October 27, 2007	Saturday	Shawwal 14, 1428

MUMBAI, Oct 26: Indian share prices are expected to remain volatile next week and will be affected by how hedge funds react to new rules limiting the anonymous purchase of shares by foreign investors, dealers said.

For the week to October 26, the Mumbai stock exchange’s benchmark 30-share Sensex index surged 9.58 per cent or 1,683.17 points to a record close of 19,243.17.

“The markets were volatile fearing a curb on capital flows but recovered as clarity emerged on the nature of regulation,” said a dealer at brokerage Jamnadas Morarjee.

India’s stock market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday announced new rules to phase out the anonymous buying of shares by foreign investors.

The new regulations primarily concerned participatory notes, which had allowed foreign investors, such as hedge funds, to buy Indian shares without revealing their identity.

The notes are to be phased out within 18 months in the regulator’s bid to boost transparency.

—AFP