FII holding at 24% in Pentafour: Foreign Institutional holding in Pentafour Software has reached the 24 per cent permissible limit. Hence RBI has issued a notice stating that no further purchases will be allowed through the stock exchange route. However, in view of the resolution passed by the board of NIIT at its general body meeting, FIIs will now be allowed topurchase equity shares and convertible debentures of NIIT upto 30 per cent of the paid up capital, through both primary market and stock exchange route.

Private placement by Leading Edge: Leading Edge Systems has called for a board meeting on January 26 to consider the allotment of 9,20,000 warrants on a private placement basis to `The India Private Equity fund' of Mauritius.

Sony Corp plans foray into infotech: Another non banking finance company jumping on the infotech bandwagon is Sony Corp India. As part of its foray into the software business, the company is also planning to float a Rs 2-crore rights issue and a preferential offer of equity shares. Thanks to the infotech boom (both primary as well as secondary market), the company has decided to charge a premium of Rs 10 on rights shares. The focus of the company will now shift to the more lucrative infotech businsess from its present activity of leasing and hire-purchase.

Worldlink Finance penalised for not returning deposits:A Delhi consumer court has ordered non-banking finance company Worldlink Finance to pay depositors penal interest for not returning matured fixed deposits on time. The Delhi District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum-VI, delivering a series of orders on separate petitions filed by depositors, asked Worldlink Finance to return the deposit money with 18 per cent interest and pay litigation cost of Rs 1000 to each of the depositors.

Insilco in a phase of consolidation: Even before the formal takeover of Insilco Ltd by Degussa AG of Germany, Insilco has shown signs of a strong turnaround in its fortunes. The company's excellent performance in the quarter ended December 1998 has been welcomed by the market with the scrip shooting past the Rs 26-level. The scrip in less than a month has shot up from Rs 16 to the current level of Rs 26. It has been seeking new highs and has registered a gain of Rs 10 (60 per cent). The Bhartias of VAM Organics are shedding their 34 per cent stake in Insilco in favour ofDegussa, the other co-promoter. The fact that the equity transfer by Bhartias to Degussa will make the company a 68 per cent subsidiary of Degussa AG is also driving the stock northward.

Shares of nine firms to be available on depository segment: The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has said that equity shares of nine corporates would be available for trading on the depository segment with effect from January 27, 1999. The corporates are Cybertech Systems and Software, Industrial Oxygen Company, Best & Crompton Ltd, Exide Industries, CMC, Nahar Exports, Philips India, BPL Sanyo Utilities & Appliances and Nilkamal Plastics.

FII investment in Indian software set to rise: Fresh investment in Indian stocks by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) is set to focus on India's software business, senior fund managers say in London. The recent spurt in FII buying has already come substantially in the software business, a senior fund manager with a large American investment company told IANS.

"TheFIIs are being very selective in the stock they are buying into," the manager said. The software-led rally in FII buying follows a substantial rise in the value of software stocks in the US market. As Indian software companies begin to do "exceptionally well," the FIIs are likely to continue to buy into these stocks, the manager said.

Outlook is positive, HLL may trigger the uptrend: The sensex witnessed high volatility on Monday. It opened weak and fell sharply. The fall was triggered by Pentafour Software and to some extent Telco. Another reason which was responsible for the volatility was the fact that it was the last day of the settlement on the NSE. The squaring-off of long positions resulted in initial fall but on closing, it gained 12 points over the Friday's close of 3297 points. Although the Sensex closed higher, it failed to cross Friday's high of 3357. The outlook for Wednesday is more or less positive. The heaviest of the lot, Hindustan Lever has closed strong on Monday and appearspromising. The uptrend is likely to continue on this counter, and that should have a positive impact on the Sensex.

Yuan devaluation fears rock Asian markets: Asian stock markets tumbled Monday as an article in the official Chinese press for the first time floated the possibility of a yuan devaluation, spooking regional investors. Only Tokyo bucked the regional downturn, shored up by bargain-hunting. Singapore stocks plunged 5.5 per cent, Manila slid 5.4 per cent, Jakarta dived 5.0 per cent, Bangkok dipped 3.5 per cent, Taipei dropped 3.1 per cent and Hong Kong fell 2.5 per cent. Seoul retreated 2 per cent, Kuala Lumpur lost 1.3 per cent and Sydney ended down 0.7 per cent as investors sold down share prices in reaction to an article Sunday in the official China Daily, dealers said.

Prices ease further on increased selling: Share prices eased further moderately at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) here today on increased selling by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and domestic funds.Reflecting the trend, the S&P Cnx Nifty declined by 7.25 to close at 949.80 from the last close of 957.05. Cnx Nifty Junior fell by 6.05 to 1673.40 from the previous close of 1679.45. S&P Cnx Defty closed at 774.25, showing a fall of 5.90 over the previous close of 780.15. S&P Cnx 500 ended at 664.04, revealing a fall of 2.85 over the last close of 666.89. Cnx midcap 200 closed with a loss of 3.44 points at 585.58 from the last close of 589.02.

The total volume of business was Rs 2,536.30 crore from 981.39 lakh shares and in 2,97,660 trades. Debentures traded value was Rs 100.08 lakh. The exchange witnessed 398 scrips advance, 647 scrips decline and 92 scrips remain unchanged. 85 securities hit their price bands today, the NSE said.

The most prominent scrips of the day were Pentsfware with a turnover of Rs 465.04 crore, Satyam Comp Rs 298.16 crore, ITC Rs 233.60 crore, Tata Tea Rs 149.65 crore and TELCO Rs 121.55 crore.