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K.S. Badri Narayanan

THE US markets continued their bull run as investors appeared to have done value-picking. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1 per cent for the week breaking the crucial 9,000-mark and in fact, the fifth straight up week in a row; Nasdaq rose 1.4 per cent during the week gone by - for the tech-heavy Nasdaq it was third consecutive week of gain. The Dow closed the week at 8872.96 (8778.06), after touching a high of 9077.01 during the week, and the Nasdaq closed at 1380.62 (1361.01).

Wall Street was largely unscathed by the Securities Exchange Commission's August 14 deadline for executives at hundreds of big companies to swear their financial statements were accurate.

However, the markets closed on a weak note (by over two per cent) on Friday, partly owing to profit-booking.

The domestic market also finished the week on positive note, backed by strong gains in information technology counters. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensitive index closed at 3119.18 (3065.90) and the broader National Stock Exchange's S&P CNX Nifty at 995.20 (979.25).

Infotech ADRs were resolute at the US markets as well posting strong gains. Reports (quoting Mr Kiran Karnik, President of National Association of Software and Service Companies) that pricing pressure faced by Indian software companies in the US had eased and the industry might not have to concede more cuts seemed have lifted sentiment towards IT counters. Mr Karnik had said that software companies might not be affected even as overall information technology spending in the US might decline by as much as nine per cent.

Leading the gainer pack was Infosys Technologies. The ADR gained 4.46 per cent during the week to close at $56.10 against the previous week close of $53.70. In fact, on the BSE, the Infosys stock gained 10 per cent during the week to close at Rs 3534.20 (Rs 3213.70). This had resulted in narrowinf down of the premium of the ADR to its underlying stock. Infosys now trades at a reduced premium of 54.12 per cent as against the premium of 62.03 per cent traded last weekend.

Infosys has called for analysts' meet on August 27 (Tuesday).

Wipro and Satyam Computer closed the week at $25.4 ($23.98) and $9.57 ($9.35) respectively.

Silverline Technologies, the premium in which jumped last week, is now back to its normal level. The ADR now trades at par as against the healthy premium of 15.85 per cent last weekend. In fact, this was the only infotech ADR that closed in negative territory during the week at $.94 ($1.08).

Telecom major VSNL also ended on firm note at $5.25 ($5.10). At the recent AGM, the Tatas indicated the merger of VSNL and Tata Teleservices. Mr Ratan Tata, the Chairman of the company, further said that Tatas were using the creeping acquisition route to increase their stake in VSNL.

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