Sensex slides 108.62 points: Blue chips on the BSE came under heavy selling pressure from foreign funds on Thursday, pushing the bell-wether BSE 30-Share Sensitive Index down 108.62 points to 3292.33 points. Foreign funds, those familiar with the market say, off-loaded heavy-weights like EI Hotels, Hindalco, ITC, Reliance, Infosys and HLL, among others.

Rupee ends weaker: The rupee ended on Thursday weaker after losing initial gains made on the back of a firmer yen and comments by finance secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia, dealers said. The rupee ended 42.19/24 a dollar againstthe Wednesday's close of 42.14/17 weakened by a burst of corporate demand and dollar buying by SBI, they said.

Mahajan, Heptullah, Nandy elected to RS: Senior BJP leader and former adviser to the prime minister Pramod Mahajan, Independent candidate Vijay Darda, Shiv Sena nominees Satish Pradhan and Pritish Nandy, former Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi and Congress nominee Najma Heptullah romped home in Thursday's election to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra. Mahajan had lost the Lok Sabha election from the Mumbai north-east constituency.

Hindustan Motors option: Hindustan Motors has offered its shareholders a choice to subscribe to one share for every two held or opt for fully convertible debentures as part of its planned Rs 53.7-crore rights issue. The draft-offer document has deliberately left a Rs 46-crore gap in the total project cost of Rs 503 crore, which the firm says, it could mobilise whenever it deems fit.

Tata Chemicals net jumps 14% to Rs 289 cr: Tata Chemicals said onThursday that its net profit has jumped 14.36 per cent to Rs 288.55 crore for the year ended March, 1998, compared with the prior year's Rs 252.32 crore. Sales rose marginally to Rs 1,648.35 crore, from the prior year's Rs 1,623.76 crore.

Rallis net up a tad: Rallis India, a Tata group firm, on Thursday said its net profit increased a tad to Rs 23.03 crore for the year ended March, 1998, compared with the prior year's Rs 22.80 crore. Sales jumped to Rs 1,206.12 crore, from Rs 1,162.59 crore.

Colgate-Palmolive toothpaste market share dips: An ORG survey shows that Colgate-Palmolive's toothpaste market share in the country has dipped by around 3 per cent to 52.5 per cent during January-April, 1998, from the year-ago period's 55.4 per cent. Hindustan Lever, in contrast, has increased its share to 34.4 per cent, from 30.4 per cent.

BPCL, Gail Delhi gas joint venture okayed: The centre has approved a joint venture between Gail and BPCL for a Delhi city gas distribution project, a releasesaid on Thursday.

Japanese sanctions not to affect Haldia PTA project: West Bengal commerce minister Bidyut Ganguly said on Thursday that Japanese sanctions would not affect the on-going Rs 1,450-crore Mitsubishi PTA project at Haldia. He said a Mitsubishi team told him that credit flow from Japan's Exim Bank would be sustained despite sanctions.

Enron to tap global markets: Enron Corporation vice-president Rebecca Mark said on Thursday that her company would tap international markets to achieve financial closure for the Dabhol project's second phase by the year-end. Banking experts say financial closure could get delayed by a few months as the utility major will have to engage in negotiations with European banks after US sanctions.

Takeover panel seeks chamber feedback: The Bhagwati committee has sought chambers' views on the takeover code. The panel, which met here on Thursday, discussed a plethora of thorny issues, including consolidation of holdings, applicability ofregulations, among others, and decided to take these up in detail at its next meeting.

Sebi may probe Global Trust price jack-up: Regulator Sebi is planning to launch a probe into a bull cartel's alleged price rigging of Global Trust Bank's scrip. Chairman DR Mehta is expected to take a final decision shortly.