H-P shares rise, merger fate still uncertain

new delhi: wall street seemed to have given a thumbs up to hewlett-packard''s move to acquire compaq computer for $21 billion, even as h-p''s stockholders met at the company''s cupertino, california, headquarters on tuesday morning. the hewlett-packard scrip, eagerly watched by analysts all over the world, had moved up 96 cents, or 2.46 per cent in the first few minutes of the opening of the market at 7 pm ist.it was ruling at $39.90 after 30 minutes of trading. in the past five days, in the run-up to what could be termed as one of the most bitter corporate battles being waged among shareholders, the company''s stock has inched up from $38.40 to the present level, up by about 4 per cent. this, the analysts said indicated expectation in the market that carly fiorina''s team might be able to scrape through with her merger plan with compaq. the vote has been touted as a ''close call'' with hp management battling dissidents led by the descendants of hewlett and packard families, the company''s founders. however, the final result of the voting may not be known for many days, even weeks, as million of proxy votes will have to be counted. the institutional shareholders are pro-merger which could influence a section of the investors. but the pension funds which represent workers in california and new york states, have already said they will vote against the merger.