Pentafour Software hit the upper end of the circuit filter and remained frozen for most part of the trading session. Rumours of Sony Corporation picking up a 10-12 per cent stake at a substantial premium to the current market price in the company has seen the scrip soaring in the past few sessions. The scrip has shot up by more than Rs 450 from Rs 485 on December 20 to the current level of Rs 940. Expecting a news in the next few days, operators have taken a large position in the Pentafour Software counter and the scrip has been locked at the upper end of the circuit for two consecuitive days now. On Thursday, it froze at Rs 870 and at around Rs 940 on Friday. Exceptional growth in earnings further aided the spurt in the scrip. Pentafour reported a 103 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 35.75 crore for the third quarter. Turnoverhas zoomed by 92 per cent to Rs 131 crore.

HCL Infosystem's five-fold rise in net profit failed to enthuse the market initially, but the scrip rose with a vengeance to gain Rs 70 in two trading sessions. The scrip initially went into a tailspin losing Rs 70 in the intra-day trade to Rs 401 on January 19, to close the day at Rs 418. The next two sessions saw the scrip zooming by around Rs 50 to Rs 478.

HCL Infosystems reported a five-fold increase in net profit to Rs 14.88 crore for the second quarter ended December 1998 as against Rs 2.66 crore in the corresponding period of last year. Turnover shot up by around 58 per cent to Rs 227.56 crore from Rs 144.93 crore during the previous quarter.

Silverline surges

Rumours of a US-based software major picking up a substantial stake in Silverline Industries has seen the scrip zooming in the past few sessions from Rs 100 to Rs 140. According to market sources, the Silverline board is expected to meet the US company on January 23 in New York and thecompany has convened an EGM some time in February to get the final approval. Among the many companies being tipped to pick up a stake in Silverline, Platinum, a Nasdaq listed software company, is one name the market has been talking about. Market rumours put the price around Rs 175-180 against the current market price of Rs 138. The rumour of the company placing a stake to a foreign company has been doing the rounds for quite some time now.