BSE shifts another 34 `B1' scrips to `A' group

BSE shifts another 34 `B1' scrips to `A' group
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU

MUMBAI, FEB 24: One day after the benchmark Sensex crashed by 140 points, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has decided to shift 34 scrips in `B1' group including VSNL and HCL Technologies, to the specified group `A' from March 26.

The index sub-committee of the exchange at its meeting held on Saturday decided to shift the scrips to the specified category. Some of the scrips to be shifted to specified category include Hughes Software, Mastek Ltd and Shyam Telecom, it said. However, the inclusion of some small cap stocks raised eyebrows.

All the scrips would also be eilgible for BOLT based-lending facilities, it added. In the A group, trade deals can be carried forward to the next week while trades will have to be compulsorily squared up in other groups.

The companies include: Adani Export, Apollo Hospital, Aurobindo Pharma, Bharat Electronics, Cadila Healthcare, CMC Ltd, DSQ Software, HCL Technologies, Hind Zinc, Hinduja Finance, Hughes Software, Jaiprakash Ind, Jindal Steel, Kodak India, Mastek, Max (I), Mirc Electronics, Moser-Baer, Nirma Ltd, Polaris Software, PSI Data System, Rolta India, Saregama India, Saw Pipes, Shipping Corpn, Shree Rama Multitech, Shyam Telecom, Sonata Software, Tata Finance, Trigyn Technologies, Television 18, United Breweries, UTI Bank and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd.

The BSE move is to bring about parity in the number of stocks under the BSE Borrowing and Lending of Securities Scheme (BLESS) with that of the National stock exchange's ALBM. With the expansion, the BSE's `A' group shares will now have 176 stocks from the existing 142.

The index panel also decided to make available all those stocks being shifted from `B1' group to `A' group for BLESS. This decision will crate a level playing field for BLESS to take on NSE's ALBM. Apart from present 142 stocks, the new list of 34 stock includes 50 per cent of new economy stocks.