Hinduja TMT, Mastek and Digital GlobalSoft, all rallied as Alliance Capital, US, has said it is not exiting India.

Hinduja TMT, in fact, soared 19.2% to Rs 221 on the news. Volumes, too, were substantial at 1.77 million  shares. Mastek (up 5.7% to Rs 580 on volumes of 1.16 million shares and Digital GlobalSoft (up 4% to Rs 601 on a volume of 1.56 million shares), also picked up strongly.

Other important scrips in Alliance Capital Mutual Fund (the Indian arm of Alliance Capital, US)'s portfolio, United Phosphorous (up 8.9% to Rs 147) and Trent (up 8.9% to Rs 166), got a significant push from the news that the US fund was not exiting.

Alliance Capital, US, on Monday announced that it was not exiting its Indian operations and has decided to retain ownership of Alliance Capital Mutual Fund. ACMF is a leading Indian mutual fund player. Samir Arora will continue be the chief investment officer of ACMF. The US parent has decided not to exit ACMF as it perceives that there is potential for a strong growth in the Indian mutual funds sector, reports said.

In fact, rumours cropped up that Alliance was quitting India after substantial sales of holdings recently. But now, there has been a considerable easing of selling pressure by ACMF. The fund, in fact, bought stocks like Digital GlobalSoft late last week.

ACMF's renewed buying prompted a spurt in the share price of Digital on Friday, by 7% to Rs 578. Strong Q3 results announced on Thursday also held the stock higher. Digital, often called ACMF's favourite in the market, surged further on Monday.

The last week saw much volatility in some of ACMF's customary bets like Digital and Hinduja TMT. Rumours that ACMF's US parent would be exiting India, in fact, set off volatility in the entire market over the last few trading sessions.

Though Mastek is also one of ACMF's favourite, the fund has been paring exposure to Mastek of late. Maskek has entered the list of scrips for derivatives trading. The stock has already begun participating in NSE's drivatives segment effective from 31 January 2003.

Other second line tech stocks that surged on Monday  were Infotech Enterprises (up 8.7% to Rs 153), Hughes Software (up 7.7% to Rs 154), Subex Systems (up 6.4% to Rs 115), Hexaware Technologies (up 5.3% to Rs 142) and VisualSoft Technologies (up 5.5% to Rs 205).