The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has added the following new securities to the capital market segment with effect from september 30, 1998. In the physical segment, NSE has included stocks of infotech companies while in the depository segment the exchange has included Indian Aluminium Company Ltd, Andhra Valley Power Supply Company Ltd, Tata Power Company Ltd and Tata Hydro-Electric Power Supply Company Ltd, an NSE release said.

Companies must disclose unaccepted ratings: The Sebi appointed committee on regulations for credit rating agencies has recommended that companies must disclose unaccepted ratings to investors. The committee, which submitted its report on Tuesday, has recommended that public or rights issues of debt above Rs 100 crore should be rated by two credit rating agencies. The report has been made public for comments and the Sebi board would clear the report after incorporating the same, which are to reach the regulator by October 26. The committeehas recommended that a clause should be incorporated in the listing agreement with stock exchanges mandating companies to co-operate with rating agencies in giving correct and adequate information.

Kotak Mahindra MF to launch two funds : The Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund (KMMF) is planning to launch two of its maiden schemes in the month of November. The two schemes on the anvil are an open-ended Gilt fund (KGilt) and an open-ended growth oriented equity scheme (K30). KMMF is filing papers for the approval of both these schemes with Sebi on Septemebr 30. The Gilt fund christened as the Kotak Mahindra KGilt Unit Scheme '98 will invest exclusively in the securities issued by the government of India. KGilt has two schemes under its umbrella, the Savings scheme and the Investments scheme. The two schemes are segregated by the maturity profile of the underlying assets.

BSE Sensex may touch 3,600: The Bombay Sensitive Index (Sensex) is expected to touch the 3600-3800 mark by March 1999 as there areindications that the economy may show better performance by then, Prudential-ICICI Asset Management Company (AMC) managing director Ajay Srinivasan said on Tuesday. Expressing confidence in the growth potential of the economy, Srinivasan said, "attaining five and half per cent growth rate is a easy task and in case GDP grows beyond this rate the Sensex would touch the range of 3600-3800 by March 1999."

MSE Index down 25 points: Scrips declined on selling pressure and profit taking on the Madras Stock Exchange on Tuesday. The MSE index drifted by 25.42 points to close at 3468.14 against the previous day's close of 3483.56 points.

Profit selling reverses early trends on DSE: Late selling by financial institutions and speculators in heavy-weighted stocks pulled the DSE sensex below the level of 700 points on the stock market on Tuesday following a sharp fall in values. The benchmark index ended 14.03 points or nearly 2 per cent to close at 697.57 points after touching a day's high of 714.27points at the outset. Marketmen said reports that the US-64 reserves of UTI had turned into a negative balance of Rs 1049 crore, also attributed selling pressure to some extent.

Tokyo stocks rebound from near 13-year lows: Japanese share prices rallied from near 13-year lows on Tuesday despite fears of bankruptcies following the collapse of Japan Leasing Corp in the country's largest post-war corporate failure, brokers said. The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 leading issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 87.94 points to finish at 13,821.43, reversing a 1.4-per cent, 185.53-point rise in the following session. It had touched 13,553.02 in mid-morning, its lowest level since February 25, 1986. The Topix index of all issues on the first section was also down 0.62 points at 1,062.90. Turnover on the major board totaled an estimated 380 million shares, little changed from the previous day's 377.3 million shares.

Hong Kong shares drop 1.47 per cent on profit-taking: Hong Kong share prices dropped1.4 per cent on Tuesday on profit-taking as investors were sidelined awaiting news of a US interest-rate cut ahead of a long holiday, dealers said. The key Hang Seng index lost 108.43 points to close at 7,837.61, following the previous day's gains of 244.93 points. The value of turnover amounted to 4.421 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$ 571 million), against the previous day's 5.15 billion dollars.

Philippine shares close 0.6 per cent higher: Philippine share prices closed 0.6 per cent higher on Tuesday due to speculative buying on the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co, the country's main telecommunications firm. The Philippine Stock Exchange index rose 7.67 points to 1,238.17. Total shares traded slumped to 142 million shares worth 803 million pesos (US$ 18.25 million) from 675.75 million shares valued at 589.65 million pesos.

Shanghai B share close down slightly: Shanghai's B shares, nominally reserved for foreign investors, fell 0.3 per cent on Thursday on caution over tightened foreignexchange policies, analysts said. The Shanghai Stock Exchange's B share index lost 0.11 point to close at 32. 81 points while the A share index of locally-traded stocks ended up 1.70 points to 1,309.27 points.

South Korean shares rise 2.2 percent after strikes called off: South Korean shares closed 2.2 per cent higher on Tuesday as unions at nine banks cancelled planned strikes and accepted massive layoffs in return for extra benefits. The composite index closed up 6.60 points to close out at 312.33, off a high of312.36. Volume was 61.4 million shares worth 293.5 billion won (US$ 209 million).

Taiwan bourse drops 0.4 per cent: Taiwan share prices slipped 0.4 per cent on Tuesday amid pessimism over the market's outlook despite a central bank move to loosen liquidity the previous day, dealers said. The Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted price index dropped 26.11 points to 6, 884.50.

Jakarta shares slip 0.4 per cent: Indonesian shares slipped 0.4 per cent on Tuesday amid a lack of freshincentives with hopes of a possible US interest rate cut unlikely to improve sentiment, dealers said. The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index was 1.307 points down at 273.694.

Australia stocks up 0.5 per cent: Australian share prices finished 0.5 per cent higher on Monday aided by solid gains in telecommunications giant Telstra and other industrial stocks, brokers said. The Australian Stock Exchange's main indicator, the All Ordinaries index, rose 12.0 points to 2,603.6.