Kothari Income realigns portfolio: With a corpus of Rs 35 crore, Kothari Income Builder has substantially reduced its exposure to debt and resorted to money market instruments in the past few months. Since April, the debt component has been brought down from 93 per cent to 65 per cent. Further, the fund manageris also realigning the debt portfolio in favour of short and medium term instruments. The average maturity period of the portfolio has been reduced from 3.23 years in February to 1.13 years now. This exercise should lessen the impact of any adverse movement in interest rates. The fund portfolio has a yield to maturity of 12.91 per cent.

Pivotals turn easy on fresh selling by FIIs at NSE: Pivotals turned easy on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on emergence of brisk selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and the S&P Cnx Nifty index reacted by 13.25 points. The FIIs sold shares worth Rs 1328.74 lakh. Reflecting the trend, the S&P Cnx Nifty fell by 13.25 to end at 855.45 as against 868.70 on thursday. The Cnx Nifty Junior index eased by 4.20 points to 1480.15 from 1484.35, while S&P Cnx Defty declined by 6.60 to 696.25 from 702.85. S&P Cnx 500 fell by 7.06 points to end at 588.96 from 596.02 while Cnx Midcap 200 index dropped by 2.62 points to close at 521.12 from 523.74.

Profit sellinghalts rally at DSE: Stocks surrendered some of Thursday's gains on profit booking at higher levels along with squaring up of long positions by operators in view of the end of the settlement. Reflecting the trend, the Delhi Stock Exchange sensitive index ended 11.49 points down at 658.12 points off day's low of 655.74 points. Marketmen said domestic funds which have been major buyers in the past several sessions were also seen on the sideline thus disrupting the rally.

Recovery drive fails to continue: The recovery drive in share prices noted on Thursday failed to stay and with fresh offerings forthcoming shortly after the start, share prices resumed a downward trend once again, giving a disapointing start to the new account trading. The fall was slightly marked in select scrip as operators said not only speculators, but some institutional selling was also in evidence in the market inducing others to swiftly get out of their commitments. The turnover was moderately fair and undertone distinctlyquiet.

MSE down marginally: Equities failed to maintain their initial gains and lost value at the fag end on increased selling coupled with profit-taking. The MSE index, after touching 3454.00 at one stage, declined to finish at 3412.40 against the previous day's close of 3414.18, losing 1.78 points.

Hong Kong stocks close 2.8% down: Hong Kong stocks shed 2.8 per cent on Friday, with the government apparently taking a breather from the intervention which set the bourse rocketing over the week, dealers said. The key Hang Seng Index finished the week on 7,527.61 points, down 214.92 points on the day on moderate turnover.

European shares plummet amid global equities instability: European share prices took a nosedive early on Friday, in the wake of sharp losses on Wall Street and on Asian markets overnight and as Russia's economic turmoil intensified, analysts said. In London, the FT-SE 100 index of leading shares fell by 66.6 points to 5,600.8 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 indexopened 32.69 points lower at 5,454.07 points and in Paris, the CAC 40 index opened 50.31 points.

Jakarta closes 2.7 per cent lower: Indonesian share prices closed 2.7 per cent lower on Friday amid falls in state-run firms led by cement firm Semen Gresik, whose privatisation has been delayed, and Telkom, which released weak first half results, dealers said. The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed down 10.985 points at 388.345.

Thai stocks shed 1.7 per cent: Thai share prices dropped 1.7 per cent in light trading on Friday on profit taking in blue chips and in line with weaker regional markets, analysts said. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index slid 4.08 points to finish at 238.92 points, SET-50 index also edged down 0.33 points to 16.31.

Singapore stocks end 1.1 per cent higher: Singapore stock prices ended 1.1 per cent higher on Friday on late buying of largely property counters amid speculation about possible interest rate cuts, dealers said. Thebenchmark Straits Times Industrials index of the Stock Exchange of Singapore rose 10.30 points to end at 933.16 while the broader All-Singapore index fell 0.47 point to 277.76.

Malaysian shares plunge 7.7 per cent: Malaysia's key stock index slumped 7.7 per cent on Friday as a two-day rally fizzled out on selling by foreign investors amid a weak ringgit and regional market falls. The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's 100-share weighted composite index fell 26.98 points to end at 324.06 while the lesser second board index slipped 1.98 points, or 2.4 per cent, to 79.61.

Tokyo down marginally amid US air strikes: Tokyo stocks fell moderately on Friday as Japan's third-largest corporate failure this year raised fears about the health of the economy. The dollar was slightly higher against the yen. The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei stock average shed 93.21 points, or 0.61 per cent, to close at 15,298.20 points. On Thursday, the average fell 14.93 points, or 0.10 per cent.