BOMBAY, 9 March 2003 — Unit Trust of India (UTI) may be a big seller as it copes with redemption in five schemes worth Rs. 6.80 billion over the next four months. UTI is believed to be facing redemption pressure from the Monthly Income Plan (MIP-98) and the Master Equity Plan-93, which mature on March 31, 2003 and April 1, 2003, respectively. IISFUS-98, MIP-98(II) and Master Value Fund all mature on June 30, 2003.

On Monday the BSE closed at 3,277.27. One of the biggest losers was Zee Telefilms. Cement stocks were down. After the budget, due to the hike in the excise duty, the bottomlines of the companies are expected to be affected unless they hike the selling price. Motorcycle major Hero Honda Motor was up after its sales in February rose by 6.5 percent.

On Tuesday the BSE closed at 3,244.80. Selling pressure pulled down Cipla to touch its 52-week low. The selling was mainly from FIIs. IT stocks were down due to rising concerns about the growing opposition in the US on outsourcing from India.

Bank of Baroda was up after it announced interest rate cuts on deposits of all maturities by 0.5 percent after the budget proposed a cut in the small savings interest rate by 1 percent.

On Wednesday the BSE closed at 3,226.06. Cement stocks were down despite the manufacturers hiking the price by Rs. 3-5 per bag in major cities.

Bajaj Auto rose following reports that it is targeting sales of 100,000 motorcycles per month in the next financial year.

On Thursday, the BSE closed at 3,190.35. Punjab Communications recovered from the lower levels after witnessing an early fall on the back of news that the Videocon group had pulled out of the race for its acquisition.

Bhel too recovered slightly after witnessing a sell-off post budget over the reduction of import duty on specific power equipment. CMC was the subject of buying after it announced bagging a number of projects worth Rs. 1.00 billion including an international order from a Bahraini bank.

And on Friday, the BSE closed at 3,153.09, its fifth consecutive day of falls.

Of the 1,602 issues traded on the exchange, declines outnumbered advances, with 1,112 losers and 355 gainers. 135 issues ended unchanged.

Tata Tea recovered after it’s subsidiary raised fresh debt to retire high-cost loans, which will cut interest costs by six million pounds a year. Castrol India was the biggest gainer on renewed buying support.

Gold was at Rs. 5,605/- per 10 gms and silver was at Rs.7,910/- per Kg.

US dollar was at Rs. 47.65, pound sterling at Rs. 76.11, Euro at Rs. 52.23, UAE dirham at Rs. 12.93, Kuwaiti dinar at Rs. 158.92, Bahraini dinar at Rs. 125.97, Saudi riyal at Rs. 12.67, Qatari riyal at Rs.13.04 and Omani riyal at Rs.123.35.