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THE fact that IDBI Bank is looking for a domestic bank for a possible acquisition and that the bank is negotiating with the management of a few is a good enough trigger for market speculation about the possible targets.

According to market sources, Union Bank was one such name that is being talked about on the Dalal Street. Union Bank stock finished 1.5 per cent up at Rs 124.45 on the BSE with a traded quantity of 5.57 lakh shares, nearly the double of its fortnightly average.

IDBI Bank, however, finished marginally lower at Rs 59. UCO Bank, which is also speculated to be on the IDBI's radar, declined by around one per cent to Rs 25.7.

Some market persons felt that UCO Bank's branch strength, overseas presence and the current IDBI Bank chairman's familiarity with its strength and weakness make it one of the probables.

Gains on merger talk

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd showed a strong upward move and brisk activity on Tuesday as the market anticipated that it was moving gradually towards bonding with BSNL. MTNL is also showing good addition in its GSM mobile subscribers, which stood at 1.4 million as of October 2005. Market was also expecting a special dividend from the company.

The stock closed at Rs 147.45 with a gain of 3.44 per cent and a traded volume of around 25 lakh shares on the BSE.

To bet or not on R&D?

Has Dabur Pharma reached a critical stage in its research on the drug delivery system in oncology segment? Market persons tracking the pharmaceuticals sector suggest that its R&D efforts are likely to bear fruit in the foreseeable future.

The official word was, however, not available.

The stock closed slightly down at Rs 56.55 with a lacklustre volume of 36,188 shares on the BSE.

Jayanta Mallick

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