Maruti sales rise
MUL has bounced back with leading dealers reporting a strong revival in daily sales of its bread and butter Maruti 800 since the price cut was announced on June 24. "Sales of 800cc model have not only recovered but are also marginally higher than the daily sale levels for the same period last year," a dealer said.

Clinton signs e-signature bill into law
US President Clinton took the unusual step of ushering in a revolution in the formalisation of Internet commerce by signing the long-awaited e-signatures bill into law-symbolically using new digital signature technology to do so.

AI global advisor
Two major consultancy firms were shortlisted by the Government for global advisor for privatisation of Air India on Friday. The two firms, whose names were not disclosed, were chosen from a total of four companies which had bid for the post, which entails advising the Government on the entire process of disinvestment and selection of a strategic partner for the national carrier.

MRPL posts loss of Rs 300 cr
Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) has posted a net loss of Rs 299.68 crore for the year ended March 31, 2000, compared to a profit of Rs 14.06 crore posted in the corresponding period last year. Turnover was, however, higher at Rs 3,021 crore as against Rs 2,418.77 crore. The operating profit was Rs 80.04 crore (Rs 493.01 crore), interest Rs 236.96 crore (Rs 342.83 crore) and depreciation Rs 142.76 crore (Rs 134.45 crore).

ACC's stock option scheme
In a major departure from the existing practice of offering stock option schemes to employees only, the cement major ACC Ltd has decided to extend the offer to the employees of its subsidiaries also. Experts feel that the proposed offer may induce other corporate majors to follow suit if the scheme evokes a good response. ACC will seek shareholder approval to pass the resolution pertaining to the stock option scheme to ACC's subsidiary companies.

Sensex slips 44 points
Despite a rally in some key stocks during the last 10 minutes of trading on Friday, market players see a definite bearish undertone. In the last ten minutes of the day's trading, the Sensex recovered around 50 points and closed with a net loss of 44 points to 4748.77. And at the end of a lacklustre day's trading, total turnover was comparatively lower at Rs 3,581 crore.

NSE.IT, HDFC Bank sign pact
HDFC Bank on Friday announced the launch of business-to-business (B2B) payment gateway for the capital market along with the National Stock Exchange (NSE). HDFC Bank along with NSE.IT, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NSE, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for jointly working on various products, services and standards related to the securities market in India.