency to carry out the activity. Three firms have bid for the contract and the fund is expected to make the final selection in the next couple of weeks.

Canbonus duration extended

The board of trustees of Canbank Mutual Fund, in a meeting held on June 25, have decided to extend the duration of the Canbonus scheme beyond the earliest date of July 1, 1998. With the approval of Sebi and the trustees, Canbank Mutual Fund has decided to extend the repurchase facility to the unitholders of Canbonus scheme. For the unitholders holding up to and including 500 units, 100 per cent and forunitholders holding more than 500 units, 10 per cent of the holding subject to a minimum of 500 units rounded off to the nearest 100 units, will be the extent of repurchase. The repurchase facility will commence from August 3.

BSE renews insurance policy

The Bombay Stock Exchange has renewed the integrated comprehensive insurance policy with the New India Assurance Company from July 1. The insurance company has also decided to extend the scope of the policy to include final receiving member cover in cases where the recovery of a loss is not possible due to his default or suspension. As per the decision taken by BSE's governing board at a meeting held on May 29, the inactive members will not be charged any premium.

Special margin on BFL Software

The Bombay Stock Exchange has decided to impose special margin of Rs 80 on the equity shares of BFL Software from July 2.

SEBI suspends members

SEBI has suspended the registration of Pal Jain and Pawan J Chowdhary both members of BSEand Darla`N' Darla, member of MSE for rigging the price of Paro Leasing & Finance. Paro Leasing & Finance a scrip listed on the BSE and the MSE and other exchanges had witnessed a price rise from Rs 10 to Rs 90 and abnormal volumes in the period between September to October 1995. Sebi had conducted a detailed investigation and concluded that an artificial price rise and false market had been created in the scrip by Tatia Finance & Leasing and another connected person.

SEBI ban on member

SEBI has debarred Mukat Shares & Stock Brokers and its directors Dimple Shah and Hitesh Kamdar, Vijay M Gandhi and Atul C Doshi from dealing in the securities market for a period of five years for price rigging and creating artificial market in Amit International. The company had come out with a public issue at a premium of Rs 15 per share which opened for subscription on September 29, 1995.

The shares were listed on December 18, 1995 at Rs 35 and moved up to Rs 290 in just 30 trading sessions. The scrip alsoattracted high volumes. Sebi conducted an investigation into the matter and concluded that these members were responsible for creating an artificial market and a abnormal price rise.

Padmini Polymers tops complaint list

Padmini Polymers ranks on top of the list of companies against which the Bombay Stock Exchange has received the maximum number of complaints this week. With this the company has upsurged Vatsa Corporation, which till last month was topping the list. These companies account for 13.83 per cent of the total complaints received during the month.

The exchange has received 60 complaints against Padmini Polymers during the month while those against NEPC India were 50. Vatsa Corporation has 49 complaints against it which is followed by Cauvery Software Engg System 49, Motorol 36, NEPC Agro Foods 31, ATV Projects 27, Thapar Milk Products 26, Modern Syntex 25, Pentafour Products 25 and Indian Seamless Steels & Alloys 24.

Bearish sentiment on DSE

Sentiments remained bearish on theDelhi stock market on Thursday as foreign investors and bear operators pressed fresh nervous selling at blue chip counters following political developments at the centre. Mirroring the weak trend, the benchmark index dipped below 700 points to close at 693.08 points, showing a fall of 13.74 points. Marketmen attributed the fresh bout of selling mainly to prevailing political conditions and Sebi's decision to withdraw a ban on short-selling with effect from July 6th.

CSE listless

Listless dealings marked trading on Thursday on the Calcutta Stock Exchange with share prices tended downwards in most cases for want of even nominal support. The position was much the same in the non-specified list as well, operators said as investors continued to stay on the sidelines. Select scrips, however, wound up the day above their previous closing rates with Bata India particularly strong finishing at Rs 145.70. The turnover was small and undertone quiet. The CSE's 40-share index closed the day at 1794.31 pointsafter soaring to 1825.80 points earlier in the session.

Equities down on MSE

Equities declined further at the fag end of trading in the Madras stock market while a few counters moved up to settle with marginal gains. The MSE share price index slipped by 4.70 points to close at 3705.56 points. DSQ Software, Sathyam Computers and Silverline were actively traded. Sathyam Computers moved in a wide range between Rs 387 and Rs 366 before concluding at Rs 367.55, with a net loss of Rs 19.90, while DSQ Software improved by Rs 17.80 to Rs 246.70.

Mumbai bullion down

Both the precious metals ended with moderate losses at the Mumbai bullion market on Thursday. Silver declined due to poor demand from industrial units as against fresh stockists offerings and increased arrivals of raw silver. Weak overseas advices helped the downtrend. Gold prices dropped moderately in the absence of local buying interest. Sentiment was dampened by weak international price trends. Silver ready .999 fineness declinedby Rs 15 to Rs 8100 and tenderable silver by the same margin to Rs 8105 as against its last close of Rs 8115 and Rs 8120 respectively.

Skindia GDR up 3.55%

The Skindia GDR index based on 18 active scrips moved up by 3.55 per cent to 661.70 points on July 1, as against 639.01 points the previous day. The Skindia GDR index premium also shot up by 68.79 per cent to 13.06 per cent from 7.74 per cent. However, the index P/E fell by 3.09 per cent to 15.00 from 15.47 of June 30. There were 22 gainers, seven losers while 36 scrips remained steady on July 1.