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Bombay equities

finish higher

BOMBAY: Shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) finished higher ahead of a long weekend, traders said.

The Bombay bourse will remain closed on Friday for a Hindu festival. "The holiday mood is still on and the trend does get fairly affected," said a trader at a foreign fund.

BSE's 30-share index rose 18.51 points to a provisional closed of 3,444.33 while the composite National index gained 9.94 points to end at a provisional 1,580.20.

Traders said truck maker Tata Engineering & Locomotive Co (TELCO) was in the limelight.

TELCO ended eight rupees up at a provisional 618 and was off its high of 624 in active trade.

"TELCO's sales volumes are up sharply in the first quarter and its performance in this period is likely to be good," said a trader at a foreign broking firm.

Industry estimates show truck production during April/June 1995 rose to 55,330 units from 41,508 units in the first quarter of 1994. TELCO's net profit in fiscal 1994/95 rose 213 percent to 3,189.50 million rupees. The Tata-run firm also announced a three-for-five bonus issue of shares last month.

Jeep maker Mahindra & Mahindra dropped 10 rupees to finish at a provisional 379 and traders said operators and local funds were booking profits ahead of the firm's meeting to approve a bonus issue of shares on Friday.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), speculative volumes were high in G.E. Shipping which ended steady at 54.70 rupees against 54.50. More than 1.0 million shares were traded.

Banking stocks State Bank of India and Bank of Rajasthan were also active, traders said.-Reuter