Open offer for Capsin shareholders: Kuldip Shaluja and Laxmi Narayan of Sterling Agro Inds have provided an exit opportunity to the shareholders of Calcutta-based Capin Services. Although the offer price of Rs 3 does not seem attractive, this is an opportunity for the shareholders to get rid of this dud stock. Kuldip Shaluja and Laxmi Narayan, managing director and director (marketing), respectively, of Sterling Agro Inds Ltd, and their associates are planning to acquire21.21 lakh equity shares of Capin Services Ltd through open offer. Through the open offer, the acquirers will pick up an additional stake of 40 per cent and their current stake is around 6.81 per cent.

Share prices edge up marginally no CSE: Share prices gained marginally on Lyons Range due to renewed buying interest despite overnight decline in global stock markets. However, with fresh buying interest for some blue chips counters by foreign institutional investors and speculators pushed up the index at close, operators said. On reflection, the CSE-40 share index finished at 1742.69 points which was the day's high, while the lowest was 1702.29 points. MSE drops marginally: Share prices witnessed a marginal dip on the Madras Stock Exchange on Tuesday. The MSE share price index dropped by 10.45 points to close at 3462.04 as against the previous day's close of 3472.49 points.

Indian GDRs shed 0.53 per cent: The Skindia GDR Index, representing GDR's of 17 actively trading companies decreased by0.53 per cent from 666.97 to 663.42 on September 21, 1998 as per the Skindia GDR Index with a base January 2, 1995 equal to 1000. The Skindia GDR Index P/E ratio was 15.85 as compared to 15.91, Skindia Finance a Mumbai-based broking and research house specialising in Indian GDRs quoted in a press release issued here on Tuesday. Out of the total 65 GDRs, there were 8 gainers, 12 losers and 45 unchanged as compared to 18 gainers and 6 losers and 41 unchanged on September 18.

Hong Kong's foreign reserves slip on market intervention: Hong Kong's foreign reserves slipped to US$ 92.1 billion in August, following government intervention in the stock market, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on Tuesday. The quasi-central bank said official foreign reserves stood at US$ 92.1 billion at the end of last month, down from US$ 96.5 billion at end-July. "The fall in foreign currency assets can be attributed to both fiscal draw downs by the government treasury and the government's counter activities inthe stock and futures markets," an HKMA spokesman said. Despite the drop, Hong Kong's reserves remained the third-largest in the world, behind Japan and China. The government sold US$ 4.4 billion in foreign assets in its massive intervention in the stock and futures market in late August.

Seoul to expand band for stock trading: The Korea Stock Exchange (KSE) will expand the band for stock price fluctuations from the current 12 per cent to 15 per cent in either direction beginning December 7, the KSE said on Tuesday. The KSE also said it will introduce "circuit breakers" in both spot and futures markets, under which trading will be suspended for 30 minutes automatically whenever the index falls 10 per cent or more. The circuit breaker could be used once a day and will not be applied after 2:20 pm, it said. The KSE said the daily trading band in the futures market will also be raised to 10 per cent from the current 7 per cent in either direction from December 7.

Tokyo stocks rally on optimism overbank bailout row: Japanese share prices rallied 1.4 per cent on Tuesday as public funds led late buying after the market swayed on a political tug-of-war over a scheme to rescue the ailing banking system, brokers said. The rebound was bolstered by renewed optimism that the ruling and opposition parties were moving nearer to a compromise on new bail-out measures for Long-Term Credit Bank and other troubled banks. The Nikkei-225 gained 192.51 points to finish at 13,789.81, bouncing back after touching 13,521.13 in early trading, the lowest trading level since February 25, 1986. The key market barometer slumped 2.8 per cent or 385.82 points on Monday to the Lowest finish in 12 years and seven months.

Philippine shares close 3.5 per cent lower: Philippine shares tumbled 3.5 per cent on Tuesday due to a fall in the share price of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) and the imminent closure of the country's main airline. Allan Araullo of Regina Capital Development Corp, said PLDT dominatedtrading, adding that those expecting a takeover bid for the company had already completed the bulk of programmed buying. The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index fell 40.96 points to close at 1,123.30 points. Volume turnover rose to 287 million shares worth US$ 28.1 million from 216 million shares worth US$ 32.4 million on Monday.

Taiwan bourse rises 0.1 per cent: Taiwan share prices closed up a barely perceptible 0.1 per cent on Tuesday, ending in positive territory thanks to a small overnight gain on Wall Street. The Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted price index rose 4.59 points to 7,033.99, following a 1.7-per cent drop in the previous sesssion.

Seoul shares down on foreign selling in Samsung Electronics: South Korean shares fell 1.6 per cent on Tuesday on continued foreign selling of Samsung Electronics amid concerns the Samsung Group may acquire ailing Kia Motors, dealers said. The Korea Stock Exchange index closed down 4.84 points at 292.61, off a low of 292.58.