Skindia revises GDR index: Skindia Finance Pvt Ltd has reduced the number of scrips in the index to 17 from 18 with effect from July 1. The Skindia GDR Index now comprises 17 companies which represent 84.11 per cent of the total market cap for the 61 companies. The securities in the index are Bajaj Auto, BSES, Dr Reddy's Labs, EI Hotels, Grasim, Hindalco, Indian Hotels, ICICI, ITC, L&T, M&M, MTNL, Ranbaxy, Reliance, SBI, Telco and VSNL. The outgoing company is Gujarat Ambuja. The changes were done in accordance with the entry-exitcriteria for the selection of the index set, a release issued by Skindia said on Friday.

BSE to resume trading in 3 scrips: Trading in the equity shares of the following companies can be resumed on the BSE from July 6: Datapro Information Technology, Fidelity Finance and Union Bearings (India).Nifty drops 19 points: Pivotals declined moderately at the NSE on Friday following heavy unloading by FIIs and bull operators. The NSE-50 Index fell by 19.35 points to 900.55 points. The Mid-cap Index dipped by 35 points to settle at 1,281.85 points. The total turnover stood at Rs 867.37 crore.

DSE shares end down: Equities suffered another setback on the Delhi Stock Exchange on Friday as bull operators sold shares before the temporary ban on short sales is lifted. Brokers said Sebi's decision to reduce daily price band from 10 per cent to 8 per cent would adversely affect market sentiment. The DSE Sensitive Index declined by 14.88 points, or nearly 2.2 per cent, to close at 678.20 points.

MSEIndex loses 18 points: Stock prices continued to drop on the Madras Stock Exchange on Friday on lack of positive sentiment. The new price band and volatility margins announced by Sebi dealt a further blow to market sentiment. The MSE Share Price Index fell by 17.51 points to close at 3,688.05 points.

CSE shares end down: An easy trend prevailed at the Calcutta Stock Exchange on Friday. The session, which was cut short on account of the poor attendance following the industrial strike in the city, reported dealings in the select specified group stocks. ACC ended at Rs 1,159, Tisco at Rs 121.50, Telco at Rs 155.70, ITC at Rs 625.40, SBI at Rs 200.50, Tata Tea at Rs 282.80 and Castrol at Rs 568.90.

BgSE shares close lower: Equities slumped at the Bangalore Stock Exchange on Friday. According to marketmen, there was heavy selling in most of the counters, especially in Satyam Computers. The turnover on the bourse stood at Rs 13.01 crore. ITC declined to Rs 622.25 from an opening of Rs 633while Satyam Computers was traded at Rs 351.70 (Rs 372.10). DSQ Software remained unchanged at Rs 240 whereas SBI, Reliance and Tisco sought lower levels of Rs 200.35 (Rs 207.75), Rs 139.70 (Rs 142.55) and Rs 120.80 (Rs 123.55).

Debt market turnover at Rs 227 cr: The wholesale debt market of the NSE witnessed trading worth Rs 226.95 crore. The newly issued 11.55 per cent government loan maturing in 2001 was traded for Rs 50 crore at a weighted yield of 11.47 per cent. The 13.62 per cent government loan maturing in 1998 was traded for Rs 29 crore at a weighted yield of 8.26 per cent.

Skindia Index down 1.82%: The Skindia GDR Index dropped by 1.82 per cent from 661.70 to 649.68 on July 1. The Skindia GDR Index p/e ratio was 14.83 on July 1 compared with 15 on June 30. The top gainers were VSNL, L&T (1st) and L&T (2nd) which quoted at $11.80 ($11.50), $9.35 ($9.30) and $9.35 ($9.30) respectively. Losers included Indian Aluminium, MTNL and ICICI.

Jakarta stocks end up: Jakarta stocksended higher on Friday after a spurt of late buying due to talk of privatisation and government subsidies for the import of pharmaceutical drugs, brokers said. The composite index ended up 4.17 points, or 0.89 per cent, at 470.55 on an estimated total turnover of 352 billion rupiah.

KL stocks finish down: Share prices recovered from the day's lows but remained in negative territory as profit-taking continued to be the prevalent factor on Friday, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Composite Index closed 4.42 points or 0.92 per cent lower at 473.78.

HK stocks lose ground: Hong Kong stocks closed Friday sharply lower, tripped up by profit-taking as investors eyed a weaker Japanese yen, brokers said. The Hang Seng Index dropped 226.85 points, or 2.56 per cent, to end at 8,639.31. It hit a low of 8,550.61 but recovered some ground as the yen strengthened in afternoon trade on speculation of Japanese tax cuts.

Rupee strengthens vs dollar: Good dollar supplies saw the rupee gainby five paise to close at 42.49/50 on Friday. The rupee opened at 42.52/53, slightly higher than its previous close of 42.52/55. However, corporate demand and short covering by banks in initial trades saw it weaken to 42.53/54.

Silver, gold decline: A subdued trend prevailed at the local bullion market on Friday with both the precious metals declining marginally. Silver .999 and raw declined by Rs 100 and Rs 75 to close at Rs 8,000 and Rs 7,875 respectively per kg on weak overseas advices. Gold standard mint and 22-carat eased by Rs 5 each to settle at Rs 4,285 and Rs 3,965 per 10 gm.

Sugar prices firm up: Sugar prices ended on a steady note on Friday. Sugar medium quality (M-30) firmed up by Rs 4/25 per quintal on good local offtake while sugar small quality ended steady in the absence of buying interest. Small sugar quality S-30 ended at Rs 1,455/1,467 (Rs 1,453/1,470). Medium sugar quality M-30 closed at Rs 1,480/1,540 (Rs 1,476/1,515).

Groundnut oil prices flare up: Groundnutoil prices skyrocketted on Friday following hectic demand from retailers amidst poor arrivals. Groundnut oil flared up to Rs 496 from Rs 488. Groundnut ready improved by Rs 10 to Rs 2,060. Castor oil commercial gained a rupee to settle at Rs 318. Castorseeds ready madras moved up to Rs 1,430 from its previous close of Rs 1,426.